IEA calls on energy workers, unions and industry to shape global jobs report

The results will feed into the World Energy Employment 2026 report, an annual study that tracks the global energy workforce and shapes recommendations read by governments and employers worldwide.

Why your response matters

Last year’s World Energy Employment 2025 report drew on responses from more than 700 energy firms, trade unions and educators across the IEA’s annual Energy Employment Survey. The findings painted a clear picture of a sector under pressure. 

The energy sector is growing fast. In 2024, it employed 76 million people worldwide, up more than 5 million since 2019  and created jobs at nearly double the rate of the wider economy. 

But that growth is running into a serious obstacle: an increasing shortage of skilled workers. In a separate IEA survey of over 400 energy companies in 2025, around 60 per cent reported hiring difficulties due to skills and labour shortages. Applied technical roles like electricians, grid line workers, solar PV installersand  welders and pipefitters are the hardest to fill, accounting for more than half of the total energy workforce yet facing the highest shortages. 

The IEA’s Labour Employment Survey asked workers and their representatives directly what makes a job worth taking. The answers were clear: fair pay (90 per cent of respondents), employment security (73 per cent) and a safe working environment (71 per cent). Yet only 35 per cent of workers surveyed classified clean energy jobs as quality jobs with both good working conditions and good pay, a gap that unions and employers must urgently address. 

The workforce is also ageing. In advanced economies, there are 2.4 workers within ten years of retirement for every worker under the age of 25. In nuclear and grid roles specifically, that ratio rises to 1.7 and 1.4 respectively. Between now and 2035, two out of every three new hires will be needed simply to replace retiring workers. 

Closing the skills gap will require urgent and coordinated action. The IEA estimates that the number of new graduates entering the energy sector would need to rise by around 40 per cent globally by 2030, at a cost of roughly US$2.6 billion per year, less than 0.1 per cent of global public education spending.

These are the issues the 2026 surveys are designed to address. The more responses the IEA receives, the stronger the evidence base, and the stronger the case for policies that put workers at the centre of the energy transition.

“The energy transition is reshaping millions of jobs around the world. For that transition to be just, workers and unions must be at the table, not only when decisions are made, but when the evidence is gathered. I encourage everyone in the energy sector to take a few minutes to respond to this survey and make their voice count,”

said Diana Junquera Curiel, director of industrial policy, IndustriALL Global Union

Which survey is for me?

The IEA has launched four surveys, each targeting a different audience. Find yours below and share the links widely with your networks.

Workers and trade union representatives

For shop stewards, work council representatives, national trade union officers and workers in the energy sector.

Policymakers

For public institutions involved in energy, labour, skills or education policy, including ministries, national skills agencies and other governmental bodies.

Educators

For universities, TVET providers, in-house trainers in energy companies, NGOs and trade unions who deliver training or vocational education.

Energy industry (English only)

For energy companies, supply chain firms and those with responsibility for hiring and workforce planning.

Share your best practice

In addition to the surveys, the IEA is collecting examples of policies, initiatives and case studies through its new Employment and Skills Policy and Case Study Tracker. If your organization has developed a programme worth sharing, submit it here, it could be featured in the World Energy Employment 2026 report.

All surveys close on 15 May 2026. Please share these links widely with your union networks, colleagues and contacts in the sector. Every response strengthens the evidence for a just, people-centred energy transition.

Electricity substation towers and power lines against a blue sky at sunset
The energy sector employed 76 million people worldwide in 2024, yet skilled labour shortages are widening. Source: Shutterstock / STK_08

Bangladesh’s roadmap is stalling

These findings are drawn from the ILO’s roadmap report on the 18-point demands, published in March 2026, covering the period from March 2025 to March 2026, and covering all sectors. The report tracks progress against commitments made by the Bangladeshi government and social partners and exposes where implementation has fallen short. Notably, the minimum wage agreement, a key demand under the 18-point framework, is due for conclusion this year. Negotiations have yet to begin.

