International Campaigns & Issues

As the peak union body for Australia, the ACTU participates in a range of international forums on behalf of unions and Australian workers, including the International Labour Organisation and the International Trade Union Confederation.

Australian unions are also active players in the global union movement, joining international campaigns and solidarity actions on a regular basis.

In this section, you will find statements by the ACTU on international issues, details of current international campaigns, and news from around the world.


Recent International Campaigns & Issues

ACTU calls on the Cambodian government to release union leader

August 13, 2020

The ACTU has written to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, regarding the arrest of the leader of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), Rong Chhun.

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Australian Unions stand in solidarity with Iranian workers

August 7, 2020

The Australian union movement stands in solidarity with the thousands of workers on strike across Iran at the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Industrial Complex and at refineries and industrial projects in the South Pars gas fields.

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Israel’s plan to annex Palestinian lands

July 24, 2020

The Australian union movement has written to Foreign Minister Marise Payne to call on the Australian Government to strongly condemn Israel’s plan to annex Palestinian land in the West Bank.

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ACTU joins the call to end forced labour in the Uyghur region

July 23, 2020

ACTU joins a coalition of trade union and civil society organisations from around the world calling on apparel brands and retailers to stop using forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and end their complicity in the Chinese government’s human rights abuses.

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Council of Global Unions Statement on the Suppression of Democratic Rights in the Philippines

July 22, 2020

The Council of Global Unions (CGU) – representing more than 200 million workers from across the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Global Union Federations including the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD -join Philippine trade unions in condemning the Philippine government’s continued attacks on democratic institutions and its relentless suppression of the democratic rights of Filipino workers.

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Financing COVID-19 recovery and resilience plans

July 10, 2020

The ACTU has written to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers meeting calling on G20 Governments to undertake sustained fiscal support in response to COVID-19, with a focus on the real economy, shared prosperity, and full, quality employment with a framework of sustainability and resilience. People and planet need to be at the centre of COVID-19 recovery plans.

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Council of Global Unions joint solidarity statement: Justice for Lee Cheuk Yan and ensuring fundamental rights in Hong Kong

July 2, 2020

The Council of Global Unions (CGU) – representing more than 200 million workers from across the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Global Union Federations and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) – wholeheartedly condemns the unlawful arrests of trade union and prodemocracy leaders and activists by the Hong Kong police, attacks on working people in Hong Kong, and proposals for a new National Security Law.

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The Australian Government must ratify ILO Violence and Harassment Convention (C190) now!

June 21, 2020

The International Labour Organisation’s ground-breaking new Convention on Violence and Harassment (C190), recognises every worker’s fundamental right to be free from all forms of violence and harassment at work, including gender-based violence and harassment.

The Australian Government must now step up and support ratification of the Convention so it can become law in Australia. Please sign out petition to call on the Attorney-General and Minister for Women to urgently commit to ratify C.190 to make workplaces healthy, safe and respectful for all of us.

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International Solidarity Update June 2020

June 12, 2020

Welcome to the June 2020 edition of the ACTU’s international solidarity update

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Global Social Protection Fund needed to provide basic services and support to all working people

June 4, 2020

With 305 million full-time equivalent jobs lost worldwide due to the pandemic, Australia and other leading economies need to act now to protect the rights and livelihoods of working people around the world.

The ACTU has joined with civil society organisations and written to Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne calling on the Morrison Government to show international leadership during this crisis.

The creation of a Global Social Protection Fund to provide income support and other social services in all countries to help lift working people out of the pandemic.

US$35 billion would secure 5-year funding for the poorest 28 countries in the world to provide emergency relief for their people now, and an additional US$100 billion would address social protection coverage gaps in lower- to middle-income countries. Global spending on stimulus and other measures related to the pandemic is projected to be ore than US$10 trillion.

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Australian Unions

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