UNI Global Union

05/06/2026

Finland's Social Democrats have approved a landmark resolution calling for EU legislation to recognize and protect the rights of AI trainers, data annotators and content moderators.

UNI General Secretary, Christy Hoffman, says:

"The discussion of AI focuses so much on how it is used that we lose sight of how it's produced. These jobs that make AI possible are difficult, precarious, low-pay and high-pressure. We welcome this resolution as a needed step towards recognizing the rights of data enrichment workers and making rules that keep Big Tech in line."

🔗https://uniglobalunion.org/news/finlands-social-democrats-move-to-protect-invisible-workers-of-ai/

03/06/2026

🇰🇪🤝 Our vision is to achieve sectoral bargaining in Kenya for tech & data workers - and shape industry specific policies and laws to protect those workers.

And so, together with our affiliate COWU - Kenya, we were very pleased to meet with the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Shadrack Mwadime, as well as the Federation of Kenyan Employers ahead of a new government framework for business process outsourcing. We're happy to say the Secretary was very supportive of our demands for decent work and said they are encouraging the employers to engage with unions✊

UNI Africa

29/05/2026

Healthcare workers in 🇲🇺 Mauritius are owed money – and they're not staying silent. Understaffing is a global crisis in healthcare, leaving workers to carry the load through unpaid overtime. We stand with Mauritian health workers and our affiliate, the State and others Employees Federation, as they demand the Minister of Health pays what is long overdue.

UNI Africa

29/05/2026

Solidarity with Meta workers at Covalen in Ireland as they take to the streets again today to demand dignity in the face of 720 redundancies. Not only is AI taking jobs these workers trained it to do, the company is also imposing a 6-month cooling off period, meaning workers can't take on similar jobs elsewhere in the meantime. We stand with workers' demands that Covalen engages with their union DATA CWU

28/05/2026

We stand with our Romanian affiliate
Federatia Sindicatelor din Asigurari si Banci as they write an open letter to Andrea Orcel - CEO of Italian multinational bank UniCredit - demanding an end to union busting and the systematic purging of workers following last year’s merger with Alpha Bank.

“What we are seeing at UniCredit Bank Romania is not an isolated incident – it is a pattern. Union leaders have been marginalized, targeted and ultimately dismissed for doing their jobs. These allegations smack of union-busting, plain and simple, and we urge global leadership to intervene and ensure that its operations in Romanian comply with the law and the bank’s own declared commitments to workers’ rights. UNI Finance stands in full solidarity with the workers and leaders of Vocea Noastră," said UNI's Head of Finance, Angelo Di Cristo.

https://uniglobalunion.org/news/romanian-bank-union-calls-on-unicredit-ceo-to-end-systematic-purging-of-transferred-workers/

26/05/2026

In Hungary, homecare workers are organizing, building union power, and demanding the respect, wages, and working conditions they deserve. ✊🏽💜

Homecare workers, employers, researchers and service users in Hungary signed a joint statement on Wednesday committing to decent jobs and quality care, after a social dialogue forum in Budapest brought together around 40 to 50 participants from across the sector for the first time.

26/05/2026

Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) says it respects freedom of association.

So why did company filings disclose more than $2 million spent on union avoidance consultants between 2018–2025?

And why are management job ads still instructing HR directors to guide managers on “union avoidance”?

Respecting workers’ rights means respecting workers’ choice to organize.

At Fresenius' AGM, the Fresenius Global Alliance raised serious concerns about labour rights in the Philippines.

Workers report that company structures and conflict of interest policies are being used in ways that discourage union organizing and limit transparency across subsidiaries.

Workers must be able to organize freely, without coercion, retaliation, or fear.

We also called on FMC to disclose how many workers in the Philippines are employed through subsidiary arrangements and why many health workers are still waiting for their full COVID Health Emergency Allowance payments.

Workers at 22 Fresenius clinics and 1 hospital in California voted to unionize starting in 2022.

Years later, there are still no collective bargaining agreements in place.

We also asked FMC how this reflects “good faith bargaining” and “constructive dialogue” — especially after settling bad-faith bargaining charges with the NLRB.

26/05/2026

Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered bank "should remember that we are talking about thousands of people and families, not human capital,” said Angelo Di Cristo, head of finance at UNI Global Union, who said Winters’ apology for calling workers set to be replaced by AI as "lower-value human capital" doesn’t change the impression left by the original comments.

“Unfortunately, the plans by these multinational banks to slash jobs are not just about introducing AI tools, but a new chapter in the same old story of banks cutting labor costs wherever they can,” which results in “dedicated employees being treated as disposable,” said Di Cristo.

UNI Global Union will “stand with these workers” and the local unions that represent them, “who will demand a fair deal,” Di Cristo said.

Di Cristo says he wants banks to remember that their strength today is built on the efforts of many of the employees they’re now considering firing.

“We know banks can successfully incorporate AI tools,” he said. But they need to do so “while respecting the dignity and humanity of the workers who have contributed to their success.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-22/bill-winters-draws-union-ire-despite-lower-value-human-apology

22/05/2026

🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ "We are at a critical moment globally, with the rise of the far right. Increased trade union commitment to LGBTI+ workers’ rights is urgent." This week, around 100 people joined us online for our annual LGBTI+ Network meeting, where we heard perspectives from all corners of the globe as workers rise up to tackle LGBT+ discrimination at work both online and offline.
Find out what unions and workers are doing here: https://ow.ly/himz50Z34RT

21/05/2026

UNI Global Union's General Secretary, Christy Hoffman, on the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the right to strike:

"There is no right to organize without the right to strike!"

➡️Full statement: uniglobalunion.org/news/icj-right-to-strike