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Another batch of trade unionists complete the ENGAGE Asia Programme at UP SOLAIR
On 18 July 2025, 20 trade unionists and labor activists from eight countries in Asia—Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand—graduated from the five-month ENGAGE Asia Programme, a joint training programme of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP SOLAIR) and the Global Labour University (GLU) in Germany, with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, LO Norway (Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions), and International Transport Workers’ Federation.
The 20 training participants attended the residential phase of the programme from 23 June to 18 July 2025 at UP SOLAIR. The graduation and closing ceremony took place at the Isabelo delos Reyes auditorium of UP SOLAIR.
Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II graced the graduation and closing ceremony and delivered his congratulatory message to the graduates. UP System President Angelo A. Jimenez sent his video message of congratulations and solidarity to the graduates. Floro Francisco, Regional Consultant for Asia of LO Norway, and Dr. Edlira Xhafa, Executive Director of the GLU Online Academy, also conveyed solidarity messages and lauded the accomplishments of the graduates. Dr. Melisa R. Serrano, Dean of UP SOLAIR, who is also the ENGAGE Asia Programme Director, delivered the closing remarks.
From 23 June to 17 July (9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday), the participants attended and engaged actively in 26 learning sessions and workshops that revolved around six major themes or modules that are relevant to the trade union movement: global governance; labor and development; industrial policy, wages and collective bargaining; contemporary challenges and changes in the world of work; trade unions in transformation and the power resources approach; and the conduct of group research/capstone projects on closing the representation gap of workers in the informal economy. For the last theme/module, the participants, who were divided into five research groups, went on five-day field research interviewing several groups of workers, such as waste pickers/recyclers, platform riders, trekking guides, and garment workers organized into a cooperative, in different parts of Metro Manila and Rizal. The research capstone projects were presented on 18 July, with UP SOLAIR Dean Serrano and Dr. Xhafa serving as critics. The critics’ verdict: Amazing capstone projects! Many of the participants were so inspired by their projects that they plan to replicate the research they did when they go back to their countries.
The resource persons of ENGAGE Asia came from various universities and research institutions (Berlin School of Economics and Law-Germany, University of Kassel-Germany, GLU-Germany, GLU Online Academy-Germany, University of Umea-Sweden, UP SOLAIR), global union federations (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations; Building and Wood Workers International Asia Pacific; Pubic Services International-Southeast Asia; International Domestic Workers’ Federation), national trade unions (Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa-Philippines; Public Services Labor Independent Confederation-Philippines; Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Philippines; General Industries Workers Union-South Africa; General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions-Nepal), an international trade union support organization (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung), and a non-government organization (Migrant Forum in Asia). Several of the resource persons are alumni of the GLU.
The residential phase of the programme included a study visit on 28 June at the Pilipinas Kyohritsu Inc. (PKI), an export producer of automotive wiring harness, in Lipa, Batangas. There, the participants had a tour of the manufacturing facility, learned a lot about the process of assembling different types of automative wire harness and the work process, and engaged actively with leaders of the two unions in the factory—the PKI Supervisors’ Union and the PKI Employees’ Welfare Union, the latter being the union of the rank-and-file employees. Both unions are affiliated with the Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance.
A side event, the Forum on Wages, the Living Wage and Inflation, took place on 2 July in parallel with the ENGAGE Asia Programme. In this forum, Dr. Hansjörg Herr, Professor Emeritus of the Berlin School of Economics and Law and Dr. Frank Hoffer, Research Fellow of the GLU, talked about the link between wages, including a living wage, employment and inflation, and argued that a well-designed wage policy does not necessarily result in employment losses and higher inflation but rather contributes to reducing income inequality.
The first phase of the ENGAGE Asia Programme—the online phase—took place between 3 March and 16 June 2025. This phase involved the completion by the participants of selected Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) of the GLU and the Power Resources Toolkit of the FES. An online workshop facilitated by a tutor complemented the MOOCs.
The 20 ENGAGE Asia graduates join the first batch of 23 trade unionists and labor activists who completed the programme in 2023. Like the earlier cohort, they now possess deeper knowledge and more tools to actively engage in public discourses and influence policymaking to promote workers’ rights, build worker power and advance social justice.
