Trade union leaders from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, together with colleagues from Peru, met from 21 to 25 September at CONA Huachipa, the Recreation and Training Centre of the FTCCP in Lima, Peru, to discuss trade union organising, growth campaigns, and ways to strengthen and promote trade unions.

The 28 trade union leaders, women and men with intermediate and advanced leadership profiles, took part in sessions alongside Luis Villanueva Carbajal, General Secretary of the FTCCP; Nilton Freitas and Ernesto Marval from BWI; Mónica Quesada from the ILO; and Hernán Chiroque, John Irene González, John Cruz, César Soberón and Samuel Machacuay, also from the FTCCP, one of BWI’s affiliates in the Andean country.

During a videoconference, Marlon Quesada, Global Coordinator of BWI’s Global Organising Academy (GOA), presented participants with fundamental elements for developing trade union campaigns, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and analysing the social, economic and political contexts in which trade unions operate. The sessions deepened participants’ understanding of the realities facing trade unions and the need to strengthen their organising capacity, particularly amid significant political, social and labour changes at regional and international levels.

Participants also developed proposals for membership campaigns tailored to the needs and circumstances of their respective organisations. These initiatives aim to boost trade union growth and membership, with each organisation expected to implement its proposals directly.

Ahead of BWI’s 6th World Congress, to be held in São Paulo, Brazil, from 16 to 20 November 2026, the Global Organising Academy reaffirms its role as a tool for promoting trade union growth, strengthening and development, a movement within the movement.

BWI’s GOA in Latin America and the Caribbean continues to move forward alongside affiliated organisations and their leaders, strengthening capacities, developing strategies and reaffirming its technical and political purpose: organising and unionising to build power.