These challenges include:

• Growing wealth disparity between workers and owners: the vast imbalances in income, assets and access to credit, creates structural power disparities. These imbalances are even more acute when examined by race and gender.



• Massive migration and demographic changes: migration patterns catalyzed by global capitalism are shifting the racial and ethnic mix of nations and communities around the world. Many people displaced by current trade liberalization policies and industry restructuring are women and migrant workers, who are often from minority or indigenous populations. This creates unprecedented tensions, competition, and challenges to building solidarity among workers of different genders, races, and nationalities.



• Globalization of capital, trade flows, and information weakens the ability of national governments to protect and regulate their local economies.



• Global shift to an informal economy: There is currently an explosion in the "informal economy" of workers both in the US and internationally. These are precarious jobs which fall outside legal and social protections for workers. We are in the midst of a global employment revolution, with the informal sector crowding out the formal sector of the workforce. Informal economy workers have no wage agreements, no employment contracts, no regular working hours, are not paid on time, and are not covered by benefits. They also are not a priority for most governmental, political or labor organizations.



• Inadequate labor institutions: The traditional institutions for trade unions are in flux and union membership is falling. Domestically, trade unions have not prioritized outreach to communities of color. Internationally, there is a great need to link international trade unions across continents to address the challenges of globalization.