Trade Unions in a Changing Economic Order

March 4 2026, 5:45 - 7:45 PM | Washington D.C.

Every year in March, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) organize 50-60 representatives of the major global union federations (GUFs) to meet over three days in Washington, DC for consultations with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. One year, the presidents of the GUFs will meet with the heads of the Bank and Fund, as well as heads of departments; in alternating years the chief economists of the GUFs meet with high-ranking economists from the institutions. These discussions take place behind closed doors and can be far more contentious and interesting than the open civil society forum that accompanies the Spring and Annual Meetings. We want to counter this with an activity to strengthen the unions’ hands.

With vast changes in the geopolitical landscape, US-led trade disruptions, and new alliances of authoritarians, this is an opportunity for the trade union movement to engage with keynote speaker Kelly Fay Rodríguez, a labor rights expert who was recently the U.S. Special Representative for International Labor Affairs under President Joe Biden. Ms. Rodríguez’s deep understanding of how multilateral institutions and the global financial architecture shape (and constrain) political possibilities has been invited to offer a fresh perspective on what trade unions should be paying attention to in the current moment.