It is crucial that international labour rights are respected if workers in developing countries are to live a life in dignity. In order to fight for these rights, workers must be organised
We want to see a world with decent working and living conditions for male and female workers in a well-regulated labour market with solidarity and respect for human rights.
3F believes that by strengthening workers' organisations, bargaining power and free collective negotiations between well-organised labour market parties, we can contribute to improvements in working- and living conditions as well as sound democratic development. That is why we support trade union organisations in developing countries and Central- and Eastern Europe.
Our theory of change
The overriding principle of 3F’s international work is for the trade union movement in any country to organise all workers in a given sector. Our experience shows that this is the most effective way of achieving improvements in peoples' working and living conditions. Workers' rights must be respected and protected, no matter whether the workplace is located in Denmark or abroad.
Improvements can happen when reducing the power gap between employer and employees by aiming at the highest possible degree of organisation. This is the basis for workers themselves to act and negotiate collectively trough their own representative trade union organisations.
3F supports organisational development of trade unions for them to become better at organising and performing core trade union functions and carrying out social dialogue, influencing national and international actors and coordinating within the movement. We do this by supporting capacity development of partners within key intervention areas:
- Organisational development, management and leadership
- Trade union organising and membership registration
- Trade union training systems
- Collective bargaining and conflict resolution
- Occupational health and safety (OHS)
- Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
- Advocacy, Social Dialogue, communication and Networking
- Workers' rights focused on informal and casual forms of work
- Gender equality and non-discrimination
How is the work organised?
3F International is situated at the 3F federation office in Copenhagen, Denmark from where general management, programme development, monitoring, quality control, strategizing and documentation of results take place.
The three regional programmes are managed by 3F’s regional coordinators. They are together with their teams located in:
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Managua, Nicaragua
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
3F’s main partners are so called "sister organisations". They are sector-based trade unions or federations having members from the same sectors that 3F organises in Denmark; Industry, Construction, Agriculture, Transport and Service. The regional programmes work in partnership with and support national/local trade union organisations.
Most trade union partners are present at the workplace, for instance at a factory. Others coordinate and ensure exchange of experience between national sector trade union federations at the regional level. These are the Global Union Federations’ regional networks.