7 November, 2021Assistant General Secretary
Christine Olivier was elected as Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union at its 3rd Congress on 14-15 September 2021.
Christine Olivier is from Atlantis, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. She started working at an electronic factory in 1987 and worked there until it closed in 2015. In the late 1990s, Christine was elected shopsteward at the plant, then became chairperson of the local union branch and in 2003 deputy chairperson of NUMSA Western Cape. Christine became the first woman regional chairperson in NUMSA when she was elected chairperson of NUMSA Western Cape in 2005.
During her trade union career, Christine has also held the positions as COSATU Western Cape Provincial Office Bearer – Treasurer and NUMSA National Gender Chairperson. Between 2008-2013, Christine was 2nd Deputy President of NUMSA, and 1st Deputy President between 2013 and 2016.
For many years, international relations have been central to Christine’s work, and she is a former Executive Committee member of IndustriALL and has also served as co-chair of IndustriALL’s Women’s Committee and of IndustriALL’s Automotive Committee.
Since 2017, Christine has worked as NUMSA’s international officer.