Conversations on Belarus Column
“Conversations on Belarus” is a newly featured column on the Global Labour University website where important materials on the situation of workers’ rights in Belarus are published.
The column contains English translations of the most important articles originally released in independent Belarusian media, as well as materials prepared in cooperation with the trade union movement in exile.
We inform the international community about the fate of trade union political prisoners, the repression of independent trade unions, the role of trade unions loyal to the regime and the hidden mechanisms of repression faced by workers. We will try to give a voice to those who are being silenced in Belarus today. We hope that these materials will be of interest to those who find themselves in a similar situation regarding workers’ rights. Our stories are testimonies of resilience, solidarity and the struggle for human dignity.
With “Conversations on Belarus”, we invite you to join an international dialogue and strengthen global support for those who continue to fight for justice. This section may be of interest to researchers working on authoritarian regimes and workers’ struggles.
Visit column page
We are happy to announce that applications for a formal postgraduate Honours and Master’s (MA) degree qualification are open. This innovative postgraduate programme is offered via the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South Africa, and is designed to help trade unionists tackle the challenges of globalisation.
Deadline for international applicants is Sep 30, 2025. On the other hand, South African residents can apply until October 31. Applications must be submitted online. You can find all the information, including entry requirements and application links, in the call below.
For more information, contact:
Pulane Ditlhake, the GLU Administrative Coordinator at Pulane.Ditlhake2@wits.ac.za or
Warren McGregor, the GLU Programme Coordinator at Warren.Mcgregor@wits.ac.za
Feel free to share the information with anyone who may be interested.
Applicaiton window for 2025/26 closing soon
The application period for the Master´s Programme in Labour Policies and Globalisation is open until May 1, 2025.
The one-year program, taught in English at the University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR), is looking to receive applications from candidates with experience in labour and social movements, eager to expand their knowledge of global labour mobilisations and organisations.
The LPG programme in Germany is a one-year joint degree programme, which constitutes a part of a wider project of the GLU to promote cooperation between trade unions and the research community and to strengthen the analytical and policy development capacity of trade unions.
The curriculum was jointly developed by universities and trade unions from around the world with a focus on Global Challenges to Labour, International Labour Rights, Processes of Globalisation and Economic Responses to Globalisation.
Who is the programme aimed at? People with experience in trade unions, workers’ organisations and social movements who want to expand their knowledge of global politics, trade union action strategies and mobilisation. Applicants should also have a BA degree in social sciences, law or economics.
Application periods are as follows:
- Bachelor’s degree obtained outside Germany: December 20, 2024 – May 1, 2025
- Bachelor’s degree obtained in Germany: June – September 2025
Program Begins: October 1, 2025
How to Apply: Visit the MA Programme Website or email glu.germany@uni-kassel.de for more information.
We have organised an Online Info Session showcasing the MA programme, on February 3, 2025. In case you missed the event, check out the LPG PowerPoint presentation below. The next info session will take place on April 16, at 14:00 CEST. You will be able to learn more about the curriculum from our programme coordinator and a lecturer, and hear about the way the alumni network is organised.
We look forward to receiving your applications!
GLU Team in Germany
GLU Students’ Handbook for Germany
Essential tips and tricks about life in Germany for GLU students
FAQ - Labour and Globalisation
Here are some frequently asked questions about the LPG in Germany.
LPG PowerPoint presentation
Learn more about the MA programme in Germany
applications are open!
ALumni Workhsop in Kassel, Sep 2025
The Global Labour University is organising an Alumni Workshop between September 7 and 13, 2025 in Kassel, Germany. The alumni workshop specifically targets graduates from the MA Labour Policies and Globalisation (University of Kassel/HWR Berlin). However, limited spots are also available for graduates from other GLU study programmes.
The focus of the workshop will be on the global challenges in the world of work, with a particular emphasis on topics such as just transition, gender equality and social reproduction, migration, and authoritarian regimes. The aim is to explore how these challenges impact the work of trade unions and the labour movement at large. Alumni attending the workshop are requested to present case studies during the workshop, providing an opportunity for in-depth discussions and knowledge sharing among the alumni and the participating experts from the GLU network.
