The Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) was founded on 9 December 2005 as a sectoral unification of the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) and the World Federation of Building and Wood Workers (WFBW).
The BWI is the Global Union Federation grouping free and democratic trade unions with members in the Building, Building Materials, Wood, Forestry and Allied Industries.
As of January 2025, the BWI groups together 365 trade unions representing around 12 million members in 117 countries. The Headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland and its Regional Offices are located in Panama, Malaysia, and South Africa, while Project Offices are in India, Kenya, Brazil, Türkiye, and the Philippines.
The BWI envisions a world with strong, independent, and democratic trade unions in the building and timber trades, where all workers have equitable access to stable jobs, fair wages and safe and healthy working and living conditions. It aims to see an enabling environment for trade unions, where international labour standards are promoted, implemented, and enforced, and where social justice, gender equality and respect for trade union and human rights prevail.
BWI’s fundamental mission is to defend and advance workers’ rights, to improve working and living conditions in our sectors. The BWI, above all, has a rights-based approach. It believes that trade union rights are human rights and are based on equality, solidarity and democracy, and that trade unions are indispensable to good governance. The international labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the Decent Work agenda of the ILO is a trade union agenda in its sectors.
It demonstrates the positive contribution from organised labour, the “Union effect” in achieving these development objectives and in making workers’ rights a priority. BWI’s trade union networks are ready to confront exploitative employment and labour practices and to stand up for the rights of all workers in the building and timber trades.
For the Congress period 2023 – 2026, BWI have identified five (5) priority areas of work which its Vamos! Strategic Plan call CONVERGENCES. They are as follows:
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- Fighting for Climate Justice (“Climate Justice”)
- Building Trade Unions (“Inclusive Trade Unions”)
- Ensuring Safe and Healthy Workers (“Safe and Healthy Workers”)
- Globalising Workers Rights (“Globalised Rights”)
- Fair Future of Work (“Equal Future”)
The BWI has a Special Consultative Status to the Economic and Social Committee of the United Nations and is engaged with international organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the international employers' organizations, such as the Confederation of International Contractors' Associations (CICA), and the global sports governance bodies like FIFA and the International Olympics Committee (IOC).
BWI has 15 International Framework Agreements (IFAs) with multinational companies and engages Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank on labour rights especially on occupational health and safety and have even signed Memorandum of Understandings with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The Global Union is also part of the main forest certification systems of the world namely; the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
The BWI works closely with the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW), the Nordic Federation of Building and Wood Workers (NFBWW), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the Global Union Federations (GUFs).
The President of the International is Per Olof Sjöö from the GS Union of Sweden. The Deputy Presidents are Nicole Simons from IG BAU Germany, Gail Cartmail from UNITE UK, Patrick Vandenberghe from ACV-BIE Belgium, Phyo Sandar Soe from BWFM Myanmar, Saul Mendez from SUNTRACS Panama, and the General Secretary is Ambet Yuson from the Philippines.
The last congress of the BWI was held in Madrid, Spain in October 2022 and the next congress will be held in Sǎo Paulo, Brazil on 16 – 20 November 2026.