The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) marked its 20th anniversary on 10 December 2025 with a global webinar themed “No Step Back. Organise, Resist, Build!”, bringing together close to 300 union leaders, organisers, and activists from across the world to confront the escalating crisis of democratic decline and shrinking civic spaces. Held in conjunction with International Human Rights Day, the event reaffirmed the centrality of trade unions in defending rights, freedoms, and democracy.

The event opened with reflections on BWI’s two decades of global organising, featuring a video snapshot of major milestones and struggles, followed by personal testimonies from affiliates on their journey with BWI. A perspective-setting segment, featuring an excerpt from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa’s speech before the United Nations, framed the urgent global context in which trade unions operate today.

“This gathering forms part of a six-month-long celebration of two decades of global solidarity,” said BWI President Olof Sjöö in his opening remarks. Our global union federation is a young adult – learning, innovating, experimenting, and sometimes headstrong. Our gains and victories would not be possible without the contributions of our affiliates and the cooperation of our solidarity partners and industrial counterparts.”

A panel of leaders from Argentina, India, the United States, Tunisia, and Italy, led by Marta Pujadas of UOCRA, Rashim Bedi of SEWA, Ryan Kekeris of IUPAT, Taieb Bahri of FGBB, and Antonio Di Franco of FILLEA-CGIL, discussed varying forms of democratic deficit in their respective countries, from political repression and attacks on civil liberties to aggressive union-busting and constraints on collective bargaining. They outlined the spillover effects of these crises on industrial relations, as well as the growing challenges facing unions in defending workers’ rights.

The conversation also highlighted powerful examples of resistance. Panelists shared innovative strategies, from digital organising and mobilisations to international solidarity campaigns, that have led to significant victories on the ground.

The webinar concluded with a synthesis and closing message from BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson, who underscored the need for stronger global solidarity and reaffirmed BWI’s resolve to confront democratic backsliding head-on. He emphasised that as BWI enters its third decade, the call to “Organise, Resist, Build” remains both a rallying cry and a strategic roadmap for the future.

“Our panelists gave us a sneak peek at the dynamics within their societies. The primacy of capital and profit, the failure of the welfare states, the corruption of the establishment parties, and even the blatant power grab that occurs after a social explosion have given us an array of countries marching to fascism and illiberal democracies,” Yuson said.

“But workers are also fighting back. We have heard strong mobilisations in Italy, USA, Argentina, India, and Tunisia. We have seen general strikes in India and Italy. The global trade union movement has launched an international campaign in Tunisia. The fight back by unions and pensioners in Argentina keeps rolling. BWI will continue organising, resisting, and building trade unions as schools of democracy. No step back. We fight on,” Yuson concluded. #