The global workforce has approximately 2.9 billion people. Only 60 per cent work in the formal economy, and they have increasingly precarious employment arrangements while 40 per cent strug¬gle to survive in the desperation of the informal economy where there are no rules, no minimum living wages, no rights and no social protection.

The challenge for all levels of the global union movement is to organise – to organise both in the formal and the informal sector, and to do so in innovative ways.

Organising to grow and strengthen unions can only be sustainable if we engage workers on the issues that will improve their lives including wages, safety, secure work, rights and social protection.