Who runs the world? Not workers. It’s time that changed.

By Kemal Ozkan, assistant general secretary, IndustriALL Global Union

The interest rates that determine whether a government can afford hospitals or must cut them. The debt frameworks that shape whether a country invests in its people or services its creditors. The labour market prescriptions that tell governments whether to protect workers or deregulate them.

I was in those rooms in early March. What I witnessed made me angry. But anger, for those of us who lead workers’ organizations, is not enough. Our job is to understand, to challenge, and to organize. 

So let me tell you what I saw, and why it matters to every worker, from a garment factory in Bangladesh to a mine in South Africa.

The world is run in towers disconnected from workers

The decisions made in Washington’s grand institutions flow outward into the real world with extraordinary force, yet the people most affected by those decisions have almost no voice in making them. That is why organizations like IndustriALL are there, to carry the ground realities of workers from the Global South and Global North into rooms where they would otherwise never be heard.

And what we heard in those rooms this year was troubling. What we are witnessing is not just a failure of policy. It is a regression.

Those of us old enough to remember the 1980s will recognize the language, deregulation, austerity, the primacy of markets over people. That ideology never went away. It is back, redesigned and more aggressive, reshaping global governance in ways that are shrinking the space for democracy at every level.

The numbers tell the story, and they are damning

The evidence is not in dispute. The G20 Extraordinary Committee report on global inequality, led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and commissioned under South Africa’s G20 presidency, found that 83 per cent of countries have high income inequality. Between 2000 and 2024, the richest 1 per cent captured 41 per cent of all new wealth created globally, while the bottom half of humanity captured just 1 per cent. The richest 1 per cent saw their average wealth grow by US$1.3 million over that period. Someone in the poorest half of humanity saw their wealth grow by an average of US$585.

The labour share of national income, the share of what an economy produces that goes to workers rather than capital, has fallen in 56 per cent of countries since 1990. Between 2019 and 2024, average global CEO pay increased by 50 per cent, while average worker pay rose by less than 1 per cent. (ILO Global Wage Report 2024-25)

These are not abstract statistics. They describe a world in which the system is working exactly as designed, and it is not designed for workers.

The debt trap and what it means on the factory floor

One of the most powerful moments in Washington came from Zambian trade unionists. Zambia was the first African nation to default on its sovereign debt in 2020. But Zambia is not alone. More than 70 countries, particularly in the Global South, are caught in a debt crisis that is suffocating their economies and their workers.

How did so many countries end up here? In large part, by following the prescriptions of the very institutions that now manage their debt. And when the crisis comes, those institutions return, not with new thinking, but with the same conditions: austerity, spending cuts, guarantees that debts to large financial institutions and rich creditor nations are serviced first. The result is not prosperity. It is the hollowing out of public services, the collapse of investment, and, on the factory floor and in the mine, job losses, worsening conditions and wages that cannot cover the cost of living.

Today, 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest repayments than on education or health. (UNCTAD, 2025) That is not a financing problem. It is a justice problem.

Measuring jobs, and why it matters who counts

In our discussions with the World Bank, we challenged their approach to measuring job quality. The Bank uses average earnings as a headline indicator of progress. We pushed back hard.

Here is why this matters. When a government is told its economy is creating jobs and average earnings are rising, it sounds like success. But averages hide everything. They obscure the explosion of precarious, informal and platform work. They say nothing about whether a wage is a living wage, whether it is enough to feed a family, pay rent, afford healthcare. They say nothing about whether workers have the right to organize, to bargain collectively, to refuse unsafe conditions.

There is a wage crisis in the world today. In many countries, wages do not cover basic needs. The bottom of the human needs pyramid, food, shelter, safety, is out of reach for millions of people who work full time. When the institutions that shape global economic policy measure success by indicators that cannot see this reality, the reality never changes.

We are demanding that the World Bank change its methodology. We are demanding an end to austerity prescriptions that cut public sector wages and dismantle the social services workers depend on. Decent work, with fundamental rights, social protection and social dialogue at its centre, must be the measure of economic progress, not a footnote to it.

Taxation and the theft of the future

The labour share is falling. Wealth is concentrating at the top. And the tax system, which should be the mechanism for returning some of that wealth to society, is failing, deliberately.

Globally, billionaires pay an effective tax rate equivalent to just 0.3 per cent of their wealth. (Zucman, Blueprint for a coordinated minimum effective taxation standard, EU Tax Observatory/G20, 2024) The average statutory corporate income tax rate across all OECD and Inclusive Framework jurisdictions fell from 28 per cent in 2000 to 21.1 per cent in 2021. (OECD Corporate Tax Statistics, 2024) And in January 2026, the OECD’s global minimum corporate tax deal, already a compromise, was weakened further, with US multinationals exempted from key provisions of the 15 per cent minimum rate. (OECD Side-by-Side Package, January 2026)

This is not a technical adjustment. It is a political choice that tells workers in Indonesia, Zambia and Brazil that the rules of the global economy will continue to be written by and for the powerful. Every dollar that flows untaxed into the accounts of corporations and billionaires is a dollar not spent on schools, hospitals, infrastructure and the public services that workers depend on.

