Trade unions engaged directly with OECD governments at the 2025 Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) in Paris this week, advocating for worker-centered approaches to trade, technology, and climate policies amid persistent inequality concerns.
TUAC delivered a comprehensive alternative vision in its statement and through interventions at multiple sessions of the MCM, calling for fundamental economic reform that rewards work over capital. Trade unions cited ILO data showing that current policies have triggered a massive USD 2.4 trillion annual wealth transfer from workers to capital since 2004.
Breaking the Export-Led Growth Trap
In its statement, TUAC identified how inequality feeds a destructive cycle of export-led growth. As top earners seize larger shares of national income at the expense of working people, domestic consumption falters as workers have less to spend. This forces companies to turn to exporting overseas to make up for weak domestic demand. The result is export-led growth models where businesses compete with cheaper labour costs abroad. This triggers a race to the bottom for wages and working conditions, fuelling trade tensions and worsening the original inequality problem.
TUAC argued for policies that would break this cycle during the MCM sessions on trade, advocating for sustainable trade requiring enforceable labour provisions, with governments ensuring compliance with ILO fundamental principles across global supply chains. TUAC also emphasised that supporting SMEs and women’s participation depends on creating quality jobs rather than exploiting cheap labour.
AI and the Digital Economy
The same inequality dynamics also affect digital transformation, as TUAC outlined concerns during MCM sessions on technology. The digital sector holds the potential of substantially accelerating economic growth, but also the risk of increasing inequalities between and within countries. These risks are already materialising, with OECD research showing that 90% of US firms now use algorithmic management tools – automated systems that monitor and evaluate worker performance. In response, TUAC called for legally binding obligations requiring employers to engage in meaningful dialogue with unions on AI deployment.
Collective bargaining ensures workers have a voice in how new technologies are implemented, helps negotiate fair compensation for AI-driven productivity gains, and protects against job displacement and surveillance overreach.
Climate Justice Through Workers’ Rights
Addressing another dimension of global inequality, TUAC highlighted how labour and environmental exploitation often go hand in hand in developing countries. Trade unions pushed for trade agreements addressing both issues simultaneously, and advocated for public finance for development to be linked to job creation, workers’ rights, and social dialogue requirements.
In its statement, TUAC also stressed that just transition policies must guarantee income security and robust social protection, with collective bargaining serving as the primary mechanism for managing climate transition impacts on vulnerable workers.
Reforming Global Financial Architecture
To support these interconnected reforms, TUAC’s statement criticised current development assistance priorities, noting only 0.16% supports labour rights despite evidence showing collective bargaining’s effectiveness in reducing poverty. With 92 countries spending more on debt servicing than climate investments in 2024, trade unions urged reform of international financial institutions including the World Bank and IMF.
Further to this, trade unions proposed progressive tax reform shifting taxation from labour to capital, alongside strengthened international coordination to close loopholes for multinationals.
Defending Multilateralism Through Social Justice
TUAC’s statement concluded by stressing that trade unions are essential partners in defending multilateralism and democratic institutions. Trade unions maintained that without addressing inequality and ensuring economic growth benefits are widely shared, populist forces will continue exploiting public discontent to undermine international cooperation and civil rights.
TUAC’s message to OECD governments is clear: another economic model is needed. One that guarantees living wages, quality jobs, and social protection whilst addressing climate, digital, and demographic transitions through collective bargaining.
Read TUAC’s full statement to the 2025 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting at the links below.
