THE WORLD Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) has issued a sweeping call to action, urging its affiliated unions and supporters worldwide to mobilise on September 1st 2025 for an International Action Day of Trade Unions for Peace, under the banner, “We refuse to work for the war.”
The annual day of action coincides with the anniversary of the start of the Second World War. The WFTU stated that the day serves to remember the millions of victims of fascist atrocities and to oppose what it describes as modern imperialist conflicts driven by the profit motives of large capital.
In a strongly-worded statement released from its central secretariat, the organisation positioned itself in direct opposition to rising global military expenditures, specifically condemning the recent NATO summit decision to raise members’ defense spending targets to 5% of GDP.
“The international class-oriented trade union movement stands its ground against war plans and interventions,” the statement read.
It cited “skyrocketing” military budgets, noting that 15 countries account for roughly 75% of the world’s total military spending, which exceeds $2 trillion.
The WFTU argues this spending “exacerbat[es] confrontation and heighten[s] the risk of a widespread, generalised imperialist war.”
The federation’s demands are extensive. They include an immediate and unconditional end to all ongoing conflicts, specifically naming wars in Ukraine, Yemen, and Sudan.
The statement reserves particular condemnation for the ongoing conflict in Gaza, demanding “the end of the genocide, the ethnic cleansing practices, and the use of famine as a war tactic” against the Palestinian people.
Further demands include the dissolution of NATO, the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, and an end to economic sanctions and embargoes imposed by the U.S., EU, and their allies, which the WFTU claims detrimentally impact ordinary citizens.
The WFTU’s critique extended beyond governments to other labour organisations. It accused the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and other “yellow unions” of providing political backing to “imperialist militaristic plans” through their expressed positions or their “conscious absence of any reaction or protest.”
The core of the WFTU’s argument is economic. It contends that resources funnelled into the “war economy” are desperately needed for social goods.
“The workers demand all these resources to be channeled for their needs, for a better life, for adequate health care and quality education, for dignified salaries and pensions,” the statement asserted.
The federation called for concrete actions from workers, urging them to “refuse to work for the production, loading and transfer of weapons and military equipment” and to boycott any collaboration linked to the Israeli occupation or other active battlefronts.
Positioning the struggle as a fundamental class conflict, the WFTU concluded that workers globally “have nothing to expect and nothing to gain from the inter-capitalist rivalries for geopolitical, economic control, and monopolies’ profitability that resulted in death, poverty, and misery.”
The call to action urges unions worldwide to organise demonstrations, strikes, and educational initiatives on September 1st to amplify what it terms the voice of “internationalism and class struggle in pursuit of lasting peace.”
