The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) -Asia Pacific has launched the latest edition of its newsletter, “The Builder,” highlighting major labour struggles, global conflicts, and union actions shaping the region early this year. The publication opens with a strong condemnation of the escalating war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, warning of its devastating consequences on workers, particularly migrant workers in the Middle East. BWI underscored that while wars are driven by geopolitical interests, it is working people who suffer most, facing job losses, displacement, and heightened exploitation, and calls for immediate de-escalation and respect for international law.

A central feature of the newsletter focuses on the deepening crisis faced by migrant workers in the Gulf amid the conflict. Drawing from a 13 March dialogue between BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson and migrant community leaders, the report outlined urgent concerns, including threats to wages, unsafe working conditions, and the absence of social protection. Workers described the daily dilemma of choosing between risking their lives at work or facing hunger at home. Despite these conditions, the newsletter highlighted a prevailing sense of resilience among migrants, alongside BWI’s commitment to sustained advocacy and solidarity.

The newsletter also reported large-scale labour mobilisations and sectoral initiatives across the region. In India, around 300 million workers and farmers joined the “Bharat Bandh” protest against “labour reforms” and privatisation, with BWI affiliates playing a key role. It further captures International Women’s Day activities led by women unionists pushing for safer and more equitable workplaces, ongoing solidarity with Myanmar workers resisting military rule, and global efforts to combat child labour. The publication reinforced BWI’s broader mission of strengthening trade union power and advancing workers’ rights, culminating in preparations for its 6th World Congress in São Paulo, Brazil, later this year.

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