ILO Workers’ Group statement on Ukraine: Peace, social justice, solidarity

Delegates and representatives of trade unions from ILO Member States gathered in the Workers’ Group at the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June 2022:

  • recall that the constitution of the International Labour Organisation states that lasting peace can only be achieved on the basis of social justice, reaffirm their belief that there can also be no social justice without peace, and insist that common security should be at the heart of the United Nation’s mission;
  • reassert the importance of ILO Recommendation 205 on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience adopted in 2017;
  • recognise the many armed conflicts raging in the world, some of them protracted, and all of them with devastating consequences for working people, their families and communities, and express full solidarity with all workers and unions around the world, affected by such conflicts;
  • pay special tribute to the workers and unions of Ukraine, who are contributing to the struggle against the Russian aggression and for a free, sovereign and democratic Ukraine, and express admiration for their efforts to support internally displaced persons;
  • praise workers in neighbouring countries and around the world contributing through their unions to provide accommodation and ensure decent work, access to education and care for children and families;
  • express strong concern about the economic impact of the war on workers’ livelihoods around the globe, in the form of food and fuel shortages and price rises, which will require concerted international action to prevent a dramatic increase in poverty and starvation;
  • express particular concern about the impact of armed conflict on women and girls including through sexual violence and harassment, and raise the alarm about their vulnerability as refugees, which demands effective protection measures;
  • call on governments around the world to work together towards an unconditional withdrawal of Russian military forces from the territory of Ukraine, and to promote the ideals of common security, starting with an immediate ceasefire; and
  • urge the international community to start already now preparing to help rebuild Ukraine’s economy, infrastructure and institutions, with a key role for the ILO and trade unions in ensuring that social dialogue, decent work and rights for workers are central to that reconstruction, as well as underlining the fundamental importance of women’s active participation in all peace processes to ensure their success.