Wealth inequality is now worse than income inequality, and if the global tax regime does not change, the inequality figures will never change either.

Democracy is the thread that connects everything

AI, debt, taxation, social protection, these look like separate issues. They are not. They are all symptoms of the same underlying failure: a global governance system that is not democratic, that does not represent the majority of the world’s people, and that has been captured by interests that are not theirs.

We see this most clearly in this year’s G20. The Trump administration’s US presidency has removed labour, employment and inequality from the G20 agenda entirely. South Africa, which drove genuine progress for workers during its 2025 presidency, has been disinvited. The Labour 20 has not been recognized. Only the Business 20 remains at the table.

This is not a procedural matter. It is an attack on democratic institutions and on the basic principle that those affected by decisions should have a voice in making them. 

The deregulation agenda being pushed through the G20 is not about freeing economies. It is about removing the protections that workers fought for over generations, safety standards, labour rights, environmental rules, to benefit a small elite.

This is shameful. And it will not stand.

What we will do

What I heard in Washington made me angry. What I saw made me outraged. But as leaders of the union movement, our job is not to cry or simply to speak out. Our job is to understand, to educate and to mobilize.

The global union movement will not wait for an invitation from a G20 presidency that has made clear workers are not welcome. We will mobilize our forces. We will build our alliances with civil society. We will carry the labour and social agenda, already established through years of work under previous G20 presidencies, into every platform and every future presidency that will listen. 

The United Kingdom’s G20 presidency in 2027 must hear us clearly.

At IndustriALL’s last Congress, we adopted a slogan: organizing for a just future. That slogan was not chosen for a moment. It was chosen for a struggle that will not end. A new generation of workers will carry it forward.

Hope is our capital

We never lose hope. Hope is our capital. But hope alone is not enough. It must be combined with knowledge, energy, solidarity and organized power. That is what IndustriALL brings to those rooms in Washington. That is what we will bring everywhere the decisions are made that shape the lives of working people around the world.

Global unions call for defence of democracy and workers’ rights at G20

The statement comes as the Trump administration’s US G20 presidency has stripped back the G20 agenda to three priorities, deregulation, fossil fuel expansion and AI, refusing to convene working groups on employment, development, health or inequality.

South Africa, which drove significant progress for workers during its 2025 G20 presidency, has not been invited to this year’s summit and has been replaced by Poland. The L20 itself has not been recognized by the US presidency.

ITUC general secretary Luc Triangle warned that any attempt to weaken democratic institutions or workers’ protections in favour of billionaires and big corporations will only deepen inequality and instability.

TUAC general secretary Veronica Nilsson added that working people need their governments to tackle inequality, climate change and technological disruption, not fuel them with deregulation, fossil fuel expansion and unchecked corporate power.

Workers’ demands for the G20

The L20 statement sets out a comprehensive vision for what the G20 should deliver for working people, including fair and living wages, universal social protection, rights-based regulation, a just transition away from fossil fuels, and fair taxation upheld by a UN tax convention.

The statement also explicitly endorses the establishment of an International Panel on Inequality, a key recommendation of the G20 Extraordinary Committee report on global inequality commissioned under the South African presidency and led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

The union movement is clear that the current US G20 agenda moves in the opposite direction. The L20 statement describes the deregulation agenda as a cover for shifting the role of government from advancing the interests of all people to reinforcing inequality for the benefit of a small elite.

“The decision to exclude the Labour 20 from the G20 is not an oversight. It is a statement about whose interests this presidency serves. Workers are not a side issue in the global economy, they are the global economy. We will not wait for an invitation that is not coming. We will build the counter-agenda that working people need and make sure it shapes every G20 presidency that follows this one,”

said Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.

What is at stake

The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled for 14-15 December 2026 in Miami. With no working groups on labour, employment or inequality convened under the US presidency, unions are building their own counter-agenda, through public campaigns, coalition-building and engagement with future G20 presidencies, including the United Kingdom’s in 2027.

Strengthening union organizing efforts in Nigeria’s manufacturing industries

Discussions during the mission, 9-11 March, focused on persistent violations of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, particularly at Chinese-owned firms. This happened alongside widespread decent-work deficits, precarious working conditions, the erosion of living wages and legal obstacles to union recognition most notably at Dangote Industries. Delegates and affiliates also examined challenges in defending workers’ rights along supply chains and strategies to increase union density.

The mission coincided with an International Women’s Day event in Lagos hosted by the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers (NUTGTW) on 11 March under the theme: Rights. Justice. Action. For all women and girls.”

Policy responses for economic development

The IndustriALL mission heard that Nigeria’s manufacturing revival faces formidable structural challenges. Chronic energy shortages, rooted in ageing infrastructure and recurrent national-grid collapses, continue to throttle industrial output. Early this year, about 16 power plants were offline at once, leaving generation at about 4,000 MW despite far higher installed capacity. 

