A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #34-25 - Meeting of the International Trade Union Network for Solidarity and Struggle (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The sixth meeting of the "International Trade Union Network for 
Solidarity and Struggle" was held in Chianciano Terme from November 13 
to 16, 2025. The network was founded in March 2013 with the aim of 
building a trade union structure that unites the struggles of workers in 
today's society and enables them to build a balance of power to fight 
against the injustices and discrimination perpetrated to varying degrees 
by governments and the capitalist system, in favor of social 
emancipation, the right of peoples to self-determination, equality, and 
social justice.

Since its inception, five international meetings have been held: March 
2013 in Saint-Denis (France), June 2015 in São Paulo (Brazil), January 
2018 in Madrid (Spain), April 2022 in Dijon (France), and September 2023 
in São Paulo (Brazil).

It currently brings together union delegates from over thirty countries 
worldwide. In addition to delegates from the founding grassroots unions 
(Spain, France, and Italy), delegates from the network's member unions 
also participated in the international meeting in Chianciano: Venezuela, 
Central Africa, Palestine, England, Colombia, Ecuador, the United 
States, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Portugal, Ukraine, Pakistan, Poland, 
Germany, Senegal, and Argentina.
Unfortunately, Sudan, Togo, Benin, Congo, and South Africa were not 
present-in addition to some of the representatives invited to speak from 
Senegal and Ecuador-who were denied entry visas to Italy. Among the 
diverse grassroots union scene in Italy, representatives from CUB, SIAL 
Cobas, Sicobas, COBAS Scuola Sardegna, SGB, USI 1912, ADL Varese, and 
ADL also participated in the meeting.

A delegate from each of the participating countries had the opportunity 
to describe the current situation facing workers in their respective 
sectors and situations: political and social conditions and environments 
with varying degrees of difference, yet within this context, they seek 
to share forms and content to advance the fight for workers' rights, and 
more generally for the improvement of people's lives and against 
exploitation in all its forms, sometimes paying the price personally, 
with prison sentences or even their own lives.

The work was divided into working groups throughout the days, both by 
professional sector and by content and objectives.

The professional sectors that met internationally to analyze sector 
issues, potential joint campaigns, projects, and materials to share 
were: education, industry, logistics, the postal sector, trade and 
services, transportation, health and social services, the public sector, 
pensions, culture and entertainment.

Despite language barriers, the professional working groups facilitated 
active and concrete discussion of the issues and disputes faced in 
various countries, which have many common ground for launching 
international campaigns and disputes: wages, exploitation, privatization 
of public services, shifting resources toward rearmament and military 
spending, and the possibility of creating sectoral coordination bodies, 
such as those already in place for Amazon.

The discussion also developed through working groups on thematic areas: 
women's rights and the fight against gender oppression, ecology, 
climate, environment, migrants, racism and colonialism, repression and 
social struggles, and workers' health.

The shared internationalist spirit also placed solidarity with the 
struggle of the Palestinian people among the issues supported and shared 
by all participants at the Chianciano meeting, as well as solidarity 
with trade union struggles in war-torn countries such as Sudan and Ukraine.

In recent years, the Network has grown exponentially, but this is only 
the starting point. Many countries and entire categories of workers 
still lack representation. The mere fact that the Network exists and is 
growing represents a concrete opportunity for many to raise awareness of 
what is happening within their own national borders and to receive 
support, solidarity, and assistance from unions in other countries 
addressing the same issues, albeit to varying degrees.

In today's world and an increasingly globalized economy, the idea behind 
internationalism is more relevant and necessary than ever. Trade 
unionism promotes working-class unity and combines the defense of 
workers' immediate interests against the capitalist mode of production 
with the desire for social change, embracing issues such as the right to 
healthcare, housing, land, equality, ecology, and anti-racism.
The vision of an international dimension for the working classes, with a 
view to their emancipation, inspires the spirit from which the 
International Trade Union Network derives, a project that gains greater 
strength and importance in an era in which the world of work is 
increasingly forced to endure conditions of exploitation.

Paola - Cub Sanità

https://umanitanova.org/incontro-della-rete-sindacale-internazionale-di-solidarieta-e-lotta/
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