The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), in commemoration of International Women’s Day 2025, has emphatically declared women’s labor rights as fundamental human rights. This declaration comes amidst a global backdrop of rising authoritarianism, escalating far-right political movements, and shrinking democratic spaces, making the fight for gender equality more critical than ever. The ITUC stands in solidarity with women workers, their unions, and progressive allies worldwide, advocating for gender equality, comprehensive women’s rights, and social and economic justice for all. The organization recognizes the ongoing challenges and emphasizes the importance of upholding the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), adopted 30 years prior, as the foundational blueprint for achieving these goals. While acknowledging progress made since the BPfA’s inception, the ITUC stresses the urgent need for renewed commitment and intensified efforts to fully realize the promises enshrined within it.
A key concern highlighted by the ITUC is the growing global backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, spearheaded by transnational movements encompassing conservative religious groups, certain civil society organizations, and even state actors. These movements actively seek to undermine, erode, and even reverse hard-won progress, challenging the very concept of gender and gender equality. This pushback manifests in various forms, including restrictions on reproductive rights, increased gender-based violence and harassment, threats to gender equality education and women’s access to education, and a surge in populist rhetoric reinforcing conservative patriarchal norms. This fuels misogynistic, anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQI+, and anti-reproductive rights sentiments, creating a hostile environment for women and marginalized groups.
The ITUC acknowledges the pivotal role trade unions have historically played in championing gender equality both within and beyond the workplace. They strive to ensure that all individuals, irrespective of gender, class, race, migrant status, or other factors, can participate on equal terms in all aspects of society. Reaffirming their commitment to the full implementation of the BPfA’s ambitious goals, the ITUC underscores the upcoming 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which will review the BPfA’s implementation. The ITUC urges the forthcoming Beijing+30 Declaration to prioritize workers’ demands for a New Social Contract with a gender-transformative agenda, aligning fully with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, especially those related to decent work (SDG 8), gender equality (SDG 5), and education and vocational training (SDG 4).
Addressing governments directly, the ITUC calls for concrete actions to promote gender equality as a fundamental pillar of social justice, democracy, and peace. This includes recognizing workers’ rights as fundamental human rights, upholding International Labour Organization (ILO) standards, particularly the right to freedom of association, collective bargaining, and the right to strike. Furthermore, governments are urged to ensure universal access to gender-transformative social protection and quality public services, while investing adequately in national employment policies, public care systems, and regulation of the digital transition to secure decent work for women. Achieving equal pay for work of equal value is paramount, and governments are encouraged to implement minimum living wages, pay equity measures, pay transparency, and robust anti-discrimination laws.
The ITUC emphasizes the critical need to address gender-based discrimination and stereotypes prevalent in both the workplace and broader society to achieve genuine equality. Eliminating gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace requires the ratification and effective implementation of ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, ensuring safe and dignified working environments for all. Recognizing the underrepresentation of women in decision-making roles across political, economic, and social spheres, including within trade unions, the ITUC is launching a new campaign focused on women in leadership. Strengthening women’s leadership within unions is deemed essential for advancing gender equality more broadly.
This new campaign aims to increase women’s representation in the highest decision-making bodies of ITUC affiliates by the next ITUC World Congress in 2027, forming part of the ITUC’s “Democracy that Delivers” campaign. On International Women’s Day 2025, the global trade union movement, in conjunction with progressive allies, particularly human rights and women’s rights organizations and feminist movements, will call upon governments to accelerate action towards fulfilling the unrealized promises of the BPfA. The ITUC pledges to intensify its efforts at local, regional, and global levels to create a world where gender equality is a lived reality for every woman and girl, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to this cause now and into the future.
