Stephen Cotton is General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a global union federation of 740 trade unions representing nearly 16.5 million transport workers in over 150 countries in the maritime, port, aviation, road, rail and urban transport sectors. He was elected to the position at the 43rd ITF Congress held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2014, and re-elected twice: at the 44th Congress in Singapore, 2018, and at the 46th Congress in Marrakech, 2024, the first ITF Congress to be held in the Arab World.

Under his leadership, the ITF has transformed into a proactive campaigning organisation, allowing the ITF and its affiliates to secure industry-leading contracts and protocols with key multinational companies in the transport sector.

Cotton is a Trustee of the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and serves on the United Seaman’s Service (USS) governing body.

In 2021, Cotton was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to serve as a Member of the Board of the UN Global Compact, an initiative that mobilises industry leaders globally to do business responsibly and improve the state of society.

He chaired the Council of Global Unions (CGU) between 2019 and 2023, a particularly challenging time for trade unions globally. In 2014, Cotton received the USS Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Award, in recognition of his work defending the well-being and fair treatment of seafarers.