The cost-of-living crisis has further eroded real incomes. The national minimum wage of ₦70,000 (US$51) per month, introduced in 2024, has been rapidly overtaken by persistent inflation, prompting the Nigeria Labour Congress to demand an urgent review in 2026. Youth unemployment remains high, compounding social pressures in a country where the informal economy still dominates.

However, policy initiatives supported by unions offer pathways forward. For example, the government’s National Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) policy seeks to revive a once-vibrant value chain from farm to factory through targeted financing via the Bank of Industry. The establishment of a dedicated development board aims to curb billions of dollars in annual garment imports and generate much-needed jobs. Broader industrialisation efforts emphasise the untapped potential of Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves, particularly through the Decade of Gas programme, to power domestic manufacturing and position the country as a regional energy hub.

Regional and international trade agreements could amplify these gains. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) promises expanded market access and the development of cross-border value chains. Further, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), recently renewed for one year, provides tariff-free entry into the US market for eligible goods.

The unions said the levels of unionization in Nigerian manufacturing remain modest, reflecting both legal and practical barriers to organising.

“There are great opportunities to deepen organizing across most manufacturing sectors in Nigeria. For this to materialise, respect for trade-union rights and genuine collective bargaining is essential,”

said IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan.

The delegation included Rose Omamo, IndustriALL vice president, and Paule-France Ndessomin, the regional secretary for sub-Saharan Africa.

IndustriALL’s Nigerian affiliates are the Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association (CANMPSSAN), the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers (NUTGTW), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFLNANMPE), the Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN), the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Dangote.

Chattanooga’s 97 per cent victory: How workers won dignity and power

For Steve Cochran, bargaining co-chair of United Auto Workers (UAW), an IndustriALL affiliate in Tennessee, the victory was years in the making.

“97 per cent shows the workers here have the utmost respect and trust in their bargaining team. It sends a clear message: the people in this plant stand behind this agreement. They stand behind their union,”

says Steve Cochran.

Years of broken promises

The road to victory was long. Workers first tried to organize more than a decade ago, in 2014. They narrowly lost that vote after an intense anti-union campaign, with company leaders and outside political figures warning that unionization would threaten jobs and future investment.

Another hard-fought effort in 2019 also fell short. Workers then stepped back to reflect on what had and had not changed. Despite repeated assurances from management that concerns about wages, healthcare costs, schedules and advancement would be addressed without union representation, little improved. Workers saw promises made and promises broken.

Frustrations deepened. Pay scales remained uneven and healthcare costs continued to climb. Inflation tightened household budgets, especially for younger workers and families trying to buy homes or raise children. Conversations on the shop floor, in break rooms and online grew more urgent as workers compared their conditions with gains won elsewhere in the auto industry.

“People don’t just work to work,”

Steve Cochran says.


“They work to support their families, to spend time with them, to live with dignity.”

The 2024 organizing victory made Chattanooga the first Southern auto assembly plant outside the Big Three to unionize and one of the few unionized auto plants in the southern United States.

What changed between the earlier defeats and the 97 per cent ratification vote was not just strategy but confidence. Workers who had once hesitated began to speak openly. Employees listened to veterans who had lived through both failed campaigns. The sense of isolation management once relied on began to dissolve. Many workers were no longer asking whether they needed a union but how to win one.

Then came the company’s union busting. Steve Cochran describes captive-audience meetings, warnings about future products and suggestions that outside forces would take control of the plant. Chuck Browning, the UAW’s chief negotiator, says the company’s approach during the most recent organizing drive appeared less aggressive than in earlier campaigns, partly because momentum among workers had already shifted toward unionization.

The shift was also a result of work behind the scenes, IG Metall and the VW World Works Council worked hard to convince VW management to stay neutral. That meant no outside parties would be let into the plant in the lead up to the vote, a common occurrence during union campaigns is that companies pay high-priced union busters to scare workers into voting against their interest with misinformation and threats. No third parties meant no union busters, politicians, or persuasive religious leaders could intervene in then union election, common tactics companies use to manipulate union elections. This was a game changer for those workers.

“This election was different because the workers were determined and an agreement negotiated by the VW Works Council and IG Metall with the company kept outside pressure out of the plant. When they told me they had this agreement, I couldn’t believe it—but they stuck to it, even when local politicians called Germany to gain access. Without politicians, union busters, or others trying to influence them, workers were able to vote out of choice, not fear, and that made all the difference. Who are we? UAW!”

said UAW Region 8 director Tim Smith, who oversees UAW business in Tennessee and other southern US states.

While the company still communicated its position and raised concerns about the union, Chuck Browning says the atmosphere differed from previous drives when opposition had been stronger.

 Fear and uncertainty were part of the strategy. But by then, workers were already talking to each other and were ready to answer with facts.

Facing fear with facts

The union responded with education and unity.

“We answered with facts. We answered with the law,” Steve Cochran explains. “It’s illegal to threaten jobs or benefits. Once workers saw the company wasn’t being truthful, the propaganda stopped working.”

Instead of retreating, workers used each meeting as fuel. They debriefed afterwards, compared notes and corrected misinformation through WhatsApp and Facebook group chats and face-to-face conversations.

