UITBB statement on World Refugee Day – June 20, 2026
Today, June 20, 2026, the Trades Union International of Workers of the Building, Wood, and Building Materials Industries (UITBB) marks World Refugee Day by reaffirming our fierce, unbroken solidarity with the millions of humans uprooted by violence, oppression, and economic ruin.
The global refugee crisis clearly exposes the cruelty of modern capitalism and imperialism. We live in an economic system where the greed of the billionaire class breeds poverty, turning survival into a luxury and forcing families to flee. No one chooses to abandon their home; they are driven out by sheer necessity.
The global labor movement must expose why this crisis is happening. Capitalist and imperialist powers create mass migration through a two-sided system of exploitation. At the source, they start wars for geopolitical influence and steal the natural resources of sovereign nations, destroying local economies.
In host nations, these same financial elites exploit the vulnerability of displaced people for profit, using them to lower labor standards. Furthermore, the ruling class uses migrant workers to divide the working class. By fueling xenophobia, fascism, and racism, they pit workers against each other to hide the real causes of economic hardship.
UITBB rejects these divisions because the global working class stands united. We fight shoulder-to-shoulder with our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters for their labor rights, legal protections, and human dignity.
On this World Refugee Day 2026, we call for organized, collective action to build a world where profit-seeking no longer forces people from their homes. Let us unite across borders to destroy these oppressive structures, welcome displaced workers with international solidarity, and build a future of peace, security, and equality for all.
The UITBB Secretariat