Read this article in:
English
- Français
30 October, 2025In a few days, more than a thousand trade union delegates from every corner of the world will gather in Sydney for IndustriALL Global Union’s 4th Congress. Together, we will set our direction for the next four years under the theme Organizing for a just future.
By Atle Høie, general secretary, IndustriALL Global Union
In a few days, more than a thousand trade union delegates from every corner of the world will gather in Sydney for IndustriALL Global Union’s 4th Congress. Together, we will set our direction for the next four years under the theme Organizing for a Just Future.
Our Congress takes place at a critical moment. Workers everywhere are being hit by converging crises, growing inequality, the climate emergency, digital disruption and the increasing concentration of corporate power. Amid all this change, our mission has never been clearer: to defend workers’ rights and to shape a future that is fair, democratic and just.
Our collective strength, built on unity and solidarity, gives us the power to stand up to global capital and fight for a new model of globalization that puts people before profit.
Defending rights, building power
At the heart of IndustriALL’s identity lies our most fundamental task: organizing workers and defending their right to form and join unions. This is where real power begins. When workers organize, they do more than negotiate better pay and safer workplaces. They create belonging. They build pride and purpose. They transform fear into strength.
Organizing for a just future is not just a theme, it’s our commitment. We will keep building a global movement that connects our struggles and wins justice through unity.
From voluntary promises to binding rights
For too long, multinational corporations have hidden behind voluntary codes of conduct. They use lofty statements and glossy reports to mask exploitation, while workers continue to face poverty wages, unsafe conditions and repression.
We know voluntary commitments are not enough. Without enforcement, rights remain words on paper. That’s why human rights due diligence laws and legally binding agreements are crucial. IndustriALL has proven they work. Our global agreements with H&M and ASOS, and the International Accord on Health and Safety, have saved lives and improved standards across supply chains.
We must build on these successes. It is time to move beyond voluntary initiatives and demand binding, enforceable rights for workers everywhere.
Digitalization: technology must serve people
Automation, artificial intelligence and algorithmic management are transforming industry faster than any of us imagined. In many workplaces, workers are managed not by humans, but by data. Algorithms decide shifts, track performance, even influence who stays and who goes.
Too often these systems are opaque and unfair. Governments are behind the curve. Only a handful of collective agreements address AI directly. Meanwhile, corporate profits rise as workers face surveillance, insecurity and discrimination.
That is why IndustriALL has launched a comprehensive policy paper on artificial intelligence, a blueprint for how unions can respond to AI and ensure technology is governed by fairness, transparency and accountability.
Our responsibility is clear: to make sure technology serves people – not the other way around. Through collective bargaining, we must secure transparency, dignity and control for workers in the digital age
A Just Transition for people and planet
The shift to sustainable industries is essential for our planet’s survival. But it will only succeed if it is just. A green transition built on the loss of good jobs and destroyed communities is not justice.
A Just Transition must protect both people and the planet. It must be driven by social dialogue, collective bargaining and public investment. It must create new opportunities, not sacrifice old ones. Workers must have a seat at the table as industries transform. Because when workers lead, the transition becomes truly just.
United for a just future
As we meet in Sydney, we do so united in purpose. The challenges ahead are enormous, but so is our strength. The future of work, of industry, and of our planet will be shaped by the choices we make now.
Organizing for a just future is more than the theme of our Congress. It is who we are. It is our declaration that workers, standing together, will shape the course of history. Because when we stand united, there is no force stronger than solidarity.