Chuck Browning says the union anticipated the company would communicate directly with workers and try to shape perceptions of the negotiations. In response, the union adopted a transparent approach.

“We were constantly communicating with the members as well as the public,”

he says.

“If the company offered something good, we would elaborate on that. If they were misrepresenting something, we would communicate that and show them the contract language.”

Even an 11 per cent pay raise from the company, announced as union support was growing, could not derail the organizing drive. Workers saw it as an attempt to stall momentum and show improvements were possible without a union.

The breakthrough came when management presented what it called its “last, best and final offer”, one that failed to protect jobs or secure the standards workers wanted. The bargaining team did not immediately put that offer to a vote. Instead, it asked workers for a strike authorization vote.

Workers delivered.

“As soon as we got that strike vote, the company came back to the table,” says Steve Cochran. “That’s the power of solidarity.”

Chuck Browning says the strike vote was used deliberately, at that moment it could create real leverage. Rather than holding it early as a formality, the union waited until workers could show clearly that the company’s offer did not have their support. The move shifted the pressure and brought Volkswagen back into serious negotiations.

Inspiration from collective action

The breakthrough in Chattanooga did not happen in isolation. It was fuelled by national momentum.

In 2023, UAW halted strikes at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors(The Big Three) after reaching tentative agreements on record contracts in a historic national dispute that began on 15 September. The gains won at the Big Three automakers reverberated far beyond those plants.

“The Big Three negotiations in 2023 helped us a lot,” Steve Cochran explains. “Workers saw what collective action and solidarity could achieve. They saw people standing together and actually winning.”

For Chattanooga workers, those victories were proof

“We just applied that to us too,” he says. “We can get those same things if we stick together and move forward. It became clear that if we didn’t act together, we would continue falling behind.”

Seeing autoworkers at the Big Three secure record contracts strengthened confidence in Tennessee and replaced doubt with determination.

“Respect and dignity are priceless,” Steve Cochran says. “If the company won’t give it to you, you have to stand together and take it back.”

When the 97 per cent result was announced, Steve Cochran says the reaction was immediate.

“It was overwhelming. People had never seen anything like it. You celebrate for a few hours. Then the next day, you go back to work and keep building.”

A different atmosphere on the shop floor

Just days after the contract took effect, the change was visible.

 “The morale boost was amazing,” Steve Cochran says. “For the first time, I saw people brighten up and be happy to be at work. You don’t have to be miserable at work. Now we have work rules. We have rights. We have respect.”

The agreement covers 3,250 workers and sets a new standard in the U.S. South, where anti-union pressure remains strong.

Chuck Browning says the contract addressed the issues workers cared about most: healthcare, job security, inflation protection and respect on the shop floor. Job security was the top priority. The agreement includes product commitment, protections if the plant were sold, limits on outsourcing and protections against plant closure. Workers also won the right to strike over health and safety issues.

He says workers had long experienced unfair treatment, from job assignments and shifts to how complaints were handled. A heavy-handed random drug testing policy was also addressed in the agreement.

Automakers across the region have ramped up anti-union messaging. But for Steve Cochran, that only confirms one thing:

“They’re scared and that shows we have strength and momentum.”

No complacency. Only momentum

Far from slowing down, the victory has sparked calls from workers across the country asking how it was achieved.

The answer is simple, Steve Cochran says: know your goal, plan and never give up.

“All the companies use the same tactics. We already know what they’re going to say. We just get in front of it and talk to workers like auto workers. You connect. You build trust.”

The next challenge is ensuring management understands that the rules have changed.

“They’ve always had all the power. Now they don’t. The sooner they accept that, the better our relationship will be.”

For Chuck Browning, Chattanooga’s victory also sends a message beyond Volkswagen. It shows workers at non-union plants that organizing and winning a contract is possible and that it can improve both their economic lives and their day-to-day experiences at work.

A message to workers everywhere

For workers who believe a union victory is out of reach, Steve Cochran offers clear advice:

“Look around. Ask yourself why you’re even talking about organizing. The company has the chance to fix things. If they won’t, you must make them. And the way you make them is by standing together.”

He pauses, then adds:

“You never fail unless you give up. If you don’t give up, you’ll reach your goal.”

Chuck Browning puts it this way:

“Every union contract that we have ever achieved, at some point people said it was impossible. It’s impossible until you do it.”

In Chattanooga, workers proved that solidarity could transform fear into courage and a workplace into a place of dignity.

From law to action: New centre to strengthen workers’ rights through human rights due diligence laws

With regulations like the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains and the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), millions of workers around the globe have access to new tools to protect their rights. However, without adequate enforcement and accountability support, these laws risk becoming box-ticking measures rather than real safeguards.

The new centre fills a much-needed gap.

Pilot programmes are underway with trade unions in the mining sector in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the garment sector in Cambodia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, to test and develop strategies for workers to be meaningfully involved in the human rights due diligence process for their value chains. 

The vision for these pilots is to move companies from an overreliance on social audits, which often amount to box-ticking exercises, to a dialogue-based process with workers at the core. The centre will support unions to advocate for their role as stakeholders in risk identification, in action plan design, and in dialogue to define and ensure remedies.

