IndustriALL Executive Committee meets in Geneva amid global turmoil

A world under pressure

IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie said the world is going through one of its most dangerous periods since the second world war. He pointed to growing pressure, with the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran cited as part of a broader erosion of respect for international law and human rights.

In Ukraine, the government continues to push labour law reforms that would weaken protections, even as the country seeks EU membership, a contradiction that the EU needs to address.

The ILO itself is in crisis, as the United States has not paid its contributions, worth 21 per cent of the ILO budget, since 2023, with reports that the US delegation at this year's International Labour Conference was instructed to exclude references to gender and Just Transition.

In Argentina, affiliate Unión Obrera Metalúrgica (UOM) re-elected its leadership in March with 85 per cent of the vote, only for the courts to overturn the result and suspend it for six months.

IndustriALL is also in dispute with Mercedes-Benz over its role in defeating a 2024 organizing vote at its Alabama plant and has announced it is withdrawing from its global framework agreement with the company while an NLRB hearing is under way.

A win amid the turmoil: the right to strike

Against this backdrop, participants welcomed the ICJ's Advisory Opinion of 21 May 2026, confirming that the right to strike is protected under ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association. The ruling follows years of disputes at the ILO, where employer representatives have challenged that link and was referred to the ICJ after the workers' group decided the question could no longer be left unresolved.

Trade, Cambodia and holding multinationals accountable

A discussion on trade, introduced by IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan, examined the impact of US tariffs on global manufacturing and the rise of protectionism. Speakers agreed that while unilateral tariffs are unlikely to bring back lost manufacturing jobs in the long run, trade has become more unfair, with European industries such as steel and automotive under pressure from Chinese competition.

IndustriALL president Christiane Benner argued for "local content" requirements as a legitimate, temporary response to unfair competition, while Atle Høie said the tariffs are also creating chaos for global clothing brands trying to adapt their sourcing strategies, with no sign that textile, garment, shoe and leather jobs are returning to the US.

Closing the session, Kemal Özkan said IndustriALL would continue to coordinate its work on trade at global, regional and sectoral level.

In Cambodia, eight years of work are bearing fruit: nine collective bargaining agreements have now been signed under the Cambodia template agreement, improving conditions for 15,000 workers.

This year the Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Competence Centre, led by executive director Kelly Fay Rodriguez was launched. The centre helps unions use HRDD laws to build worker power, supporting organizing, collective bargaining and binding outcomes for workers in global supply chains. [LINK to HRDD article]

Africa at an industrial crossroads

IndustriALL vice president Rose Omamo, also general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers, said Africa stands at an industrial crossroads. US tariffs and uncertainty over the African Growth and Opportunity Act have already cost jobs, with nearly 40,000 garment jobs lost in Lesotho alone, mostly affecting women workers.

Rose Omamo said:

"Industrialization without rights is exploitation. Industrialization without strong unions is unsustainable. Industrialization without decent work cannot withstand economic shocks."

She highlighted the African Continental Free Trade Area as an opportunity for regional production and Africa's role in supplying minerals for the green transition. Including cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lithium from Zimbabwe and copper from Zambia, with examples of progress already under way in South African auto manufacturing, Kenyan electric buses and Rwandan electric motorcycles.

Advancing the gender transformative agenda

The Women's Committee met on 10 June 2026 and elected new co-chairs from Sub-Saharan Africa and North America. IndustriALL assistant general secretary Christina Olivier told said that gender-related conclusions at this year's International Labour Conference were hard won. With global unions helping secure language on human rights due diligence despite resistance from some governments.

Presenting the committee's road map, the Sub-Saharan Africa co-chair, Regina Nambahu, said the gender transformative agenda goes further than a gender-responsive approach:

"Feminism is for everybody. It seeks equality for all and it is not anti-men."

The road map covers care, pay equity, health, gender-based violence, human rights due diligence and Just Transition, with regional road maps due at upcoming regional executive committee meetings.

Welcoming the new Global Youth Committee

IndustriALL welcomed the first meeting of the global youth committee, established on 28 May 2026, which elected two co-chairs along with deputy co-chairs and a secretariat. Its priorities include strengthening youth representation across IndustriALL's structures, building solidarity among young workers and monitoring the implementation of youth-related resolutions.

Closing the session, IndustriALL president Christiane Benner reflected on the significance of the moment:

"I remember the discussion we had in Sydney in the youth conference, when we said the future is now, another future is here. We wish you all the best, because you are influencing the future of the unions tremendously."