Introduction
This is a product of the fifth GLI International Summer School, held in July 2016. After the experience of the first three summer schools, some of the threads of discussion were pulled together into a draft ‘manifesto’, which was first discussed in 2015 and then again in 2016. In concluding sessions, the Summer School Commission presented proposed amendments for plenary discussion and debate, the results of which are presented below.

The manifesto it is not directed to governments, employers, or political parties. It is not a manifesto to declare a new society, nor to launch a new movement, sect, tribe or club. It does not attempt to redefine Marxism, socialism, feminism, syndicalism, internationalism or democracy. It does not attempt to list all the world’s injustices and declare our opposition. Instead, this manifesto is directed towards the trade union movement itself, as a stimulant to discussion amongst trade unionists throughout the world, and as a political education tool that can be carried by summer school participants back into their respective unions for debate. It is a deliberately short document, and will always remain a draft, hopefully to improve over time in future summer schools and within our unions themselves. It is not a manifesto of the GLI Network. It belongs to the participants of the summer schools themselves.

A. Our common political purpose
The neoliberal agenda constitutes a fundamental challenge to the values on which the trade union movement is based: solidarity, democracy, communality, cooperation, equality and human rights. Strong international industrial organisation is necessary, but in itself, insufficient. The international trade union movement needs to establish or reassert a political agenda. Much of the international labour movement has internalised the prevailing neo-liberal ideology to such an extent that there is little or no discussion on politics: how to bring financial markets under democratic control and run banks as public utilities, for example. Climate change, the existential threat to life on earth, remains on the margins of the union agenda. We need to challenge all forms of discrimination against vulnerable and under-represented groups.

We need:
1. To develop political and historical education programmes within national unions and international federations to explore, discuss and redesign the political dimension of trade unionism to create a common international political agenda
2. To build truly global solidarity movements using horizontal strategies, and engage with broader social justice and climate justice movements, community groups and campaigns
3. Ensure that the international trade union movement represents the common economic, social, political and class interests of all workers, including informal, precarious, unemployed and migrant workers.
4. To promote the plurality of democratic socialist and ecological ideas and ongoing political dialogue.

B. Democracy
An increased role for international union organisations needs to go hand-in-hand with strengthened democratic accountability and responsiveness to the members and elected representatives of affiliated unions.

We need:
1. Strengthened democratic accountability of national unions’ international policies and programmes to their members.
2. Strong, clear and enforceable criteria for national unions and federations to be accepted into membership of international federations, built around the key principles of democratic trade unionism: independence from governments and employers and meaningful fee structures
3. To ensure that political alliances work for us with transparency and democratic accountability to our members, including financial and political autonomy
4. Establish standards and procedures to address the problem of affiliated unions that are found to be corrupt, undemocratic, or controlled by governments, employers or political parties; including, where appropriate, expulsion from international union organisations. Openly recognise that the problem exists and is deeply damaging to the democratic trade union movement, and encourage open debate and discussion on affiliation/disaffiliation criteria and process.
5. International trade union organisations should uphold and defend the right of workers to establish their own democratic unions when faced with undemocratic or corrupt organisations, even when the effect is to create rival union structures, or breaks national labour laws. Global Union Federations and the Workers Group of the ILO should support unions in this process.
6. National unions to develop international political agendas including horizontal solidarity strategies to ensure that national centres take action to influence national governments.

C. Organisation
It is clear that the present structures and policies are not adequate to meet the challenges of global capitalism.

We need:
1. To rebuild the union movement from below. We welcome the possibilities and potential for new forms of international trade union organisation and solidarity utilising networks that engage with and are directly relevant to union members at the workplace and in their communities.
2. National unions to invest substantially money and time in building the capacity of GUFs to be effective as an agency of countervailing power against global corporations and international finance institutions. GUFs to stimulate education, discussion and debate among their national affiliates about the future role of GUFs in building an international movement.
3. To recognise and build upon recent international struggles and gains made by workers in transnational corporations, with substantial further investment in the creation of permanent and sustainable cross-border union organisation within TNCs, led by elected workplace representatives.
4. National and international trade union organisations to prioritise a thorough reform of constitutions, structures and organising strategies to organise and represent the rapidly expanding numbers of informal, precarious and migrant workers in all parts of the world, both rural and urban.
5. Thorough reform of all regional trade union organisations, independent of state influence and integrated into GUF/ITUC structures; recognition that the level of financial contribution from affiliates should not result in disproportionate influence, and that strategies and models of organisation from one region are not necessarily appropriate for other regions.
6. More integrated practical cooperation between GUFs in organising within TNCs, in overlapping sectors, and around key cross-sector issues, in addition to emergency solidarity work.

GLI International Summer School 2016