In 2025 Bangladesh took notable steps ratifying three ILO Conventions – C155 on Occupational Safety and Health, C187 on the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health and C190 on Violence and Harassment – becoming the first in South Asia to do so. For workers who have spent years fighting for recognition, these are hard-won gains.

But ratification is not protection. And for the millions of workers in Bangladesh’s garment factories, export processing zones and beyond, the gap between what the law says and what actually happens on the factory floor remains vast.

The legal limit for union registration is 55 days. Many applications take far longer — in some cases, up to two years. A concern IndustriALL affiliates have raised repeatedly across multiple ILO Governing Body reporting cycles, the “Nothijat” filing system leaves applications suspended in bureaucratic limbo, with no resolution in sight. Workers who try to organize don’t just face delays. They face dismissal, harassment and intimidation.

Of 42 reported cases of anti-union discrimination and unfair labour practices, authorities acted on only eleven. Employers, meanwhile, are allegedly actively promoting yellow unions, company-friendly bodies designed to crowd out genuine worker representation.

The ready-made garment sector is Bangladesh’s largest export industry, employing millions of workers. However, the report underscores the need to strengthen collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) at the workplace level, which remain very limited in number. The government’s 18-point tripartite agreement, signed in September 2024 and heralded as a major achievement, was already raising concern among affiliates about uneven implementation across industrial areas. These figures suggest those concerns were well founded.

Ratification without protection

Workplace safety figures tell a similar story. IndustriALL previously raised serious doubts about the credibility of the government’s inspection statistics, questioning whether 441 inspectors could meaningfully conduct the 85 daily inspections the government claimed. The numbers now bear that out: 1,190 workers were killed in workplace accidents in 2025, up from 905 the year before. Despite reforms, safety protections remain dangerously insufficient.

Workers in export processing zones continue to be denied the right to form independent trade unions altogether, restricted instead to Workers’ Welfare Associations that fall short of international standards. Reform of the EPZ framework has been slow and insufficient.

IndustriALL affiliates have consistently called for their recommendations to be taken seriously throughout this process. 

The Labour (Amendment) Act, 2026 marks a step forward, particularly for workers in high-risk sectors, including RMG and shipbreaking. The introduction of employment injury schemes to strengthen compensation and social protection and establishes the legal right to refuse unsafe or hazardous work, a significant gain for workers in high-risk sectors including ready-made garment and shipbreaking. These concrete measures, alongside improvements in labour inspection and social dialogue, signal progress towards safer and more accountable workplaces. Continued efforts to ensure effective implementation and strengthen social dialogue will further support these positive developments in practice. IndustriALL and its affiliates are committed to working alongside the government to support these efforts.

Atle Høie, general secretary of IndustriALL, says: 

“The new Bangladeshi government has just passed a strong labour code and we have hopes that this indicates a change in values towards workers. But legislative reform alone is not enough. What workers need now is full and effective implementation in practice, backed by stronger enforcement, greater accountability, and real protection against anti-union retaliation. Without these concrete actions, the objectives of the roadmap will remain unfulfilled.”

Global unions call for a permanent and sustainable ceasefire in the Middle East

The undersigned Global Unions (CGU) call for a permanent and sustainable ceasefire across the Middle East and an immediate end to the relentless cycle of war and militarism that continues to exact a devastating toll on civilians, workers, and entire communities.

We lament that the recent negotiations in Islamabad during the two‑week ceasefire between the United States of America, Israel and Iran ended without a viable peace deal. This ceasefire must be made permanent, must lead to full de‑escalation, and must explicitly include Lebanon, where ongoing Israeli military assaults against Iran supported Hezbollah, have already produced a catastrophic humanitarian crisis also affecting the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Lebanese citizens. Lebanon continues to bear a heavy human and social cost of the conflict. Civilians face ongoing attacks, displacement, and the destruction of critical infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. Lebanon must not be treated as a secondary theatre of war; any serious path to peace must include an end to the attacks devastating the country and its citizens.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered severe humanitarian and economic shocks across the region, disrupting oil, gas and fertiliser exports and supply chains, exacerbating already strained food security, as the conflict spills into neighbouring countries and pushes already fragile economies into further fiscal crisis with severe consequences for people’s livelihoods and access to basic needs. This is putting thousands of jobs at risk, leaving workers exposed to sudden income loss and being left without protections.

