Palayil Narayanan

Palayil Pathazapurayil Narayanan (15 February 1923 – 1996) was a Malaysian trade unionist.

Born in India, Narayanan moved to Malaysia when he was fourteen.At the end of World War II, he was a leading founder of the National Union of Plantation Workers.This union proved highly successful, becoming one of the strongest in the region, and in 1950 he was elected as president of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, aged only 27.

Narayanan was a delegate to the founding conference of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in 1949, and was also involved in its Asian Regional Organisation (ARO) from its early years, becoming president of ARO in 1960, serving a five-year term, then holding the post again from 1969 to 1976.

In 1973, Narayanan was elected as chair of the ICFTU's Economic and Social Committee, then in 1975 he won election as president of the ICFTU, the first person to hold the role from outside Europe and North America.He served until his retirement in 1992.From 1988 to 1992, he additionally served as the president of the International Federation of Plantation and Agricultural Workers.