Organizing for power in a changing tobacco industry

The global tobacco industry is changing rapidly. Digitalization, automation, mergers and corporate restructuring are transforming production and employment, while multinational companies are investing heavily in new-generation tobacco and nicotine products. The industry remains highly profitable, sustaining substantial profit margins and a strong capability to adapt, but for workers these changes can bring uncertainty over jobs, working conditions and the future of production. The fundamental question is therefore not how the industry will change, but who will have a voice in shaping that change.

This was at the centre of discussions at the IUF Tobacco Workers Group Conference, held in Krakow on 2-3 September 2026, bringing together more than 40 trade union representatives from around the world.

Workers face vastly different realities across the tobacco supply chain. In highly organized manufacturing plants, unions have built collective bargaining power and secured good jobs and conditions. Elsewhere, workers remain unorganized or have little influence over company decisions. Agricultural workers in tobacco growing are particularly vulnerable, facing serious deficits in freedom of association, collective bargaining, occupational safety and health, and decent living and working conditions. Child labour also remains an urgent issue in tobacco growing.

The answer lies in organization. Strong trade unions give workers the collective power to negotiate over wages and conditions, defend employment and rights, and demand meaningful negotiations before companies restructure workplaces. In an industry dominated by multinational corporations, organization cannot stop at the factory gate or national border.

Unions representing workers in the same company need to cooperate internationally, exchange information and act together. The Krakow Conference therefore called for stronger company union networks and international engagement with major tobacco companies, including Philip Morris International, Imperial Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International. Organization must also reach workers who currently have little or no union representation-from tobacco farms to manufacturing and distribution. Strengthening women's representation and participation at all levels of trade union structures is equally essential to expanding organizing capacity and bargaining power.

The Conference elected a new IUF Tobacco Workers Group Board to lead this work. Kentaro Urano (Food Rengo, Japan) was elected Chair, with Marcin Klimczyk (Solidarność, Poland) as Vice Chair and Fatou Dieng (SNTIA, Senegal) as Second Vice Chair. The new Board has been given a mandate to strengthen international cooperation, grow membership and organize workers in tobacco manufacturing, tobacco growing and related activities.