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On September 24th, our 22nd cohort of the International MA Programme Labour Policies and Globalisation of the University of Kassel - Global Labour University celebrated their graduation from their Master’s degree!
The event featured contributions from student representatives, colleagues, and partners of the Global Labour University, musical accompaniment by the Workers Song Choir Kassel, and, finally, the ceremonial handover of the graduation certificates. The ceremony was closed with a small reception.
We wish all alumni all the best for their future trajectories!
Happening now!
International Conference on "Labour Studies and Research in the 21st Century: Issues, Perspectives, and Debates" is being hosted by the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi between 22 to 25 October 2026.
Program can be found here in this link:
Call for applications: ENGAGE South Africa 2027
APPLY NOW TO THE ENGAGE SA 2027!
Scan/access the link: bit.ly/ENGAGESA_2027
Deadline: 18 December 2026
Workers in both the formal and informal economies as well as trade unions are faced with rapid economic and social change. As yet, adequate regulatory and protective frameworks have not been found to meet the challenges imposed by the varying forces of globalisation. The current world economic and health crises, exacerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, urgently requires the development of alternative policies and rules based on universal human rights, international social justice and democratic self-determination. However, to turn these policies and rules into reality a strong voice representing the interests of workers is needed.
ENGAGE helps labour activists and trade unionists to acquire additional knowledge and tools enabling them to take an active part in public debate and the process of policy formulation and implementation. The Certificate Course, made up of six modules, constitutes the core of the activities of ENGAGE. The cause of the decade long decline in the wage share and the requirements for a wage-led recovery path will be discussed and analysed during the training. The participants will jointly develop strategies to enforce decent work conditions along cross-national chains of production and to regulate financial markets in a way that promotes fair globalisation and inclusive societies.
Call for Applications: University of Kassel MA in LPG
More information:
Program Website: Uni Kassel
Program information: GLU
Questions? Email glu.germany@uni-kassel.de
Application period: 1 December 2025 – 31 March 2026 (extended to 1 May 2026)
Study in Germany, and explore pressing questions of the transnational trade union and labour movement together with fellow students and activists from around the globe. Deepen your understanding of current theories, research findings and methods – from crises in the global
economy to labour struggles, from union strategies to the just transition.
All this is possible in the MA programme Labour Policies and Globalisation (LPG) at the University of Kassel. This one-year English-language Master's brings together activists from trade unions and social movements worldwide. The programme focuses on the challenges facing unions and labour movements across the globe in times of multiple crises. It combines theoretical learning with practical experience – through field trips, case studies and a six-week internship.
The programme is designed for people with experience in trade unions, workers’ organisations or social movements who wish to broaden their knowledge of global political economy, transnational politics, and union strategies and mobilisations. Apart from a contribution towards excursions and the regular semester fee, the programme is free of charge. Selected candidates will be granted a scholarship.
Key Information:
- Location: University of Kassel, Germany
- Programme duration: 1 October 2026 – 30 September 2027 (1 year)
- Application period for applicants with BA degrees earned outside Germany:
1 December 2025 –31 March 20261 May 2026 (extended) - A limited number of scholarships for travel and living costs are available for strong applicants from the Global South
Admission requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in economics, law, pedagogy or social sciences
- A total of 240 acquired ECTS credits. In case you have earned less than 240 credits during your BA studies, it is still possible to get admitted to the programme on the condition of completing the missing credits during your MA studies
- Knowledge of the English language equivalent to level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
- Advanced knowledge of issues of labour relations and at least one year of practical experience in the representation of workers' interests
A programme within the GLU network
The MA Labour Policies and Globalisation is part of the Global Labour University (GLU) – a
worldwide network of trade unions, universities and NGOs with partner institutions in Manila, Delhi, Johannesburg, São Paulo, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Berlin and Kassel. The GLU strengthens cooperation between academia and trade unions and enhances their analytical and strategic capacities.
As part of the GLU, graduates of the LPG programme in Kassel become members of a vibrant global alumni community: more than 1,000 alumni from over 80 countries offer a wide network, mutual support and opportunities for exchange long after graduation.
More information about the GLU: https://global-labour-university.org/.
Become part of the Global Labour University! Apply now for the 23rd LPG cohort!
— The GLU team in Germany
17th GLU Conference Call for Abstracts
Globally and nationally an unprecedented polycrisis threatens to overwhelm societies’ capacities to achieve sustainable and fair solutions. The rapid deterioration of the environment, increasing geopolitical tensions, the rise of popular authoritarianism, a potential global debt crisis, and a shift from corporate globalization towards economic nationalism require responses beyond the usual business of avoiding an immediate crisis by postponing it. Societies need to make fundamental choices.
The 17th GLU conference in 2026 aims to bring together scholars, labour leaders and activists, policymakers and practitioners from across the world to explore and discuss the potential and possibilities of the labour movement to shape these choices.
The conference call for abstracts is now open until 30 January 2026 (Extended until February 28)
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