Unfortunately, one of the defining features of this war is the targeting of energy, oil, gas and petrochemical facilities in a region that relies heavily on these industries for its economy. Workers in these sectors are being killed or injured while carrying out their duties at their workplaces while the commodities themselves are used as leverage on both sides of the conflict.

While global attention focuses on rising oil prices, civilian seafarers have been killed and injured, and vessels remain under threat of being targeted. More than 20,000 seafarers remain trapped in the Strait of Hormuz, living in constant fear and uncertainty – innocent civilian workers who are effectively on the front line, their lives on the line every day.

With over 30 million migrant workers across the region, many are among the hardest hit, sustaining key sectors while facing heightened risks to their safety, job loss, unpaid wages, and barriers to evacuation. Their safety, rights, and access to wages must be guaranteed without delay.

Workers, civilians, and public institutions must never be targets of military operations. The killing and injuring of workers across all sectors, including those in education, healthcare, journalism and media, transport and other essential services, as well as the destruction of protected spaces such as schools and hospitals, are profound violations of international law and an assault on human dignity. Such acts are intolerable and must be unequivocally condemned.

The global trade union movement rejects the logic of war and militarisation. Military force does not bring security – it entrenches violence, fuels instability, deepens injustice, and undermines the foundations of peace, democracy, human rights and multilateral cooperation. Diplomacy, not bombs; dialogue, not destruction, remain the only legitimate path to lasting peace.

As unions representing over 200 million workers across sectors and continents, we call on the international community to:

We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to a world in which conflicts are resolved through diplomacy rather than violence, where multilateralism is strengthened, and where all people have the right to live and work in safety, dignity, democracy, and peace. War is a political choice. But peace is the only answer.

Signatories:

David Edwards, general secretary, Education International

Atle Høie, general secretary, IndustriALL Global Union

Luc Triangle, general secretary, International Trade Union Confederation

Christy Hoffman, general secretary, UNI Global Union

Steve Cotton, general secretary, International Transport Workers’ Federation

Ambet Yuson, general secretary, Building and Wood Workers International

Adriana Paz Ramírez, general secretary International Domestic Workers Federation

Daniel Bertossa, general secretary, Public Services International

Kristjan Bragason, general secretary, International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations

Veronica Nilsson, general secretary, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD

Anthony Bellanger, general secretary, International Federation of Journalists

Korea: over 20,000 subcontract workers demand bargaining rights from Hyundai and POSCO

This hard-won victory came after more than two decades of trade union struggles.

Immediately after the amendments came into force on 10 March, over 20,000 subcontract workers from 58 of its branches of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) submitted formal bargaining demands to 18 principal employers.

The principal employers include Hyundai Motor, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Hyundai Steel. To date, only two companies have acknowledged receipt. Even Hyundai Steel, where the courts have already recognized its status as a principal employer, refused to accept the union’s submission, forcing the union to serve documents by fax and post.

By introducing the exclusive bargaining representative mechanism, the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labour is treating all subcontract workers as a single bargaining unit. Under Korean law, this mechanism requires all unions at a workplace to select a single representative before bargaining can begin, a process that risks sidelining smaller subcontractor unions in favour of larger in-house unions. This opens the door for employers to deny specific subcontractor unions the right to bargain collectively with principal employers, undermining the purpose of the amendment to protect subcontract workers’ rights.

