Kaira Reece

Kaira Rosaura Reece Bernal is Secretary for Sustainable Development at the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA), the regional expression of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which represents more than 55 million workers across the continent, with regional offices in Uruguay and Brazil.

At TUCA, Kaira Reece leads and coordinates regional agendas related to sustainable development, the environment and work, just transition, labour migration, tax justice, care, occupational health and safety, regional integration, and global production chains. Her work seeks to strengthen the role of the trade union movement as a key actor in transforming economic and social structures, promoting decent work, social protection, social justice, and a development model centred on people and the sustainability of life.

She is Panamanian and resides in Uruguay. Her professional career includes extensive experience in gender justice, the rights of women workers, trade union education and training, labour migration, development cooperation, and trade union organising. She has promoted the mainstreaming of a gender and equality perspective in trade union action, as well as collaboration and partnerships with social and feminist organisations and other stakeholders committed to building more equitable and inclusive societies.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, specialising in Primary Education, and is a Secondary Education Teacher. She has also pursued studies in Humanities, specialising in English, and holds a Master’s Degree in Labour Law and a Postgraduate Degree in Higher Education Teaching.

Within the framework of the conference “Building Bridges: Cooperative Contributions to a Peaceful World,” her experience brings a trade union and Latin American perspective on the importance of building alliances between the workers’ movement, the cooperative movement, and other social actors to promote economic models based on solidarity, democracy, social justice, equality, and peace.