The international trade union movement is today on the front lines of efforts to address the impacts of the COVID pandemic, and policy responses to it, on workers and their communities. The opening session of the Assembly will feature trade union voices from South and North, with insights to help our movement navigate the crisis, and forge a vibrant internationalism that can reshape global policy and politics.

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Unions understand that the multi-dimensional crisis set off by the coronavirus presents our movement with opportunities to organize for a “public future”—one that establishes an economy that puts need before profit, advances equality and can tackle the existential dangers of climate instability and ecosystem collapse. This session will help us prepare for the Assembly’s thematic discussions and frame the issues that are to be explored.

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With the pandemic in full swing, unions are under even greater pressure to stop the privatisation of essential services. How can the global labor movement most effectively organize in the months and years ahead to secure high-quality, affordable, universal public services for all?

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The lock down has left hundreds of millions of precarious and informal workers on the brink of becoming destitute. In richer countries, some workers have received temporary income support, but many are now under pressure to return to work without adequate protection. With a deep recession or depression looming what can unions do to help bring about a major shift in social and economic priorities?

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The global collapse of energy demand is already having a massive impact on workers in oil, gas and the power utilities, as well as transport systems. The current situation has led to calls for governments to buy out—rather than bail out—energy companies. How can unions stop the return to “business as usual” at our expense? Is now the time for unions to rally behind efforts to advance a “public goods” approach to the transition to a low-carbon future?

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In response to the economic consequences of social lockdowns, governments have offered various combinations of bailouts for big business and income support for small businesses and households. What lessons can the global labor movement draw from these interventions? How should trade unions and their allies orient themselves to calls for debt cancellation for countries of the South? What role is there for the international financial institutions and development banks in financing more and better public services and greater public ownership and democratic control over key sectors?

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This closing session will pull together a range of insights and report on the discussions of the Assembly. What should be our next steps? 

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