KMWU identified campaigning for the repeal of the exclusive bargaining representative mechanism as one of four priorities at its 61st Regular Delegates Assembly on 3 March. The other three priorities are organizing joint bargaining actions across subcontracting chains, securing precedent-setting bargaining victories, and demanding a social dialogue framework to promote multi-employer bargaining.

Hundreds of Korean Metal Workers' Union members raise their fists at a delegates assembly in Korea in March 2026
Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) members at the 61st Regular Delegates Assembly, March 2026. © KMWU

KMWU president Park Sang-Man said:

“Ensuring dignity at work for on-site subcontract, outsourced and subsidiary workers, who have long faced discrimination, is a critical step toward addressing labour polarisation. In 2026, the KMWU will dedicate its full efforts to securing and expanding collective bargaining with principal employers. We urge the government to respect subcontract workers’ right to collective bargaining and abolish the exclusive bargaining representative mechanism.”

POSCO workers submit collective agreement proposal

Meanwhile, 3,500 subcontract workers submitted a collective agreement proposal to POSCO through the Federation of Korean Metalworkers’ Trade Unions (FKMTU) on 10 March. POSCO has acknowledged receipt of the proposal from both FKMTU and KMWU.

Members of the Federation of Korean Metalworkers' Trade Unions raise their fists at a meeting in Korea in March 2026
Federation of Korean Metalworkers’ Trade Unions (FKMTU) members at a meeting, Korea, March 2026. © FKMTU

FKMTU president Kim Jun Young said:

“The law amendment serves as an opportunity to open the door to collective bargaining for workers in the Republic of Korea who have not had meaningful bargaining rights. We have only just arrived at the starting line, focusing on safety and health issues. We expect the scope of bargaining to gradually expand.”

Unions fight to save 2,400 jobs in South Africa’s ferrochrome sector

In South Africa’s ferrochrome sector, where once-bustling smelters now lie dormant, unions are fighting to save jobs. The sector, long a pillar of the country’s mineral beneficiation programmes, has fallen idle due to high electricity costs and under-utilization. At present, only 11 of the country’s 66 ferrochrome furnaces are operational.

Unions secure tariff deal

After intensive lobbying, a modest breakthrough appeared on 27 February 2025 when Glencore-Merafe Chrome and Samancor Chrome secured an agreement with Eskom, the state-owned power utility, to pay R0.62 (US$0.033) per kilowatt-hour instead of the R0.877 (US$0.047) approved in January. The tariff had previously stood at R1.36 (US$0.073) per kilowatt-hour, according to NUM. Eskom granted the reduction on condition that smelters that had been shut down be brought back into production, subject to a five-year contract, annual tariff reviews, revenue-recovery mechanisms and other safeguards designed to protect the utility’s own precarious finances.

Companies press ahead with retrenchments despite tariff deal

The apparent compromise has quickly soured. The companies are dissatisfied with Eskom’s conditions, arguing against the long-term commitments and adjustment clauses. Rather than reopening idle furnaces, management has signalled its intention to proceed with retrenchments. The unions accuse the employers of negotiating in bad faith: after securing the lower tariff, Glencore-Merafe Chrome and Samancor Chrome are now backing away from commitments to job preservation and capacity restoration.

NUM expressed shock and disappointment, particularly over Samancor’s decision. “This move comes as a devastating blow to the workforce,” the union said, “particularly after NUM fought tirelessly to negotiate for lower electricity tariffs to ensure the sustainability of the company’s operations.”

NUMSA general secretary Irvin Jim is demanding the immediate withdrawal of all Section 189 notices, the reopening of mothballed smelters and a return to genuine negotiations with Eskom over the disputed conditions.

Jobs at stake in a country with 43 per cent unemployment

The stakes extend well beyond the two companies. South Africa’s extended unemployment rate stands at over 43 per cent. The destruction of thousands of formal-sector jobs carries significant knock-on effects for household incomes, local economies and social stability.