“We are at a pivotal moment. New human rights due diligence and trade laws are fundamentally changing how business is done in global supply chains. The legal infrastructure for responsible business is still being built across the world, but practices must start changing now. Workers and their unions must be at the centre of company assessment, mitigation and remediation of human rights risks. The Competence Centre will support workers and their representatives to make sure these new laws deliver concrete results for workers in value chains that underpin our global economy,”

says Kelly Fay Rodríguez, head of the new Competence Centre.

The official launch event on 26 March will focus on the evolving legal landscape, models for embedding workers’ rights in supply chain due diligence, and workers’ perspectives on responsible business conduct.

“For too long, human rights due diligence has meant paperwork, not progress. Workers in global supply chains need more than laws on paper – they need the tools and support to make those laws work for them. The Competence Centre gives unions the leverage to do exactly that: to move from compliance rituals to real accountability, and to ensure that workers are at the heart of the process, not an afterthought,”

says Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary. 

Workers will talk about their real-life experience with human rights due diligence, how it has improved conditions and why it is urgently needed. Companies will detail how workers and unions augment their approach to risks and human rights due diligence. Policy makers will frame the need for the centre to strengthen due diligence laws. 

“We’ve already seen what’s possible. Our members have used the German supply chain law to stop anti-union campaigns and improve their jobs through collective bargaining. The Competence Centre will help unions everywhere do the same – because when these laws work properly, the result goes beyond legal compliance. It means safer jobs and lives protected,”

says Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union general secretary.

The centre will operate a virtual helpdesk for trade unions – a strategic hub providing advice, guidance and referrals on human rights due diligence laws. The helpdesk will identify where regulatory frameworks and accountability mechanisms create additional leverage for unions to challenge rights violations and get remedy for workers where it is due. It will also provide a crucial connection for rightsholders to legal and advocacy groups who can support them in bringing cases.

“Due diligence laws are only as strong as their enforcement. Without real accountability, they risk becoming box-ticking exercises. This new Competence Centre will help ensure workers have a seat at the table and a real say in how risks are identified and addressed. When properly implemented, due diligence not only protects workers’ rights – it also strengthens the resilience of global supply chains. For the DGB, that is non-negotiable,“

says Yasmin Fahimi, president of the German Confederation of Trade Unions.

The centre’s steering committee, comprised of UNI, IndustriALL and DGB, will focus on three key objectives:

1. Build capacity of trade unions globally to use human rights due diligence obligations to defend workers’ rights.

2. Support strategic interventions using HRDD instruments to address specific workers’ rights violations.

3. Advocate for effective human rights due diligence laws and their implementation.

UNI Global Union and IndustriALL Global Union have worked with partners in Germany, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the German trade union confederation DGB, to build this new resource for the global labour movement. The establishment of the Competence Centre is financed by IGS (Investing in Resilient and Sustainable Global Supply Chains), a global programme of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The Competence Centre is a non-profit foundation registered in the Netherlands and is building a small, remote team based in Europe, the US, Asia and Africa.

Background

The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act has been in effect since January 2023 and will be a key focus of the centre’s activities. The Supply Chain Act requires large companies (over 1,000 employees) to conduct human rights due diligence to identify, mitigate and prevent risks of abuse of human rights and environmental harm in their global operations and supply chains.

The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was adopted in February 2026 and must be implemented by all EU member states by July 2028. The centre’s mandate will be expanded once the CSDDD is in force.

Other relevant corporate legal accountability instruments include the EU Forced Labour Regulation, the US Forced Labour Prevention Act, and trade agreements containing labour rights provisions.

India’s just transition is leaving workers behind

What emerged was not only concerns about exclusion, but a deeper critique of gaps between policy formation and governance design, where workers may be acknowledged as stakeholders in principle but remain excluded in practice.

Policy language vs ground reality

India’s transition is often framed in ambitious and progressive terms. Government narratives emphasize renewable expansion, climate targets, and green growth. Policy frameworks recognize that the transition will affect not just energy systems, but also employment, regional economies, and social stability. 

However, participants repeatedly pointed to a disconnect between this political language and actual practice.

While frameworks are being designed, trade unions remain largely excluded from taskforces, committees, and ministerial processes shaping them. Even in states like Jharkhand, where the impacts of coal dependency are most acute, unions reported having no formal representation in planning bodies.

As a result, unions are not shaping policy but merely reacting to it, with interventions often occurring only after decisions have already begun to impact workers, limiting their ability to influence outcomes.

Transition without dialogue

The absence of structured social dialogue is not merely procedural but has material consequences. Participants highlighted that even large-scale protests and mobilizations have failed to compel governments to open lines of communication with unions.

In some cases, bipartite negotiations with management have yielded results, but these remain limited and inconsistent, often dependent on personal relationships rather than institutional frameworks. This raises concerns about sustainability and transparency.

At the same time, unions noted that international frameworks—such as those linked to decent work and development goals—can sometimes be leveraged to force inclusion. 

