ILO ACTRAV

May Day 2026: Standing with Workers Worldwide In his May Day message, Oliver Röpke, Director of the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV), reaffirms the ILO’s commitment to standing with workers and trade unions worldwide. As workers’ rights, democracy, and decent work face growing challenges, he underscores the urgent need for unity, solidarity, and collective action to uphold social justice and safeguard dignity for all.

Highlights from the ILO’s first Innovation Day! ACTRAV showcased four initiatives helping trade unions navigate a world marked by crises, rapid tech change and attacks on multilateralism 1. Workers’ Rights & Gender Equality – Africa New mentoring and peer‑learning tools are helping unions engage the ILO supervisory system, strengthen gender-responsive bargaining and improve regional coordination.  2. Digital Grievance Platform – Indonesia Union-led mobile apps now give garment workers safe reporting channels. 4,500+ workers registered and hundreds of cases already strengthening accountability. 3. Countering Disinformation – Ukraine In wartime, unions face AI-driven disinformation. ACTRAV’s programme supports stronger communication, advocacy and protection for workers. 4. Trade Unions in Transformation – Global Strategic foresight tools and the “Triple A” model—Anticipation, Agility, Adaptation—help unions respond to digitalization, climate change and instability. The day also featured insights on foresight and innovative learning methods from Rafael Peels who shared insights on strategic foresight in times of disruption, and Vera Dos Santos Costa from the ITCILO, who presented an innovative approach to learning collective bargaining through storytelling and mobile technology. A great opportunity to exchange ideas, engage with young people and explore how innovation can strengthen the ILO’s impact.

✅Reunión de la Red de Cooperación de la CSA fortalece alianzas estratégicas para el período 2026-2029 🔴En la apertura de la Reunión de la Red de Cooperación de la CSA (Ciudad de México, 24/02), @rafael.freire.9889 , Secretario General de la CSA, afirmó que el encuentro “hace parte de la solidaridad sindical” y que la cooperación no puede entenderse como una relación financiera, sino como una alianza política estratégica. En un contexto global marcado por recortes a la cooperación, avance de las extremas derechas y desvío de recursos hacia el gasto militar, la CSA reafirmó que la cooperación es una herramienta estratégica de resistencia democrática. También participaron en la apertura de nuestra reunión: • Oliver Röpke, Director de @ilo_actrav , quien presentó las prioridades 2026-2027 de la OIT: libertad sindical, fortalecimiento de capacidades, formalización y protección social, y diálogo social transformador. • @jordania_urena , Secretaria General Adjunta de la CSI @ituc_global , quien llamó a fortalecer la articulación regional ante los recortes que afectan especialmente agendas de género y juventud. • @kairareece , Secretaria de Desarrollo Sustentable de la CSA, quien destacó los ejes estratégicos 2025-2029: juventudes, mujeres, formación, comunicación y transformación sindical. 📝 Nota completa en la página de la CSA. ✊ Frente a la crisis democrática, la respuesta es más articulación y más solidaridad organizada. 📸 @thiago.dovideo

#TradeUnions and the social and solidarity economy (#SSE) are rooted in common ground, shaped by a shared history and values. Oliver Röpke, Director of the ILO Actrav (Bureau for Workers' Activities), reflected on the natural alliance between trade unions and SSE actors in promoting decent work, rights, and people-centred sovereign and sustainable development at the 12th edition of the Mont Blanc Meetings. He highlighted that: 🔹Both trade unions and the SSE prioritize people and the planet over profit, and the collective over the individual. Both are rooted in sustainability and sovereignty. 🔹 Trade unions can support the SSE by reinforcing decent work, safeguarding labour rights, and offering organizational and political leverage. 🔹The SSE’s strength lies in its deep local roots, its capacity to reach the most disadvantaged, to support the transition to formality, and its agility in social innovation. 🔹 International Labour Standards are essential in achieving decent work and social justice, and the SSE, on the side of workers and workers’ organizations, is central in making this happen. 🔹 Trade unions and SSE actors have abundant experience in dealing with transformations reshaping the world of work and broader society, and are “experts on the issue of resilience,” able to cope with uncertainty, adapt to change. 🔹They are locally anchored, embedded in the realities of workers and those that need it the most. 🔗Learn more about the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities: /bureau-workers-activities-actrav 🔗Learn more about the SSE: /sse

How can unions make sure workers’ voices shape national SDG policies? These lessons, and more strategies from around the world, are featured in ACTRAV’s new publication ‘Trade Union Engagement in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’ 
Read it here: ilo.org/publications/trade-union-engagement-2030-agenda-sustainable-development

“I think it important that as the workers constituents, we support and reinforce the ILO mandate […] to ensure there is decent work, and the worker’s right is preserved.” Sylvia Choo, Director of Unions at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC Singapore)

From ride-hailing drivers to delivery couriers, platform workers are a growing part of the modern economy. Unfortunately, they often lack basic social protections. The ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities has recently published a policy brief shining a spotlight on Singapore’s innovative approach to provide better social protection to platform workers. In this short interview to present the brief, Michelle Neo from the National Trades Union Congress explains how Singapore created a unique legal category for platform workers under the new Platform Workers Act. She also emphasizes the key role played by trade unions in shaping legislation within Singapore’s tripartite framework.

Fortaleciendo los derechos de los trabajadores en la economía de plataformas: Taide Alejandra González Baca, Secretaria General de la Federación de Sindicatos Unidos de la República Mexicana CROM, comparte sus perspectivas en la 113ª Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo en Ginebra. Reflexionando sobre las recientes reformas en materia de economía de plataformas en México, enfatiza la importancia de adaptarse a los cambios constantes, defender los derechos de los trabajadores y fortalecer la negociación colectiva a través del diálogo social tripartito

The 113th International Labour Conference concluded on 13 June 2025, bringing together delegates from 187 countries. This year’s major outcomes included a new Convention on biological hazards, the launch of standard-setting talks on platform work, and a Resolution promoting the transition to formality. ACTRAV supported workers throughout the session and captured their voices through a series of interviews from across the globe.

Plataformas y justicia laboral: Desde la 113ª Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo, Danna Vargas, Secretaria de Juventud de Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), destaca la urgencia de garantizar derechos laborales en la economía de plataformas. En América Latina y el Caribe, la gran mayoría de los jóvenes trabajan en estas nuevas formas de empleo, pero sin protección adecuada. #cit2025 #ilc2025

Workers are supported at the ILO by ACTRAV (Activités des Travailleurs). Mamadou Souare is Head of Communications. ACTRAV is the main link between the Workers’ organizations around the world and the ILO. The ILO through ACTRAV aims to build strong and representative workers’organizations around the world. ACTRAV support workers and their unions by: · Providing technical support to the secretariat of the Workers’Group to fulfil its functions during the International Labour Conference and within the Governing Body and other tripartite and technical meetings · Organizing training programmes at the ILO’s International Training Centre in Turin · Producing knowledge products such as publications, to help workers and unions navigate a rapidly changing world of work — including on key topics like just transition and ways to drive formalization · Ensure the promotion of social dialogue, tripartism and International labour standards

À la 113e Conférence internationale du Travail, Yolande Dembega, Secrétaire générale adjointe de la Confédération nationale des travailleurs du Burkina, plaide pour une meilleure formalisation de l’emploi. Elle alerte sur la progression de l’économie informelle et appelle l’OIT à intensifier son soutien pour garantir des emplois décents, structurés et protégés, notamment pour les jeunes générations.