Paule-France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub-Saharan Africa, said:

“South Africa cannot afford to lose these jobs. With unemployment already at over 43 per cent, every formal-sector job that disappears takes a family’s income with it. These companies have a responsibility to their workers and to the communities that depend on them. Walking away from that responsibility is not a business decision, it is a social one, and IndustriALL is in full support of its affiliates NUM and NUMSA in their fight to save jobs.”

Global unions warn UN migration draft puts migrant workers at risk

The statement warns that the current UN draft text is a dangerous step backwards, moving away from a rights-based approach and diluting references to core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining.

A regression in rights for migrant workers

The joint statement raises the alarm over the 2026 Zero Draft of the Progress Declaration, which the GUFs say shifts migration governance toward a technocratic “labour market” model, one that risks treating migrant workers as economic inputs rather than rights-holders.

While welcoming stronger language on recruitment fees and debt bondage, GUFs are calling for six urgent changes: 

The statement also underlines that migrant workers must have access to justice — including the ability to pursue grievances for wage theft, workplace violations and harassment even after returning to their country of origin. According to the statement, wage theft is the number one indicator of forced labour and migrant workers are three times more likely to be in forced labour than other workers.

The reality on the ground

The demands reflect a pattern that IndustriALL knows well. In Malaysia, IndustriALL recently filed a formal complaint with the ILO after documenting systematic union busting across 12 companies in the electronics, semiconductor, aerospace, automotive and paper sectors. Migrant workers were among the most targeted, threatened with deportation and non-renewal of work permits to prevent them from voting for a union. At Lumileds, migrant workers were deported after the union won its ballot.

Women migrant workers face compounding barriers. At the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), IndustriALL and fellow GUFs highlighted that across global supply chains, women are overrepresented in the most precarious jobs, often with no union coverage and no access to grievance mechanisms.

IndustriALL’s commitment

The statement reflects IndustriALL’s own Action Plan (2025–2029), which explicitly commits to defending migrants and refugees as part of its broader fight for equality and workers’ rights. The Action Plan recognizes that migrant workers are particularly stigmatized and exposed to severe rights violations and injustice, and commits IndustriALL to enhancing policies of inclusion with the active involvement of migrants and refugees in union activities.

“Migrant workers sustain economies and essential sectors across the world, yet they remain structurally excluded from the protections that every worker deserves. The 2026 Progress Declaration must not go backwards. It must guarantee that every worker, regardless of their passport or visa status, has the right to organize, bargain collectively and live and work in dignity,” 

said Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary

Migrant worker welding metal trusses, close-up of hands and sparks
A migrant worker welds metal trusses. © Rich Matthews / Shutterstock

We are stronger together”: women unite at USW Women of Steel conference

“Women of Steel is not a programme or a meeting,”

said Randie Pearson, director of Women of Steel, at the opening of the conference.

“It is a movement inside the union.”

USW Women of Steel delegates in union clothing attend an outdoor rally in Toronto, April 2026
Delegates from the United Steelworkers (USW) Women of Steel Conference gather at an outdoor rally in Toronto, Canada, April 2026.

The conference, held in Toronto from 30 March to 2 April 2026, brought together approximately 1,000 women union members from across the United States and Canada under the theme “Education for a New Era” and the slogan “Know Your Power.” It was the first major gathering since Roxanne Brown became the 10th international president of the United Steelworkers (USW), the first woman and the first black woman to lead the union.

Structures build leaders

The conference opened with a land acknowledgement by a traditional grandmother and knowledge keeper, grounding the week in a spirit of reconciliation and responsibility. What followed was four days of plenaries, workshops and conversations built around one central conviction:

women’s leadership does not appear by itself. It is built, deliberately, over time, by structures that refuse to wait for permission.

Women of Steel predates female representation on the USW executive board. Since its founding, it has won pregnancy accommodations, lactation spaces, PPE designed for women’s bodies and contract language that reflects the realities women actually live.

