UnionAID

May Day 2022

With UnionAID’s support, Mylene Cabalona leads a union of courageous young activists  organising call centre workers and campaigning for better work against incredible odds.  They face a hostile response from powerful employers and politicians and risk imprisonment and even death. 

Over 1.8 million people are employed in the Philippine Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry providing call centre and digital services to some of the biggest multinationals in the world. Despite earning the Philippines billions, workers in the sector don’t have a single union to protect their rights and ensure decent pay and conditions. Gruelling hours, harassment, impossible targets and job insecurity are facts of life for most BPO workers. And these challenges have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected countless workers and led to tens of thousands of job losses in the Philippines.

How you can help:

  • Become a Kiwi Solidarity Donor. A regular donation to UnionAID means we can plan ahead and our partners can continue their fight for decent work and dignity. 

Building Unions

Building Unions

By organising as unions, working people gather the collective power to negotiate decent wages and conditions and improve their livelihoods.

Create cooperatives

Create Cooperatives

Establishing local cooperatives enables small scale farmers, street vendors, cleaners, and other groups of working people to collectively make and sell their products, improving their incomes and sustainability.

Skills Training

Skills Training

Skills training increases job opportunities, and earning potential. Our projects support women, migrants, and minorities to gain new vocational skills so they can get decent work and safely support themselves and their families

Why UnionAID

UnionAID is the international development agency of the Aotearoa New Zealand union movement . We have a unique focus on helping workers in  neighbouring countries in Asia and the Pacific build unions and cooperative ventures. With your help workers can organise to bring about real change and strengthen workers rights in practice.

Our projects are identified, developed and implemented by grassroots partner organisations who understand the context and needs of their communities.

You are supporting democratic, worker-led organisations that help empower working people to take collective action to improve their work and livelihoods.

Our partners also grow the capacity and skills of their communities for sustainable, long lasting impacts.

Most of our administration costs are met by supporting Unions, meaning your more of your donation goes directly to working people in Asia and the Pacific.