Women Deliver Conference: Unions Share Organising Strategies From Across Asia Pacific
May 6, 2026
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More than 6,000 feminist, trade union, and social movement activists gathered in Melbourne for the world’s largest gender equality convening. PSI stressed that trade unions and collective organising are essential for women’s empowerment - a perspective often missing from mainstream discussions. PSI also spotlighted its CHW organising campaigns across South Asia and the Philippines, strengthening links between women’s rights and the labour movement.
At the inaugural SHE & Rights Live session, Kate Lappin, PSI Regional Secretary for Asia & Pacific, delivered a powerful call for collective action. She warned of an unprecedented global monopolisation of power in the hands of a tiny minority and stressed that real change has always come through trade union strength and disruption.
“Progressive trade union histories have shown that the way to achieve change is through trade union power, and quite frankly, through disruption,” Lappin told the audience. She called on unions to build a critical threshold of solidarity to deliver system-wide change once again.
Lappin also highlighted PSI’s ongoing work to advance gender and bodily autonomy rights, including paid parental leave, reproductive health, menstrual leave, and menopause support.
PSI showcased its global Community Health Workers (CHWs) campaign through posters and materials and hosted a high-energy solidarity event for progressive delegates.
Why Melbourne?
The conference took place in Melbourne from 27–30 April 2026. PSI participated actively to bring the trade union perspective, making clear that unions are essential to achieving gender justice.
Melbourne is home to the oldest continually operating union building in the world - and it is proudly feminist. Local unions won the first 8-hour day, the first living wage, and helped establish a public health system delivering some of the world’s strongest reproductive rights. They have nurtured countless social movements over the decades.
PSI’s participation reinforced a clear message: feminist progress and economic justice cannot be separated from strong, organised labour movements. By sharing organising strategies from across the Asia Pacific, unions demonstrated how collective power can challenge monopolies and win real gains for women and working people.
Read more coverage here.
Watch the conversation between Kate Lappin and Ananya Basu, PSI's Health Equity Coordinator for Asia & Pacific, on why making trade unionism mainstream is key to achieving equality for women.
Here are the CHW posters showcased at the Conference (click on the image to download high-res format):