Today, the majority of USW department heads are women. Three women sit on the executive board. The international president is a woman.

Randie Pierson at the podium during the opening session of the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, March 2026.
Randie Pearson addresses delegates at the opening session of the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, Canada, March 2026.

Randie Pearson put the significance plainly:

“Every single one of you in this room has that same power. Maybe you don’t see it yet. Maybe you’ve been told to sit down and stay quiet or wait your turn. But you don’t have to wait. Your voice matters right here and right now.”

Former USW vice president and former IndustriALL executive committee member Carol Landry put the journey into perspective at the closing reception.

It was the women of District 6 who, in the early 1990s, brought the proposal to then-international president Leo Gerard, the push that would eventually give birth to Women of Steel. Landry became the first woman elected to the USW executive board and also served on IndustriALL’s executive committee. Decades later, she was in that room in Toronto watching a woman as international president.

Carol Landry speaks at the podium at the opening of the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, March 2026
Carol Landry addresses delegates at the opening of the United Steelworkers (USW) Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, Canada, March 2026. Photo: USW.

Politics is personal

The second day opened with a session on politics, policy and women’s place. Amber Miller, newly elected international vice president at large, made the connection immediate and visceral.

Amber Miller speaks at an outdoor rally at the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, March 2026.
Amber Miller VP at large addresses a rally during the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, Canada, March 2026.

Drawing on her own experience as a woman in industrial workplaces, the unsafe conditions, the shift she worked two weeks after giving birth because her family could not afford for her to stay out any longer, she made the case that politics is never abstract.

“Politics is who gets believed, who gets opportunities, who gets protected, who gets dismissed,” she said. “Those things don’t happen by accident. They happen because people are making decisions and those decisions are shaped by policy, culture and the people who hold power.”

Know your power

Throughout the week, workshops gave participants practical tools to take back to their locals, on health and safety, bargaining, legislative engagement and leadership.

USW international president Roxanne Brown charged every woman in the room to know who she is before the world tries to tell her.

“At some point, the world is going to try to tell you who they think you are,” she said. “So it’s really important that you know who you are. So that when that moment comes, you stand in the power of the knowledge of who you are.”

Roxanne Brown speaks at an outdoor rally at the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, April 2026.
Roxanne Brown addresses a rally during the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, Canada, March 2026.

On day three, the Women of Steel rally drew delegates onto the streets of Toronto, joined by the mayor of the city, in a show of solidarity that made the week’s themes visible and public.

The global fight is one fight

A panel on women’s leadership and global solidarity brought together IndustriALL assistant general secretary Christina Olivier, Carla Castro from EMIH, the independent monitoring group in Honduras, and Ruth Lopez from IndustriALL affiliate Los Mineros in Mexico.

Two women speak on a panel at the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, March 2026.
Panelist Christina Olivier AGS takes part in a solidarity discussion at the opening of the USW Women of Steel Conference in Toronto, Canada, March 2026.

Olivier named the backlash directly: in 2024, one in four countries went backwards on women’s rights. She connected this to the green and digital transitions reshaping industry, noting that women are absorbing the costs of transformation without being in the rooms where those decisions are made.

“As capital globalizes the exploitation of workers, we must globalize our solidarity,” she said.

Carol Castro described the violence, harassment and physical toll facing women in Honduras’s maquila sector, age discrimination beginning at 35, mandatory overtime, obstetric violence and lack of childcare. She closed with her organisation’s motto: “They are afraid of us because we are not afraid. No more dead women in our country.”

Ruth Lopez spoke about the visibility women have won in a historically male-dominated sector, at the bargaining table and on health and safety commissions. She also spoke about the work that remains, to create spaces where women do not just enter, but lead.

A global solidarity workshop later in the week, in which CNM-CUT, IndustriALL’s Brazilian affiliate, made a powerful intervention. She underlined what the panel had made clear: the struggles women face in their industries cross every border, and so must the solidarity.

