UITBB participates in CWFI’s 11th Conference in Sikar, India (6-7 February 2026)
Dear Comrade President,
Dear members of the Presidium,
Dear delegates and comrades of the Construction Workers Federation of India (CWFI),
It is a great honour and privilege to convey, on behalf of the Trades Union International of Workers in the Building, Wood, Building Materials and Allied Industries (UITBB) and its affiliated organisations worldwide, our warmest class-oriented greetings, militant solidarity, and best wishes for the success of your historic 11th CWFI Conference.
We salute the Construction Workers Federation of India and the millions of construction workers you represent. The workers, who have built the infrastructure and cities of India, while facing exploitation, unsafe working conditions, precarious employment, low wages, and denial of basic rights. Your militant struggles to improve the working and living conditions of the construction workers in India and strengthen class consciousness, continues to inspire construction workers and trade unionists across the globe.
This conference convenes at a critical time for workers everywhere. The intensification of imperialist conflicts, wars for control over spheres of influence, energy resources, and global markets threatens world peace and raises the danger of a total catastrophe.
We express our strongest solidarity with the working people of Venezuela, who today face brutal direct imperialist aggression from the United States, including military attacks, the violation of national sovereignty, and the kidnapping of its President, Nicolas Maduro and the First Lady. We stand firmly with the people of Cuba, who are suffering under US sanctions for many years, while the pressure from the USA is now increasing. We stand with the people of Iran as we declare that we are against every foreign intervention. These criminal actions follow years of economic sanctions that have destroyed the economy and caused suffering for Venezuelan workers and their families. The international class-oriented trade union movement, including through the WFTU and UITBB, has mobilised in opposition to these aggressions, demanding hands off Venezuela and an end to all forms of intervention.
Comrades,
True peace cannot come through militarisation, NATO expansion, or economic sanctions; it demands the dissolution of military alliances, an end to imperialist wars, and respect for international law. In every war, it is the workers and ordinary people who pay the price — death, destruction, displacement, and poverty.
These imperialist wars further worsen the capitalist crisis, driving unemployment, raising the prices of essential goods, inflation, and destroy the living standards for millions worldwide. While the rich and multinational corporations amass obscene wealth through greater control over land, production, and resources — leaving masses to face hunger and lack of access to basic public services — the working class pays the price.
Imperialism today represents the latest stage of capitalism, where big monopolies turn the world into a battlefield for more and more profits and control. This decaying system unleashes ever-greater capitalist barbarity — wars, crises, poverty, environmental destruction- and attacks workers’ living standards and rights. The only options are socialism or imperialist barbarism. We believe that it is only socialism that can abolish exploitation, secure peace, and build a society where human needs determine the course of development.
Construction workers do not remain inactive in the face of these challenges. From America to Africa, from Asia to Europe, workers in our sectors, have been at the forefront of the struggles for workers’ rights, human rights, and peace. Our main effort has been to fight far right ideologies and to reveal their true nature and their aim, which is to divide workers and undermine labour and social struggles.
Especially in India, workers are resisting these neoliberal policies with unity and militancy — organising mass mobilisations, defending vested rights, and pushing back against exploitation. Such struggles send a powerful message of hope to the international working class: that through common action and unbreakable solidarity, we can defend our rights and advance toward a world free from wars, inequalities, and the exploitation of humans by humans.
CWFI leads the fight against the anti-popular and anti-labour policies of conservative governments, continuing to organize and demand equality, while paying particular attention to the issue of wage discrimination against women workers, who constitute a significant part of the workforce.
The long-standing bond between CWFI and UITBB shows exactly the nature of this international fight. Together, we have raised voices in global forums, supported each other’s campaigns, and stood shoulder to shoulder against the common enemies of our class. We are confident that the decisions taken at this 11th Conference will strengthen CWFI’s organisational power, and lead to future struggles.
UITBB renews its commitment to stand firmly with CWFI in every fight, for dignified living, fair wages, social security, safe workplaces, the right to organise, and a just world. Guided by the principles of class struggle, internationalism, and solidarity, we will continue supporting one another on the path to victory.
Long live international solidarity!
Long live CWFI!
Long live UITBB!
Thank you very much.