Bernadette Ségol (born 1949) is a French former trade union leader. Born in Luzech, Ségol received a master's degree in philosophy from the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

, then became the assistant to the general secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation. In 1985, she moved to Brussels to become director of Euro-FIET, the European section of the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees. In 2000, this merged into the new UNI-Europa, the European section of the

Union Network International UNI Global Union, formally Union Network International (UNI), is a global union federation for the skills and services sectors, uniting national and regional trade unions. It has affiliated unions in 150 countries representing 20 million workers ...

(UNI), and Ségol was elected as its first general secretary. Under her leadership, UNI-Europa set up European Works Councils, campaigned for the Temporary Agency Workers' Directive, and worked to ensure that the

Services Directive The Bolkestein directive or Services Directive, officially Services in the Internal Market Directive''2006/123/EC is a European Union law aiming at establishing a single market for services within the European Union (EU). Drafted under the le ...

maintained workers' rights. In 2011, Ségol was elected as general secretary of the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...

, the first woman to hold the post. She focused on campaigning against

austerity In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...

. She retired in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ségol, Bernadette 1949 births Living people French trade union leaders French women trade unionists People from Lot (department)