Informalization as a core feature of the transition

A key finding from policy analysis and field discussions is that transition is not eliminating precarious work but reorganizing it.

In coal, production has not declined in proportion to transition narratives. Instead, there has been a freeze on permanent jobs, accompanied by increased use of contract labour. Examples such as NMDC Ltd. were cited, where pressure to maintain production has led to greater reliance on outsourced work.

This aligns with what has been described as a “wait-out strategy,” where difficult decisions around restructuring and closure are deferred through gradual informalization.

In renewable energy, employment is often precarious and short-term, disappearing once projects become operational.

The missing pillar: social protection

Discussions made clear that Just Transition must also address income security and social protection.

Policy assessments already recognize that the transition is not only about energy substitution but about restructuring entire regional economies.

However, while the scale of financial disruption is acknowledged, there is little clarity on how resources will be redistributed to protect workers and communities.

Contract workers often lack access to basic benefits, legal protections, and safety nets. Participants highlighted the absence of frameworks to support workers nearing retirement, displaced by closures or unable to transition into new sectors.

Mine closures and collapse of local economies

The consequences of unplanned mine closures extend far beyond the loss of jobs. Entire local economies built around mining face collapse.

Policy discussions recognize the need for planned mine closures, land rehabilitation, and economic diversification.

However, participants described how closures have led to the emergence of ghost towns, where the shutdown of mines triggers a chain reaction: workers migrate, services shut down, and local economies collapse. In some cases, communities are effectively displaced, becoming “refugees” within their own country.

Skills without security

Recent policy modelling underscores the scale and complexity of India’s transition, highlighting its far-reaching social and economic implications.

While skill development is often presented as a key solution, participants were sceptical of its effectiveness.

Without alignment between training, job availability and working conditions, skilling risks becoming a statistical exercise rather than a pathway to secure livelihoods.

Health, safety and regulation gaps

Health and safety emerged as a critical concern across both traditional and emerging sectors.

Serious accidents, weak enforcement and absence of safety mechanisms, particularly for contract workers are exacerbated in renewable sectors due to weak standards and limited union presence.

This raised questions about whether the transition is improving working conditions or shifts risks into less regulated spaces.

Gender: beyond representation

Women workers are often concentrated in low-paid, insecure roles, with limited access to benefits or advancement. At the same time, unions themselves must address internal barriers to participation, including the lack of safe spaces and inclusive structures.

Participants emphasized that achieving gender equality requires active engagement from male workers and leadership, as well as concrete measures to ensure representation and safety.

The need for supply chain organizing

A recurring theme was the fragmentation of worker power across increasingly complex supply chains.

The transition is not limited to mines or energy plants but extends to transport, manufacturing, and ancillary services.

The need to map and organize across entire supply chains was emphasized to strengthen collective bargaining power: not only direct employees, but also those indirectly dependent on these industries, such as transport workers and local service providers.

Towards a worker-led transition

Despite these challenges, the meeting also outlined a strategic path forward.

Participants proposed formation of a Just Transition committee to coordinate efforts, bridge policy and ground realities, and develop a unified union position.

There was also strong emphasis on building union capacity, expanding and diversifying membership, and fostering cooperation between unions to combat fragmentation.

Diana Junquera Curiel, director for industrial policy at IndustriALL Global Union emphasized:

“Without clear protections and planning, the transition risks creating more precarious work than it replaces.”

Ashutosh Bhattacharya regional secretary of IndustriALL South Asia says:

“A transition designed without workers is not Just, but imposed.”

Unions voice concerns over Anglo American restructuring

After fending off BHP’s hostile bid worth over US$40 billion in 2024, Anglo American chose to streamline. It shed nickel and steelmaking coal assets. The demerger of its platinum business into Valterra Platinum wrapped up in May 2025.

Talks drag on for the sale of De Beers, eyed for completion in 2026. Meanwhile, Anglo American merged with Canada’s Teck Resources to create Anglo Teck, a major copper player.

Workers at Valterra Platinum in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and at De Beers in Botswana and Namibia, demand firm protections. These cover freedom of association, collective bargaining and maternity rights. They insist on a just transition that honours their benefits and interests.

The demands emerged under the existing memorandum of understanding between IndustriALL and Anglo American. The MoU covers dialogue on health and safety, ending gender-based violence and harassment, sustainable mining which includes environmental, social, and governance issues. 

The global dialogue tackles new technologies, training, retraining, a Just Transition for coal workers and compliance with the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA).

Key worries surfaced. IRMA audits flagged respiratory risks and exposure issues at Sishen in South Africa. Unions pointed to ageing equipment at Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela mine. At Unki mine in Zimbabwe, power cuts weaken ventilation without backups, raising accident risks.

Workers are anxious

Anxiety runs high during disposals. Workers at De Beers in Botswana and South Africa feel lost. Voluntary retrenchment packages for over 1,000 in Botswana triggered panic — refusing might mean no job. “Workers at Joaneng and Orapa feel like lost sheep in the bush,” said Fenellah Thebe from Debswana.

