The conference brought together 150 trade union leaders, experts and workers’ representatives from Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Türkiye to discuss common responses to the major challenges reshaping industries and societies across the region.

Discussions focused on geopolitical tensions, industrial transformation, the future of the automotive and steel sectors, migration, collective bargaining and workers’ rights. Throughout the conference, participants underlined that the Mediterranean should not be seen as a dividing line, but as a shared industrial, economic and social space where stronger trade union cooperation and solidarity are essential.

Putting workers at the heart of due diligence

IndustriAll Europe contributed to the workshop “The Human Chain: Forging Union Vigilance through Human Rights Due Diligence in the Mediterranean”, highlighting the crucial role of trade unions in ensuring that human rights due diligence (HRDD) delivers tangible results for workers.

Without workers and their unions at the centre, due diligence risks becoming little more than a corporate compliance exercise. For trade unions, however, HRDD can be a practical tool to strengthen organising, defend freedom of association, build cross-border solidarity and hold multinational companies accountable throughout their operations and supply chains.

Drawing on the joint industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union ABC of Responsible Business Conduct project, the discussion explored how unions can turn due diligence obligations into leverage for workers.

The Yves Rocher case shows the potential of this approach: when due diligence mechanisms are combined with strong union organising and international solidarity, they can help unions challenge violations of workers’ fundamental rights and demand accountability from multinational companies.

Connecting supply chains means connecting unions

This is particularly important for the Mediterranean region, where economies and industries are increasingly interconnected through automotive, metals, energy and raw-material supply chains.

Workers across these supply chains often face similar challenges, including precarious employment, abuses in subcontracting, anti-union practices and the exploitation of migrant workers. While these problems cross national borders, trade union responses too often remain constrained by them.
The message from Seville was clear: the same supply chains that connect our industries must also connect our unions.

The conference concluded with the adoption of a joint declaration setting out the participating unions’ shared priorities and commitment to stronger cooperation and solidarity across Mediterranean Europe.