22/12/2024
Session Report: Organizing & Building Union Power in Asia & Pacific
During the 6th UNI Asia &
Pacific Regional Conference, over 600 leaders and activists gathered in
Bangkok, to discuss how unions across the region had been building
worker power through organizing. The organizing session highlighted
unions’ key strategies, shared inspiring success stories, and presented a
bold vision for the future.
Under the leadership of Regional Secretary Rajendra Acharya, UNI Asia & Pacific greatly
expanded its organizing capacity across the region over the past five
years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts included the
establishment of new organizing centres in South and Southeast Asia to
provide comprehensive training and organizing support on
AI/digitization and its impact on unions; helped thousands of workers
secure their rights.
While
we have many challenges around us, we also have much to celebrate, let
me acknowledge the tremendous efforts and resilience shown by workers
across Asia and the Pacific. From organizing in some of the world’s most
difficult environments to advocating for fundamental rights, you all
have shown what solidarity means. We never give up:
– We faced a pandemic and tremendous suffering, but we didn’t give up.
– We endured natural disasters and economic hardship, but we didn’t give up.
– We encountered antilabor laws from many governments, but we didn’t give up.
– Even under military coups and authoritarian regimes, we kept fighting—and we will never give up.
This is who we are as a movement: the largest organization of working people on earth.