Stephen Smyth, general vice president of Australia’s Mining and Energy Union, highlighted success in Australia. Unions and Anglo American jointly embraced global health standards, hazard identification and risk management on the continent.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, stressed full MoU adherence. The MoU upholds global dialogue, collective bargaining and union voice. Anglo American’s policies and culture must address legacy issues in transitions, he said, especially for workers in critical raw materials as well as maintaining industrial harmony. 

He emphasized that

“the current global dialogue is essential for aligning IndustriALL’s strategies with corporate changes, ensuring that demergers do not erode hard-won gains in labour rights, fair transition frameworks, and inclusive industrial policies across Southern Africa.” 

He further explained that it is the expectation that Anglo’s description on searching for like-minded takeover for diamond operations reflects the standards and values of the company in terms of their operation as well maintaining Industrial harmony and cooperation with its stakeholders. 

The meeting covered demerged entities like Valterra Platinum and Unki. Concerns include contractor labour-broking at Unki evading collective agreements, casualisation blocking benefits, rising silicosis claims at Mogalakwena, and for embracing of human rights due diligence by sub-contractors.

Gender mainstreaming and addressing gender-based violence and harassment

On gender, Anglo American reported 38 per cent women in top management and progress via its Living with Dignity hub — reporting of GBVH jumped to 75 from 10-20 per cent. Unions called for harmonising company policies with collective bargaining and ending bullying and harassment.

IRMA findings at Sishen and Kolomela revealed gaps: inconsistent risk assessments, training gaps, weak respiratory programmes, and worker reluctance to refuse unsafe work.

Delegates urged Anglo American to ensure “like-minded” buyers uphold standards. They pushed for extended dialogue covering Anglo Teck and future partners not yet under the MoU.

Unions stay cautiously optimistic. Anglo Teck’s copper projects in Chile and Peru, alongside iron-ore expansion in Brazil, should create more jobs than they cut.

Collective bargaining changes lives for South African workers

“We are workers by day, family members at home and community members by night,”

one delegate told the conference. The remark underscored the many roles workers juggle and why collective bargaining matters beyond the factory floor.

SACTWU, an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, held the event from 7 to 9 March under the theme: unity, jobs, growth and service to members.

The union has more than 100,000 members across sectors including clothing, footwear, tanning, laundry, farming and agro-processing and was formed in 1989.

Newcastle: when the rule of law collapses

SACTWU workers marching in Cape Town with Break the Chains in our Supply Chains placard, March 2026
SACTWU delegates march through Cape Town calling for an end to supply chain exploitation, during the union’s national bargaining conference, March 2026.

Delegates condemned appalling conditions in sweatshops in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. A joint inspection blitz led by the Department of Employment and Labour, overseen by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, uncovered widespread labour and immigration violations in the Amajuba district on 5 February 2026.

The operation exposed extreme exploitation, unsafe workplaces and slave-like practices in factories supplying major South African retailers including Mr Price, Pick’n Pay, Ackermans, Pepkor and JET, all violating labour laws and safety standards. Most workers in the factories are undocumented, SACTWU general secretary Bonita Loubser confirmed. The union is taking legal action through the courts and bargaining councils to enforce compliance with national labour laws.

Inspectors found undocumented foreign nationals living on the premises of clothing and textile factories in conditions described as unhygienic and at serious risk of fire. Video footage recorded during the raids showed hundreds of boxes of clothing bearing labels of well-known South African retail brands.

“The Newcastle horror shows what happens when the rule of law collapses,” SACTWU said in its conference declaration. Weak policing, sparse inspections, lax immigration controls and broken health, safety and justice systems have allowed profit-driven employers to exploit workers unchecked.

Conference delegates took the fight outside, picketing retail shops to “break the chains” of worker exploitation in national supply chains.

Fighting for living wages

COSATU president Susan Khumalo speaking at SACTWU conference with COSATU and SACTWU banners behind her, Cape Town, March 2026
COSATU president Susan Khumalo addresses delegates at the SACTWU national bargaining conference in Cape Town, 7–9 March 2026.

The next round of negotiations will cover annual and family-responsibility leave, working hours, job grading, healthcare, retirement benefits and job security.

The union also seeks organizational rights, wage guarantees and expanded bargaining units, with delegates stressing that demands must remain sector-specific to reflect the realities of each industry.

Bonita Loubser, SACTWU general secretary, called the conference vital.

“The conference consolidates living-wage mandates from workplaces, strengthens shop stewards, sharpens strategy and prepares for negotiations,” she said.

Susan Khumalo, SACTWU president and IndustriALL’s Sub-Saharan Africa regional co-chair, added:

“Collective bargaining changes lives through living wages, better conditions, stable industrial relations and protection of the right to organize.”

Unions transform society

Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) president Zingiswa Losi addressed delegates, telling them:

“Trade unions organize workers, defend rights and transform society.”

With many young shop stewards attending for the first time, Losi emphasized that recruiting young workers is a way to secure union power. SACTWU is affiliated to COSATU.

