Stephen Cotton is General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a global union federation of 665 trade unions representing 18.5 million transport workers in 147 countries in the maritime, port, aviation, road, rail and urban transport sectors. He was elected at the 43rd ITF Congress in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2014.

Under his leadership, the ITF has transformed into a proactive campaigning organisation, allowing the ITF and its affiliates to secure industry-leading contracts and protocols with key multinational companies in the transport sector.

He is Chair of the Council of Global Unions (CGU), a Trustee of the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and serves on the United Seaman’s Service (USS) governing body. In 2014, Cotton received the USS Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Award, in recognition of his work defending the well-being and fair treatment of seafarers.