On the occasion of World Migrants Day on 18 December, the International Labour Confederation (ILC) once again underscores the following with clarity and determination:

Migration is not merely the outcome of individual choice. It is a structural necessity produced by wars, occupations, authoritarian forms of governance, deepening poverty, the climate crisis, and an unjust global economic order.

Today, across the world, hundreds of millions of people are compelled to leave their countries of origin in search of a dignified life. Migrants are not only crossing geographical borders; they are also striving to overcome inequality, exploitation, and exclusion.

Regrettably, migrants are increasingly becoming the targets of racist, xenophobic, and exclusionary political discourses. Migration is deliberately framed as a security issue or a social threat, while migrants are unjustly portrayed as scapegoats for economic crises and social challenges.

Yet the reality is clear:          
The source of the problem is not migrants themselves, but the unequal and unjust global system that renders migration unavoidable.

Migrants are, first and foremost, workers. For this reason, migration policies cannot be separated from labour policies.

Today, millions of migrant workers are subjected to precarious and informal working conditions, employed at low wages, effectively excluded from trade union rights, and deprived of legal protection. This situation points to a structural regime of exploitation that weakens not only migrants, but the entire world of labour.

In migration processes, women and children face far more severe forms of exploitation, violence, and abuse. Human trafficking, forced labour, and invisible care work represent some of the most widespread and acute manifestations of this compounded vulnerability. Migration policies, therefore, remain incomplete without a perspective grounded in gender equality and the rights of the child.

Migrants are an indispensable component not only of labour markets in their countries of destination, but also of production, public services, and the sustainability of social welfare systems. From agriculture to industry, from construction to services, and from healthcare to care work, migrant workers make tangible and lasting contributions to the economic and social functioning of host societies.

Migrant labour helps address labour shortages, increases productive capacity, and contributes to tax revenues and social security systems. Particularly in ageing societies, migrant workers play a critical role in sustaining social protection systems. Denying this reality reflects a discriminatory and unfounded narrative that stands in contradiction to empirical evidence.

ILC’s Call

As the International Labour Confederation (ILC), we call upon governments, international organisations, and employers to:

• Guarantee migrant workers the right to trade union organisation and collective bargaining, regardless of their legal status;
• Effectively uphold the principle of equal pay for work of equal value across all labour markets;
• Establish robust and transparent inspection mechanisms to combat informal employment and labour exploitation;
• Implement special protection and support policies for migrant women and children;
• Adopt a zero-tolerance approach toward racist, discriminatory, and exclusionary rhetoric.

This approach is fully consistent with international human rights law and with the fundamental labour and freedom of association rights enshrined in the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO). In this spirit, the International Labour Confederation (ILC) will continue to work resolutely with its affiliated confederations to strengthen global trade union solidarity.

The struggle of migrants is the shared struggle of labour.   
Labour cannot be divided; human dignity cannot be constrained by borders.

The movement of people has, throughout history, been one of the principal forces shaping social structures and global interactions. When approached through a framework grounded in rights and human dignity, migration constitutes a process that sustains social and economic life, strengthens innovative capacity, and contributes to long-term development.

Long live labour!     
Long live solidarity! 
Long live human dignity!