News and Updates

The Asia-Pacific region remains one of the world's most challenging environments for working people, maintaining its position as the second-worst region globally for workers' rights.

Last week, a Hong Kong court concluded the final arguments in the national security trial against Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, both former organisers of the annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

ITUC-Asia Pacific welcomes the historic Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which definitively confirms that the right to strike is legally protected under International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right to Organise.

ITUC-Asia Pacific expressed profound disappointment over the failure of the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to adopt a final outcome document, warning that the ongoing deadlock leaves working people vulnerable to growing geopolitical risks.

ITUC-Asia Pacific has welcomed the adoption of the Progress Declaration at the close of the 2nd International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), while urging governments to immediately translate these global commitments into enforceable, rights-based protections of all migrant workers on the ground.

On 1 May 2026, workers and trade unions across Asia and the Pacific marked May Day through collective actions to raise their urgent demands in times of crisis.

Young trade unionists from across South Asia gathered in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 20-22 April 2026 for the South Asia Youth Leadership Academy, an initiative of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the ITUC-Asia Pacific aimed at strengthening youth leadership, organising, and solidarity in the region.

On International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD), ITUC-Asia Pacific draws attention to psychosocial risks and hazards at work as a growing and critical occupational safety and health (OSH) issue across sectors and regions.