IUF: The food, farm, hotels and more global union

15/06/2026

Child labour is not inevitable. It is the result of poverty, inequality, weak labour protections, inadequate social protection, and the denial of workers’ rights. Wherever workers are able to organize, bargain collectively, secure living wages and defend decent working conditions, child labour declines. Trade unions remain one of the most effective forces in preventing child labour and breaking the cycle of poverty that sustains it.

Read more now in a statement from the IUF for the World Day Against Child Labour 2026

https://www.iuf.org/news/world-day-against-child-labour-2026-commitments-must-become-action/

World Day Against Child Labour 2026: Commitments must become action Image courtesy of the International Labour Organization. Published: 15/06/2026 On 12 June, trade unions around the world mark the World Day Against Child Labour. Across the sectors represented by the IUF—from agriculture and food ...

12/06/2026

🤝 EFFAT and the IUF: The food, farm, hotels and more global union concluded a productive joint meeting yesterday, bringing together affiliates to exchange on key developments and priorities in the contract catering industry.

Throughout the day, discussions focused on strengthening trade unions, including through organising strategies, transnational agreements, and the role of European Works Councils. Participants also explored how public procurement can be a powerful tool to improve working conditions and wages, with valuable contributions from the ETUC and FoodServiceEurope.

🌍 The meeting further addressed major transformations affecting the sector, including digitalisation and AI, and their impact on workers at European and global level, with insights from the European Trade Union Institute - ETUI.

✊ The strong participation and exchanges reaffirmed our shared commitment to solidarity, cooperation, and building stronger unions to defend workers’ rights.

Thank you to all speakers and participants for their valuable contributions!

12/06/2026

PSI - Public Services International and the IUF express their deep concern over the continued attacks on trade union rights facing their affiliate, the National Autonomous Union of Public Administration Personnel (SNAPAP), in Algeria.

SNAPAP’s National Congress was scheduled to take place on April 10-12, 2026 at the Safir Hotel in Algiers. The repeated requests for authorization since 2024 remained unanswered by the Algerian authorities. The administration refused to receive the union’s final request, submitted through a bailiff on March 10, 2026, making it impossible for the Congress to proceed.

The blocking of the Congress is a serious violation of trade union democracy; this latest obstruction forms part of a broader pattern of repression against independent trade unionism in Algeria.

Algeria: PSI and IUF condemn blocking of SNAPAP Congress SNAPAP's sixth Congress would have been held in April. The slogan says, "Serving workers, never those in power." Published: 11/06/2026 Public Services International (PSI) and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Ca...

05/06/2026

The IUF strongly condemns the murder of four farm workers on June 1 in Amendolara, Italy, and stands in with Italian IUF affiliates FLAI-CGIL, FAI-CISL and UILA-UIL in their fight against the appalling system of gangmasters and the exploitation of migrant workers in agriculture.

Amin, Ullah, Safi and Waseem were burned alive in the minivan that was taking them home from work. According to the sole survivor, Taj Mohammad Alamyar, the four young Afghan workers had not been paid for more than a month and had challenged those responsible for their exploitation. He alleges that the workers were murdered by the gangmasters who controlled their employment, accommodation, and transportation.

FLAI-CGIL has placed Taj Mohammad Alamyar and another worker under its protection and is providing support and assistance as the investigation continues.

https://www.iuf.org/news/four-farm-workers-killed-iuf-demands-justice/

04/06/2026

The union must actively organize all workers—and migrant workers in particular. Not as an afterthought. Not as a project. As a core purpose.

For our member unions, this is a matter of survival. The labour movement will only remain relevant if its leaders reflect the membership—and the membership reflects the workforce as it actually is today. That means stopping the conversation about how difficult, or even impossible, it is to organize migrant workers. That narrative is not just defeatist. It is dangerous. Because every time we repeat it, we are choosing comfort over responsibility.

Because here is the truth: Organizing workers is not difficult. But it does require us to see them clearly—not through our own lens, but through theirs.

Read more now in an important Editorial from Nataša Stojković, President of Livs (Sweden, photo below) - the first President of Livs with a migrant background.

https://www.iuf.org/news/migrants-did-not-leave-their-human-dignity-at-the-border-see-them-and-give-them-a-place-to-belong/

04/06/2026

"`This has nothing to do with ethical coffee sourcing,' says Jason Ward, chief analyst at the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research ( ), an international research center for corporate taxes. `It’s about profit maximization through a tax loophole.'

`Starbucks’ Swiss Model: ‘Fair’ Trade or Global Tax Avoidance?' is the title of the study CICTAR published in March 2025… In it, the organization examined how manages its global profits, using its subsidiary in Switzerland in the process.”

Read more in the German-language story below from Swiss magazine Republik on Starbucks' tax dodging and questionable claims of "ethical" sourcing.

Von den Milliarden­gewinnen des Unternehmens landet bei den Kaffee­bauern fast nichts.

02/06/2026

Occupational safety and health in the meat and poultry industries remains one of the most pressing labour rights challenges globally. As meat production and trade continue to grow, workers are being asked to do more, faster, and at greater risk.

Read more about the global fight for safe meatpacking and the growing pushback against dangerous production speeds at the link below.

Faster lines, broken bodies: The global fight for safe meatpacking Meat and poultry industry work is physically brutal, the workforce is largely migrant and economically vulnerable, and the pressure to speed up the line never relents. This image from 1906 in Chicago shows "splitting backbones and fi...

29/05/2026

The IUF is calling for migrant farm workers to have a formal seat at the table in discussions that shape the future of Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.

Meaningful worker participation and social dialogue are essential to building a fair, stable, and sustainable agricultural system. The workers most affected by these decisions deserve a voice in them.

Migrant farm workers in Canada deserve a seat at the table Published: 29/05/2026 The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, To***co and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), a global federation representing more than 10 million workers through over 400 affiliated tra...

28/05/2026

A landmark step for workers in aquaculture: the ILO has adopted a new Code of Practice on Occupational Safety and Health in Aquaculture following negotiations in Geneva.

The code is the first comprehensive international framework dedicated specifically to occupational safety and health in aquaculture. It addresses serious risks faced by workers, including diving operations, machinery, chemical exposure, confined spaces, thermal stress, biological hazards and psychosocial pressures.

The new framework also reinforces broader international labour principles on decent work, social dialogue, and the protection of vulnerable workers in rural and marine economies.

Learn more now at the link below.

ILO adopts landmark code of practice on occupational safety and health in aquaculture Published: 28/05/2026 The International Labour Organization (ILO) concluded a landmark week of negotiations in Geneva with the adoption of a new Code of Practice on Occupational Safety and Health in Aquaculture—a...

28/05/2026

Democracy cannot function without the full protection of human rights for everyone. The theme this year for the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia ( ) is the heart of democracy. The statement from the Council of Global Unions LGBTI Committee highlights that the fight for LGBTI+ rights is inseparable from the wider struggle for democracy, equality and justice within the movement.

Read more now at the link below.

https://www.iuf.org/news/inclusive-unions-grow-stronger/