Workers’ rights are inseparable from global justice. While workers have long built cross-border movements for rights and solidarity, the people and institutions that uphold international cooperation are increasingly under attack.
The United States Government has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), threatening its ability to operate financially. The Trump administration has framed its actions as a defence of American sovereignty against what it calls “globalists”.
The ICC has condemned these measures as an attempt to obstruct the course of justice, calling on its 125 member states to take action in its defence.
Targeting an international justice institution is deeply concerning in itself. But the implications go further: this is also an attack on multilateralism, international cooperation and global justice.
Equally troubling is the rhetoric used to justify these actions. By labelling those who defend international justice as “globalists”, the Trump administration seeks to discredit the very idea that nations and peoples have a shared responsibility to uphold democratic values, justice and the rule of law beyond their own borders.
We believe cooperation and global justice are essential to building mutual understanding, upholding democratic societies and addressing the challenges we share. Undermining these foundations threatens not only international institutions, but also the democratic principles we cherish at home.
The rise of far-right governments adopting similar political tactics and rhetoric to Trump makes it increasingly urgent to defend democracy and social justice beyond our borders, and here at home. It also reinforces the vital role of the trade union movement in this struggle.
Workers’ rights and global justice are indivisible.
When governments turn against international cooperation, it is often working people who feel the consequences first. We are watching this at home: politicians calling for cuts to international aid and targeting migrants as scapegoats for housing and employment issues that affect the working class are increasingly used to deflect attention from the structural causes of inequality. These policies divide workers when we need to be building collective power across borders.
But there is also resistance.
We have seen young people take to the streets in countries including Spain, Chile, France and India to defend social rights such as access to education and housing. We have also witnessed mass demonstrations across Australia and around the world for the Palestinian people, demanding justice for a population enduring devastating violations of their fundamental rights.
These movements remind us that solidarity is not an abstract principle. It is workers’ collective response to injustice, wherever it occurs. Across different struggles, people continue to insist on their right to live with dignity, freedom and peace.
At Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA, we believe that peace and global justice are union business. They are not empty words or aspirations separate from the everyday concerns of workers. Peace and global justiceare fundamental to building societies that are equitable, sustainable and resilient.
The rights we defend at home have always been connected to struggles elsewhere. The eight-hour working day, for example, was won through generations of organising and international labour ideas travelling across borders. The advances we take for granted today were not inevitable; they were achieved by ordinary working people who understood the power of collective action.
What can we do?
We can strengthen the international trade union movement, push for solidarity in our workplaces and make global justice a central part of our unions’ strategies.
Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA is the global justice organisation of the Australian trade union movement. We connect Australian workers and their unions with workers across our region and beyond, building practical solidarity that supports workers’ rights and strengthens collective action.
This year, our work has continued to support workers expanding their rights abroad while strengthening movements, partnerships, and regional connections needed to respond collectively to shared challenges.
There are practical ways each of us can contribute to defending peace, global justice and international solidarity:
- Start a campaign, big or small. Right-wing attacks on international aid and migrant workers fundamentally ignore the structural causes of inequality. Talk with your colleagues about the challenges workers share across borders and how collective action can address them. Hold a small event, start a petition for your friends to sign, take a family member to a rally.
- Build international solidarity in your union. Join an APHEDA activist group, and work with your fellow union members to raise global solidarity issues in your workplace.
- Join Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA. Become a member and activist and help strengthen a movement for global justice driven by workers’ power.
As international cooperation and democratic institutions come under attack, we should grow our international links. The Australian trade union movement has a vital role to play in that work. Together, we can build workers’ power across borders and defend the rights, dignity and futures of working people everywhere.
