THE MOST Hon. Hugh Lawson Shearer, 79, president of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), is to demit office this year.
The Gleaner understands that while the position is an elected one, it is likely that his successor will be Hopeton Caven, a fellow veteran trade unionist and general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
Mr. Shearer, a former Prime Minister, is president of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU).
The confederation is scheduled to hold this year, its first congress in three years, and elect its new president.
The JCTU was launched on January 29, 1994 and Mr. Shearer has been the president since. The launch was the culmination of months of preparations by the leading trade unions to bring the labour movement under a single umbrella, speaking with one voice on social, economic and political issues affecting the working class.
Eleven unions, including the BITU, the TUC, the National Workers' Union, the Jamaica Civil Service Association and the Jamaica Teachers' Association representing 90 per cent of organised labour, were among the original members.
The Joint Trade Union Research and Development Centre (JTURDC), which was founded in 1980 and was responsible for training and research and formulated the JCTU, was absorbed into the confederation in 1997.
