Campaigns
Campaining for the Rights of Workers
The international trade union movement has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of workers, both at the workplace and in broader society.
Increasingly, trade unions are turning to a combination of both industrial and public advocacy tactics to get results for their members and workers more broadly. The ITUC believes that grass-roots participation of workers in campaigns aimed at improving their lives is essential for a strong, vibrant and democratic trade union movement. We also understand the importance of ensuring the broader public is aware of the good work undertaken by trade unions and this involves ensuring our campaigns have a clear public message that citizens can mobilize behind.
The ITUC Campaigns and Communications department works to initiate and coordinate at the international level campaigns that national trade unions are involved with.
We do this through producing support materials, coordinating actions and participating in international events (eg. World Trade Organisation Ministerials, G8 meetings, the World Social Forum etc).
On some of the issues, we work together with other members of civil society such as non-government organizations (NGOs) and political parties who support our cause. We also work closely with Global Union Federations (GUFs) who represent workers at the international level on issues related to their industries. For a full list of GUFs go to www.global-unions.org.
The Campaigns Officer, under the direction of the Executive Board and Congress, liaises with relevant staff in national trade unions and from GUFs to plan joint activities on issues of concern to workers. The Media Officer and Publications Officer support this work through publicizing the issues to trade union members and, through the media, the wider public.
Currently, the ITUC is involved in the following campaigns:
Decent Work, Decent Life – a campaign to ensure all people benefit equally from the process of globalisation;
Fair Play at the Olympics - a campaign urging the International Olympic Committee and the major sports brands to respect the rights of workers in the sportswear industry;
Global Call to Action against Poverty – a campaign aimed at ensuring we achieve the Millennium Development Goals as set out by the United Nations to lift billions of people out of poverty.
We are also involved in ongoing work on the following issues:
HIV/AIDS – working to maximize prevention programs whilst at the same time fighting discrimination in and outside the workplace and ensuring everyone has access to life-saving medication;
Child Labour – working to ensure every child is in full-time education instead of being forced to work;
WTO, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – working to ensure that global governance strategies pursued by these organizations is changed to benefit workers and the poor.
The Campaigns Officer also works with other departments such as Equality on Youth, Migration and Women’s issues and with the Trade Union Rights department on defending the fundamental rights of workers in countries where they are endangered.
For more information mail campaigning@ituc-csi.org or phone +32 2 224 0211.