Delegate from CNM-CUT speaks at workshop on international solidarity
Delegate from CNM-CUT speaks at workshop on international solidarity

“The 2026 USW Women’s conference was not just a gathering. It was evidence. Evidence that when unions commit to building women’s leadership, not as a side project but as the foundation, the results follow,”

said Christina Olivier.

“And evidence that the hunger for cross-border solidarity among women workers is real, deep and ready to be met.”

Trade unions call for urgent action as steel overcapacity and trade distortions intensify

Leading a large trade union delegation at the meeting, TUAC, IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll Europe raised deep concerns about mounting pressures on the industry. They stressed that without urgent and coordinated action, current trends could accelerate job losses and deindustrialization across many parts of the world.

The discussions took place against a backdrop of worsening market conditions, as reflected in the OECD Steel Committee’s conclusions. Global excess capacity reached 640 million tonnes in 2025 and continues to rise. At the same time, weakening demand, rising exports and increasing trade circumvention are placing significant strain on producers and workers alike. These dynamics are driving down prices, undermining investment and threatening the long-term viability of the sector.

Trade unions underlined that these are not abstract market developments, but trends with direct and severe consequences for workers across the steel industry.

“Structural challenges in the steel sector remain unaddressed, while the worsening of economic conditions and the incoming energy shock will exacerbate existing problems. For workers, this means restructuring, plant closures, offshoring, job insecurity, and growing pressure on wages, working conditions, and social dialogue. We need OECD governments to act decisively to secure the future of steel in our countries and quality jobs in the industry”,

declared Veronica Nilsson, TUAC general secretary.

Growing uncertainty is also fuelling short-term corporate behaviour, with profits too often directed towards shareholder returns rather than reinvested in jobs, skills and low-carbon production.

“Across Europe, one of the main problems is the lack of investment. Companies are failing to reinvest in production, in workers and in the transformation of our industrial sites, putting the future of the steel industry and entire regions at risk. Responsible business conduct demands a sustainable approach to investment from management. As Europe implements the steel action plan, as we have jointly demanded, companies should unlock their investments. This would be a tangible signal to the workforce that their jobs are valued and that steel companies also have skin in the game,”

said Judith Kirton-Darling, general secretary of industriAll Europe.

Trade unions highlighted several critical challenges:

Unions stressed that the shift to climate-neutral steel will only succeed with substantial investment, long-term industrial policies and meaningful social dialogue. They called for stronger public investment, responsible business conduct and full worker involvement to ensure a Just Transition that protects jobs and communities.

“Responsible business conduct is not optional – it is central to the future of steel. Companies must reinvest in production and workers, rather than paying out dividends. And due diligence must be done with workers, not despite them with genuine union involvement, independent worker voice, and credible grievance mechanisms. Without genuine union involvement, independent worker voice and credible grievance mechanisms, we risk weak audits, corporate whitewashing and further disruption to an already fragile industry,”

said Atle Høie IndustriALL general secretary

Finally, trade unions reaffirmed their readiness to work with governments, industry and the OECD to deliver coordinated solutions. They called for decisive action to support sustainable steel production, quality jobs and fair global competition.

Read the TUAC statement here

OECD Steel Committee meeting in Paris on 23–24 March 2026
OECD Steel Committee meeting in Paris on 23–24 March 2026

Yaoundé’s thin harvest: WTO ministers meeting delivers little gains for Africa

WTO reform, e-commerce, fisheries subsidies, agriculture, and the least-developed countries package was deferred back to Geneva, Switzerland, for further work.

The outcome disappointed trade unions and civil society organizations, who had their own parallel meetings, and hoped that the meeting would deliver real progress on long-standing development concerns. Instead, it exposed sharp differences over policy space for developing countries, the future of digital trade, and the balance between multilateral interests and national sovereignty.

