KINGSTON, Jamaica —The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) this week scored a hat trick of unprecedented successes in the international trade union community.

At a recent conference of the Builders and Woodworkers International (BWI) held in Mexico City, the BITU’s General Secretary Shandra Harriott became the first English-speaking woman elected regional vice president of that Global Union headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

A day later, BITU’s President, Senator Kavan Gayle was elected to a World Steering Committee of the Union Network International (UNI), the world union body for the banking and financial services industry at its Global Conference held in Spain.

The hat trick was completed just hours later, when BITU’s Administrator Avandeen Ross was elected to the Regional Executive of the International Union of Food (IUF) Youth Committee, at its conference held in Barbados.

These achievements are significant not just for the BITU but for Jamaica and the region, as these powerful global unions are usually dominated by the European and larger Spanish speaking countries of this region, said Collin Virgo, assistant general secretary of the union.

“The BITU is now better positioned to advance the agenda of the workers of Jamaica, and the wider Caribbean region, as many policies across the world that resulted in jobs and benefits for workers originated in and were secured by these powerful global unions,” he added.