Born in Bussum, Netherlands on 25 September 1954
Two daughters
Education
| 1972-1978 | Law school, University of Utrecht, Netherlands |
Professional experience
| 1979-1981 | Legal aid office, Utrecht |
| 1981-1988 | Barrister at law, Amsterdam |
| 1988-2003 | Legal adviser, Netherlands trade union confederation FNV |
National
| 1988-1994 | Women’s department |
| 1990-1994 | Head of department for women, ethnic minorities and youth |
| 1994-2003 | Department of labour law and industrial relations |
| 1988-1997 | Deputy member of national Social Economic Council |
| 1988-2003 | Trade union representative in national Foundation of Labour |
International
| 1989-1994 | Member of ETUC’s Women’s Committee |
| 1996-2002 | Member of several negotiating teams of ETUC |
| 1990-2003 | Trade union delegate to many yearly ILO conferences |
Other relevant experience
| 1982-1986 | Member of group of experts on women and social security, for the Nationwide Platform of Women for Economic Independence |
| 1985-1997 | Member of the Editorial Board of the Dutch magazine for labour law, social security and industrial relations SMA |
Current areas of responsibility:
gender equality and anti-discrimination
migration and integration
social policy and legislation
Elected Confederal Secretary of the ETUC at its Congress in Prague in May 2003. Re-elected in Seville in 2007.
