Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Fox as the Secretary’s Special Representative for International Labor Affairs.
Ms. Fox will lead the Department’s effort to promote workers’ rights and improve economic security and working conditions for workers abroad; liaise with the global labor movement, U.S. and multinational companies, and other stakeholders on these issues; and support and strengthen the labor diplomacy function at our embassies worldwide. She will play a critical role in ensuring American foreign policy and programs advance internationally recognized labor rights and improved living standards across the globe.
Ms. Fox is internationally recognized for her lifelong work on labor issues in the United States and throughout the world. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Fox served as legal counsel to the AFL-CIO, as the AFL-CIO’s representative to the International Labor Organization (ILO), and was a member of the ILO Governing Body and of its Committee on Freedom of Association. In 1996, she was appointed by President Clinton as a member of the National Labor Relations Board, a position in which she served through 2000. From 1990 to 1996, she served as Chief Democratic Labor Counsel to the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, on the staff of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. She is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.
International labor diplomacy is central to the Department’s efforts to promote inclusive economic growth, human rights, democracy and stability. The position of the Secretary’s Special Representative for International Labor Affairs was first created in 1999 under former Secretary Albright’s tenure to advise the Secretary on labor diplomacy and ensure the Department would have a high-level official of stature with full-time responsibility for coordinating the Department’s engagement on international labor affairs.
For more information, visit the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor on State.gov or HumanRights.gov.
