More information about Pekka Aro who died last week from SARS

ICFTU Mourns Loss of Pekka Aro, Trade Unionist and ILO Official

Pekka Aro, an International Labour Organisation official and former national and international trade union representative passed away in Beijing on Sunday following a short illness diagnosed as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Aro, 52 years old, had a distinguished career in the international trade union movement prior to joining the ILO in 1992. After working for the Finnish Glass and Porcelain Workers' Union and the Paper Workers' Union, he became Deputy General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions ICEF (now the Global Union Federation ICEM) from 1984 - 89. During this time he was Chairperson of the ICFTU Working Party on Occupational Health, Safety and the Environment, a body which he was instrumental in establishing, and carried out work of historic importance in this field. A prolific author of articles and books, he co-authored "The Trade Union Report on Bhopal" after leading an ICFTU-ICEF mission to study the causes and effects of the industrial disaster at the Union Carbide plant in that city. (ICFTU OnLine (Brussels 7 April 2003)) Forwarded by Vern Mogensen