“Our membership growth campaign is crucial because membership is the heart of the union. Without sufficient and large membership, there is no strong union power. Our collective bargaining season provides us with a fantastic opportunity to further grow our union membership,”

said Michael Shabalala, SACTWU 2nd national organizing secretary.

On job protection, the conference stressed the need for campaigns to secure decent jobs under the African Continental Free Trade Area and other trade agreements.

Delegates also called for implementation of the Retail-Clothing Footwear Textile Leather masterplan and stronger safeguards against cheap imports.

Michael Shabalala, SACTWU 2nd national organising secretary, at the podium with SACTWU banner behind him, Cape Town, March 2026
Michael Shabalala, SACTWU 2nd national organising secretary, at the podium during the union’s national bargaining conference in Cape Town, 7–9 March 2026.

Indian unions unite around organizing and Just Transition

Global shifts, local realities

Day 1 focused on sustainable industrial policy and Just Transition in the context of global economic and political shifts.

Participants highlighted how changes in production, supply chains, and trade are reshaping industries in India, often without meaningful union participation.

Diana Junquera Curiel, director for industrial policy at IndustriALL, emphasized that Just Transition must be used as a tool to shape policy, not respond after decisions are made. She stressed the need for unions to build knowledge, engage with technology, and organise across supply chains, including informal workers who remain largely invisible.

Informalization and technology pressures

Across sectors, unions raised concerns about growing informalization, outsourcing, and contract labour. Declining permanent jobs and weak protections are increasing precarity, with women workers particularly affected.

At the same time, technological change and AI are widening skill gaps and threatening livelihoods. A key point that emerged was that while these changes cannot be resisted, unions must intervene to ensure technology benefits workers, not just companies.

Organizing and strategy at the core

Day 2 reinforced organizing as the central priority.

IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie noted that nearly 93 percent of workers remain unorganized globally, stressing the need to expand membership and strengthen collective bargaining. He underlined that while global frameworks and tools exist, their impact depends on active use by affiliates.

“Organizing remains the most important task in front of us. With the vast majority of workers still in the informal economy, strengthening membership and collective bargaining is essential if unions are to effectively respond to the changes we are seeing globally.”

Participants emphasized the need for coordinated strategies, stronger research and data, and greater focus on organising informal and precarious workers.

Labour reforms and shrinking dialogue

Labour law reforms emerged as a major concern, with unions warning that new labour codes risk institutionalising precarious work.

Participants also pointed to declining bipartite and tripartite dialogue, limiting unions’ ability to influence policy and raising concerns about increasing demands for “union-free” environments.

Looking ahead

The meeting highlighted the need for unions to adapt strategies, strengthen inclusion of women and youth, and engage more proactively with policy and technological change.

As India’s industrial transition accelerates, ensuring workers have a meaningful voice in shaping its direction remains a critical challenge.

Ashutosh Bhattacharya regional secretary of IndustriALL South Asia saod:

“Industrial policy, trade, and technological change are already reshaping jobs and industries. The question is whether workers will have a say in that process. Trade unions must move early, build collective strategies, and ensure that this transition is shaped with workers—not imposed on them.”

Myanmar: trade unions continue defending workers despite repression

Myanmar’s workers continue to face severe repression following the military coup, with labour rights dismantled and trade union activity criminalised. Despite these conditions, IWFM organizers supported more than 6,400 workers in recovering unpaid wages and compensation in 2025 and documented 438 labour rights violations, the majority in the garment sector.

Organizing under repression

IWFM members continued trade union work under extremely difficult conditions, assisting workers facing wage theft, unfair dismissal, harassment and factory closures.

IWFM president Khaing Zar Aung described the scale of the challenge facing organizers on the ground.

“Despite the military’s attempt to silence trade unions, Myanmar workers continue to resist exploitation and defend their rights. Our organizers are risking their safety every day to support workers, document abuses and keep the labour movement alive. International solidarity is critical so that Myanmar’s workers are not abandoned and those responsible for repression are held accountable.”

Protection and solidarity

Safe houses along the Myanmar border enabled union leaders to maintain coordination and continue supporting workers.

International advocacy

Through international advocacy led by Khaing Zar Aung, as central committee members of the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar (CTUM) and together with the Council of Global Unions, trade unions pushed for global accountability. This contributed to progress on ILO Article 33 measures and increased pressure on international brands sourcing from Myanmar. 

Red campaign tag on a jacket reading "Free Myanmar, ILO Article 33 Now, Condemn the Military Junta" at a demonstration in Geneva, 2024.
A demonstrator wears a tag calling for ILO Article 33 action and an end to military rule in Myanmar, at a demonstration near the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 2024.

IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie underlined the importance of continued global support.

“IndustriALL stands firmly with Myanmar’s workers and trade unionists who continue to resist repression at great personal risk. The results achieved by IWFM in 2025 are a testament to the power of international solidarity. We will not stop demanding accountability from the military regime and from the global brands that continue to profit from Myanmar’s workers.”

International solidarity remains critical to ensure Myanmar’s workers are not abandoned and that independent trade unions remain ready to rebuild democratic labour institutions in the future.

Fact box 

Impact in 2025