To apply for participation at the GLU Alumni Workshop in Kassel, please answer all the questions and upload the requested documents by Tuesday, April 22, 2025, using the following link: GLUAlumni2025. You will have to indicate the connection between your work (or the work of your organization, more broadly) and the workshop topics. Furthermore, you will be requested to submit a short abstract (half page) on the case study you would like to present during the workshop.
Your application will be reviewed after this date, and you will be informed about the decision of the Selection Committee shortly thereafter. Preference will be given to alumni who haven’t yet participated in other GLU alumni activities.
If you have any inquiries regarding the application process, feel free to contact us at the following email address: alumni-glu@uni-kassel.de
We look forward to receiving your applications!
The Workshop Organising Team
Application for GLU Alumni Workshop in September 2025 in Kassel, Germany
A NEW GLU TRACK is Launching
The School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University is launching the first portion of a GLU track in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights within the Master's in Labor and Employment Relations program in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The program focuses on global workers' rights, strategic action-oriented research methods, financial and economic analysis in a global context, and employment relations systems around the world.
The deadline for applications is July 3, 2025.
There are two modes of study offered by the track. The first one is an online/virtual asynchronous mode of instruction through Rutgers. The second, in-person, mode is taught at The State University of New Jersey.
The study period is four semesters. Students interested in earning the master’s degree must apply first to the Labor and Employment Relations – Workers’ Rights Online Certificate where they will complete four 3-credit graduate online courses (Phase 1, 12 credits). Upon completion of this certificate, the top students can apply to Phase 2 and take nine 3-credit graduate in-person courses (27 credits). Students who complete both phases (13 courses /39 credits in total) will earn both a certificate and a master’s degree.
Students can complete the Labor and Employment Relations – Workers’ Rights Online Certificate at their own pace, taking one or two courses per semester. Students who demonstrate a high level of academic abilities and strong dedication, possess a high level of proficiency in English, and take two online courses per semester for the Certificate may be able to obtain the Online Certificate and the MLER in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights track within two years.
The first virtual Information Session took place on Tuesday, March 25th, and further info sessions will take place every month, and you can use this link to register.
You can learn more about the Workers’ Rights Certificate here. In case you have any questions, you can contact: lm1508@smlr.rutgers.edu
The launch of the new track comes after the School of Management and Labour Relations (SMLR) joined the GLU network in 2024.
The ENGAGE Asia Programme, a biennial non-degree Certificate course of the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP SOLAIR) and the Global Labour University (GLU), with funding support from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO Norway), will be held on 3 March to 18 July 2025. The online phase of the programme, which involves the completion of selected GLU Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and participation in tutored online workshops, will run from 3 March to 16 June. The residential phase which will place at UP SOLAIR will be held on 23 June to 18 July. This combination of online learning and residential learning sessions is a unique feature of the programme.
Lecturers of the residential stage of the programme will come from the GLU network of universities, other universities outside the GLU network, global union federations, and national trade unions in the Philippines. GLU and UP SOLAIR have also signed a memorandum to ensure the future of the ENGAGE programme in the Philippines, defining a clear distribution of roles and responsibilities.
The 2025 ENGAGA Asia received 49 applications. Twenty-three were selected to participate in this year’s programme. These successful applicants come from various trade unions and labour organisations in 10 countries in Asia, namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Full scholarships (covering roundtrip airfare, accommodation, meals) from the FES and LO Norway for the residential phase have been awarded to most of the successful applicants. For this year’s programme, two of the selected applicants are self-paying, an indicator of the programme’s appeal and relevance to trade unions in Asia. The participants are expected to arrive in Manila on 21 to 22 June for the residential phase.
Another unique feature of ENGAGE Asia is the integration of its alumni into the programme. For the 2025 run of the course, two alumni of the 2023 course will be among the tutors in the online phase. These tutors are also part of the Global Team of Trainers of the GLU Online Academy, having completed the pertinent training as well after finishing the ENGAGE Asia programme. In addition, an alumna of the 2023 programme, who was duly elected by the ENGAGE Asia alumni, is among the members of the Selection Committee. In the medium term, some of the alumni may also be tapped as lecturers in the programme.
