“No Crisis Shall Be Turned into a Pretext for Stripping Workers of Their Rights”

Safe and Healthy Work Is a Fundamental Right of Every Worker, Not a Cost Item

Today, on 28 April, World Day for Safety and Health at Work, we honour with deep respect the memory of all workers across the world who have lost their lives as a result of occupational accidents, work-related diseases, and precarious working conditions. Their loss is not only the grief of their families, but also a shared sorrow for the entire world of labour. This sorrow also strengthens our responsibility to struggle for a safer, healthier, and more just world of work.

There is no end to Israel’s crimes, brutality, and systematic oppression against the Palestinian people. Every instrument of destruction has been used against them; even hunger has been turned into a weapon of war. Yet this, too, has not been enough.

Ali Yalçın, President of the International Labour Confederation (ILC), and Hamza Öksüz, Secretary General of the ILC, met in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, with representatives of CGM-UGSR and SINDALIMENTA, both member organizations of the ILC.

The future of trade unionism in Romania depends, more clearly than ever, on two fundamental factors: the institutional capacity, representative strength, and ability of trade unions to renew themselves, and the extent to which they can respond effectively to the deepening economic and social crises across Europe and the wider world. For this reason, the 2025–2026 period does not represent an ordinary phase of adjustment for Romania’s trade union movement; rather, it marks a historic turning point at which unions are compelled to redefine their direction, priorities, and instruments of struggle.

The military strike launched by the United States and Israel against Iran is not merely a regional security development. It symbolizes a broader transformation that has become increasingly visible within the international system: the emergence of a world in which power politics is replacing the rule of law.