Coming together under the theme of “Organizing for a Just Future,” more than 1,000 delegates and guests from around the world attended the IndustriALL Global Union 4th Congress from November 4–7. UE, which is an affiliate, was represented by Local 618 Business Agent Janet Gray and Staff Coordinator John Thompson. IndustriALL Global Union has its Congress every four years.
IndustriALL Global Union represents 50 million workers in 130 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors. Founded in 2012, IndustriALL Global Union brings together affiliates of the former global union federations International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), and International Textiles Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF).
Forty-three percent of the delegates attending the Congress were women and 12 percent were youth (35 years old and younger). Article 11 of IndustriALL’s statutes states that at least 40 percent of affiliates’ delegates shall be women. If an affiliate’s delegation did not include at least 40 percent women, and they did not have a good reason, their delegates were prohibited from speaking during the sessions. The day before the Congress began, there was an all-day Women’s Conference attended by more than 350 women.
On the first day of the Congress, the six regions that IndustriALL works in held regional conferences. At the North American Region conference delegates from UE, UAW, USW, IAM, Workers United/SEIU, IUE-CWA, Unifor, and CSN nominated and elected a vice-president and executive committee members. Later that evening was the Congress opening ceremony which featured New Zealand and Australian Aboriginal performances of traditional song, dance and didgeridoo.
During the opening ceremony, delegates heard from leaders of Australian unions, including Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, who set the tone for the Congress when she said, “We know that there’s only one response to organized capital and that is organized labor. Now more than ever, international solidarity is essential. When we act with unity and determination, when we leave nobody behind, we show the power of organized labor.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a member of the Australian Labor Party, also addressed the delegates.
Any UE member who ever attended a UE National Convention would have felt at home during the four-day Congress, which was hosted by New Zealand and Australian affiliates. There was a Credential Committee and a Resolutions and Motions Committee made up of elected delegates at the start of the Congress. Delegates discussed and voted on the secretariat report, the financial report, and the report of the internal and external auditors. There were elections for IndustriALL Global Union’s officers and executive committee members.
The delegates elected Christiane Benner, president of IG Metall, as IndustriALL’s new president. Atle Høie was re-elected as general secretary, as were the three assistant general secretaries, Christina Olivier, Kemal Özkan and Kan Matsuzaki. Congress also elected vice presidents: Akihiro Kaneko, Asia-Pacific, Michel Maicon Vasconselos da Silva, Latin America and the Caribbean, Habib Hazemi, Middle East and North Africa, Roxanne Brown, North America, Rose Omamo, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Marie Nilsson, Europe, as well as members for the executive committee for the next Congress period.
Delegates discussed and voted on more than 40 statutory amendments, including an amendment promoting gender diversity and inclusion in its elected leadership, “ensuring that the progress made in achieving a minimum of 40% of women in the elected leadership is maintained.”
On the second day of the Congress, the UE representatives attended the Just Transition side event on how unions can shape a fair and sustainable future for workers as industries undergo major transformation. Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, noted that new technologies, climate change, and shifting industrial boundaries require stronger solidarity and dialogue. “Only a large, well-organized, and determined trade union movement can ensure a Just Transition that leaves no one behind,” Matsuzaki said. Regional secretaries reported updates from around the world, showing how unions are addressing the challenges and opportunities of the transition in their regions.
Over the course of the Congress plenary sessions, the delegates discussed and debated the Action Plan 2025-2029, which will guide the work of IndustriALL Global Union until its next Congress. The Action Plan was divided up into four sessions: addressing growing inequality, building union power, confronting the growing power of multi-national corporations, and a just transition led by workers.
The delegates also discussed, debated and adopted a number of resolutions:
- Resolution on trade: International trade must work for working people. We will defend sustainable, fair, union-protected jobs.
- Feminist resolution: Feminism is a tool to eliminate all forms of oppression and discrimination and to build democratic unions.
- Resolution on protecting global peace: A call to all states, institutions, NGOs and people to work together to build a world of lasting peace, where justice and human rights are achieved for all people.
- Emergency resolution condemning the brutal attacks on SEGAL workers in Liberia, where striking security guards were beaten and arrested while protesting poverty wages and lack of social protection.
While the resolution on global peace was adopted, many delegates were upset the resolution didn’t address the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians. Throughout the Congress, delegates spoke out in support of the Palestinians, denouncing Israel and its western supporters for the ongoing genocide. Belgium delegates brought 300 “Free Palestine” t-shirts that they handed out to delegates who wore the t-shirts on the day that the Congress took up the resolution on global peace. When a delegate from Israel got up to address the resolution, many delegates walked out of the hall in support of the Palestinian delegates.
Throughout the week of the Congress, the UE delegation reached out to many longstanding allies from around the world, including unions that have members who work for Wabtec-Faiveley. They secured a commitment from IndustriALL Global Union to assist UE in organizing a Wabtec-Faiveley Global Union Solidarity Network.