Education and training are among the major functions of workers' organizations throughout the world. Training members and officials is essential to strengthening the organization and improving its functions and services for members. The involvement of workers' organizations in an increasing number of social and economic issues makes workers' education and training even more vital to strengthening those organizations' capacity and enabling them to represent the interests of working people better.

The Turin Centre helps workers' organizations to enhance their training activities for both their leaders and their members by offering a large number of training opportunities in line with the strategic objectives of the ILO.

The Programme for Workers’ Activities therefore contributes essentially to Outcome 10: "Workers have strong, independent and representative organizations", but also to almost every other Outcome, in the implementation of its mandate to develop the capacity of unions to represent workers’ interests in social dialogue and Decent Work Country Programmes/UNDAF.

The Programme runs training activities on:

• international labour standards, in particular freedom of association and collective bargaining, and the use of the ILO's supervisory system
• macro-economic, employment and sustainable development policies for a  new paradigm for the global economy
• poverty reduction strategies and the informal economy
• employment relations and working conditions
• social security and OSH/E with a focus on HIV/AIDS
• social dialogue and tripartism
• collective bargaining, industrial relations and union organizing
• mainstreaming gender equality and women workers’ rights
• learning methodology, training systems and technology.

For further information on specific training programmes for workers' organizations, please visit the  Programme for Workers’ Activities Web pages.