Deadlock over digital duties

The most visible stalemate concerned the long-standing moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions. The moratorium, in place since 1998, prevents members from taxing cross-border digital products such as software, music or e-books. Traditionally renewed every two years, the moratorium lapsed after ministers, who are the WTO’s highest decision-making body, failed to agree on an extension.

The United States initially pushed for a permanent ban, later offering a five-year renewal. Brazil insisted on sticking to the two-year norm, arguing that a longer freeze would limit developing countries’ ability to generate revenue and shape digital policy. The related moratorium on non-violation and situation complaints under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement also expired without renewal.

Trade unions including ITUC, IndustriALL Global Union, Public Services International, and African civil society organisations including the Africa Trade Network, viewed the failure as a reflection of deeper imbalances in the WTO frameworks. Most argued that a permanent or extended moratorium would disproportionately benefit large digital exporters while limiting options in economies still building their digital infrastructure.

Missed opportunity for agriculture

Agriculture, a priority for African and other developing members, again yielded no concrete advances. No decisions were reached on domestic support, market access, public food security or the special safeguard mechanism. The long-standing demands of the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali) on subsidies also went unaddressed. The United States had blocked progress on agriculture earlier in the conference, calling for a fundamental reset of the negotiations.

Another flashpoint was on the proposed incorporation of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement into the WTO rulebook. Trade unions and civil society warned that formal adoption risked undermining the consensus-based nature of the organisation.

Trade union and civil society representatives pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area Investment Protocol as a more suitable regional framework, arguing that it avoids adversarial international arbitration and better protects domestic investors.

Paule-France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa said the meeting is a missed opportunity to expand industrial policy space for decent job creation, particularly for Africa’s youthful population in line with the Marrakech Agreement which established the WTO.

“Fairer and more equitable trade rules that create jobs and prioritize African workers and communities are needed as pathways going forward,”

she said.

Due diligence needs trade union participation

The meeting underscored the importance of the ongoing shift from voluntary approaches to binding obligations. Laws such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive require companies to identify risks, prevent violations and provide remedy. This creates space for unions to intervene across supply chains. Organizing around compliance can improve transparency, strengthen bargaining and expose violations early.

Atle Høie, general secretary of IndustriALL emphasized:

“We have many instruments available, but we are tired of tools that have no teeth. Binding laws are opening new doors, but workers must walk through them.”

Worker participation and real oversight

A key message was that due diligence is meaningless without trade union participation. Workers must be involved in risk assessments, monitoring and remediation.

Participants noted that companies often bypass unions or present false compliance narratives. Independent, worker-led assessments are essential to reflect conditions in informal units, subcontracted factories and home-based work.

Participants identified access to information, protection from retaliation and stronger social dialogue as critical.

Ground realities and gaps

Interventions highlighted serious challenges. Workers in energy, mining, textile and home-based sectors face high risks with limited protection. Unsafe conditions, lack of protective equipment and repeated accidents show the urgency of preventive action.

Concerns raised included precarious employment in the supply chain with very low union density, exclusion from inspections and employer-controlled unions. Language barriers further limit access to information.

Cases of denied compensation, retaliation and weak enforcement show how companies evade accountability.

Pakistan HRDD: trade unions at the centre

Strengthening union capacity emerged as a priority, including supply chain mapping and plant level education.

Participants called for stronger coordination across unions and borders, with international solidarity seen as indispensable.

Using HRDD as leverage

Binding frameworks can shift power only if unions act collectively. Instruments like the Pakistan Accord, global framework agreements, OECD guidelines and ILO standards can be used to support organizing.

With growing pressures from climate change, industrial policy and trade shifts, unions stressed the need to ensure worker voices shape these transitions. The meeting reaffirmed that due diligence is a pathway to accountability and stronger worker power.

Ashutosh Bhattacharya IndustriALL South Asia regional secretary, said:

“Accountability begins where workers can speak without fear. Real change will only come when workers are including in shaping industrial and climate policy.”