Next year (2026), a tracer study involving the 2023 alumni of ENGAGE Asia will be conducted to find out whether or how the alumni used the training, the outcomes from using the training, and how their work lives in the trade union progressed after three years.
New partners join the GLU network!
GLU Welcomes new network members from the United States, The School of Management and Labour Relations (SMLR), and Center for Global Workers’ Rights (CGWR), of Penn State University. These exciting developments come at a crucial time for the network, which has celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024, and is looking for ways to increase its global footprint.
The School of Management and Labour Relations at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, joined the GLU Network as its latest member in December 2024. Rutgers is one of the leading US universities on labour relations and has a long-standing collaboration with the US labour movement. The GLU International Steering Committee welcomed the colleagues from Rutgers as a new member and discussed with them the next steps of future collaboration. Rutgers is planning to start a GLU programme already in 2025.
In September 2024, CGWR has also became an associate member of GLU, to serve as a reference point for research on local, national, and global labor issues, while also serving as a valuable point of reference for “Labour and Global Workers´Rights (LGWR) alumni. The CGWR has a strong partnership with the Global Labour University (GLU) since 2013, when preparatory work began for the launch of the first edition of the master program in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights (LGWR). For more than a decade, CGWR has been actively involved with LGWR students, providing support for their initiatives, engaging in research projects, participating in film festivals, and more.
We look forward to collaborating with both partners in 2025 and beyond.
Call for Submissions for 2025 is Open
Global Labour University (GLU), in cooperation with the University of Kassel and Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin), has issued a call for submissions to the competitive award in honour of critical political economist Elmar Altvater.
The award seeks to recognize outstanding work in the theoretically informed and ecologically-inclusive critiques of political economy.
It is open to a graduating thesis at the PhD level, with an award of 2,000€. We will consider submissions that have been accepted by an institution of higher education since 2022 in English or if in Spanish, Italian, German or Portuguese accompanied by a short article-length summary in English (3000 to 6000 words).
Applications are only accepted in electronic forms, to be sent before or at the very latest on June 30, 2025, to the following address: scherrer@uni-kassel.de
Professor Altvater was among the few academics in Germany who based his analysis of economic and political development on a critical reading of Marxian approaches to the cycles of growth, recession and crisis in modern capitalism. From the early 1970s until his death on the 1st of May 2018, his academic and political work also addressed the market rationality that enabled the destruction of nature, human labour, and all sorts of non-human life.
The prize aims to encourage young scholars to continue the tradition of critical thought about the degradation and destruction of nature as the ‘price of progress’ that Professor Altvater represented so outstandingly.
For any questions and further information, contact Prof. Dr. Christoph Scherrer: scherrer@uni-kassel.de
Download the full Call for Submissions
GLU South Africa is hosting its annual Engage Transfer Conference on Friday, 18 October. At the event, four African trade union groups will present their Power Resources Mapping research projects.
These research groups were formed earlier this year by GLU alumni and are comprised of representatives from respective workers’ organisations from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire and Uganda. Namely, the Engage Transfer Project is enabling African GLU-Wits alumni to transfer some of their skills and knowledge acquired in the Engage South Africa short course to their local workers’ organisations and trade unions. To that end, several transfer workshops have been organised from May to July 2024.
The programme of the Conference will begin at 10:00 (UTC+2) and you are cordially invited to attend online. You can join the Zoom meeting via this link. All are welcome to attend online and engage in the presentations and GLU alumni.
The project is spearheaded by the University of the Witwatersrand and supported by the FES TUCC, local FES country offices, and other trade union organisations.
GLU South Africa and the FES TUCC are also hosting the annual GLU Africa Alumni meeting on Fri, 25 October. This is a hybrid meeting that takes place the day after the Engage South Africa short course graduation. It is designed to introduce our new alumni to the Africa network, their country and continental reps and to assist their integration into the wider GLU alumni space.
You can join the session via this link.