The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) Asia-Pacific Region has released its Q3 2025 edition of The Builder , highlighting the surge of youth-led movements and the region’s growing commitment to labour rights and democracy. The newsletter opens with a feature on the political upsurges in Indonesia and Nepal, framing them as “a new hope” driven by young workers and students reclaiming democratic space against inequality, corruption, and elite domination. It argues that trade unions must go beyond collective bargaining and become “schools of resistance and democracy,” nurturing a new generation of labour leaders determined to build economies that serve people, not profits.

Beyond the cover story, the issue highlights BWI’s 25-year partnership with Faber-Castell, IG Metall, and local unions through social audits in Malaysia and Indonesia, strengthening adherence to international framework agreements (IFAs). It also reports on occupational health and safety (OHS) negligence at Pakistan’s Balakot Hydropower Project, union leadership trainings in the Philippines and Malaysia, and the global union campaign rejecting Myanmar’s sham elections. From audits to trade union activism, the newsletter underscored BWI’s mission to promote decent work, democratic freedoms, and the power of organised labour across Asia and the Pacific.

Read and download it here.