We spoke with David Edwards just three weeks before the opening of the congress of the Education International, which unites trade unions of teachers and other educational professionals. The EI is one of the biggest global unions -- it has 383 member organisations, representing more than 32 million people in 178 countries and territories -- and faces immense challenges. We spoke about the EI's current Go Public! campaign which has been fighting to get governments to invest in public education and hire more teachers. But we also discussed the challenges teachers and their unions face every day in countries like Iran and Afghanistan. We concluded with a discussion about the rise of the far Right, which is a concern for all teachers' unions. And at the end of the interview -- this was unscripted, really -- David spoke briefly about the work the EI has done with LabourStart.

Less than 24 hours after the results of the first round of the French legislative elections were known, and with the threat of a far Right government for the first time since Vichy, we interviewed Judith Kirton-Darling. Judith is General Secretary of IndustriAll Europe, which represents 7 million working men and women united within 200 national trade union affiliates in 39 European countries. We discussed a range of issues including the threat of the far Right, what Europe's unions are expecting from the newly-elected European Parliament, and IndustriAll's campaign for good industrial jobs. Learn more about IndustriAll Europe on their website, here.

Earlier this month there were giant protests across Argentina following the attempts by the country's new president, Javier Gerardo Milei, to impose his dystopian vision on the country. Milei's government is cracking down on workers' rights, downsizing and privatising much of the public sector, and triggering a huge increase in unemployment and poverty -- especially child poverty. This statement by the International Trade Union Confederation paints a bleak picture of Argentina under Milei.

This week, we spoke with Macarena Grimalt Fernandes, the international secretary of APOC (La Asociación del Personal de los Organismos de Control), which is affiliated to Public Services International (PSI). Macarena explained the proposed new legislation -- which has not yet passed -- and how unions across Argentina have united to fight it. When asked to tell us about international solidarity, she talked about the demonstrations that took place in Latin America and elsewhere at the same time as the protests in Argentina.

When asked if she was optimistic or pessimistic about her country's future, Macarena insisted she needed to be an optimist -- otherwise she'd never get out of bed in the morning. That's a sentiment that we can all understand.

This week, we spoke with Esther Lynch, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The ETUC represents 45 million members from 93 trade union organisations in 41 European countries, plus 10 European Trade Union Federations.

In a wide-ranging discussion, we spoke about the upcoming European elections and why they matter for unions and working people. The European unions have come up with a joint list of 12 key commitments and they have gotten some -- but not all -- of the party groups across Europe to support them. (You can download a copy of the ETUC's election manifesto in dozens of European languages here.)

Esther spoke about what unions want, including changing the European Union's rules to make things work better for workers. She emphasised that working people have nothing to gain by voting for the far Right -- which is expected to do well in the June elections.

"Everywhere I go I get pushback," she said when I asked her about her recent meetings in Ukraine, and whether all European trade unionists shared the same view. While not uncritical of the Ukrainian government, she emphasised union solidarity with the trade unions in that embattled country.

The interview concluded with what Esther sees as the biggest challenge for European unions: building union power. She spoke about a Trade Union Renewal Group which she set up when she first took up her current role. She wants to improve the quality of public debate, especially for young people, and to move beyond sound bites and half sentences.

The interview ended with Esther's concerns about cyber-social risks -- including the right to disconnect, the problem with "ethical stress", and much more.

To learn more about the ETUC and its work, visit their website.

Khaing Zar is President of the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) and Treasurer of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM). Forced into exile following the military coup d'etat in February 2021, she is a leading spokesperson for the embattled trade unions of her country, which have now been effectively banned and driven underground.

In this interview, we discussed what's currently happening with workers and their unions in Myanmar, the Arthur Svennsson prize for trade union rights which she was recently awarded, and what we can all do to help the workers and trade unions of Myanmar in their fight for democracy.

This week we interviewed Jan Willem Goudriaan, General Secretary of the European Public Service Union (EPSU).

EPSU brings together trade unions from across Europe. It influences the policies and decisions of employers, governments and European institutions that affect public service workers, their families and communities. It mobilises for action and change and is committed to achieving another, social Europe.

EPSU represents 8 million public service workers across Europe and is the European region of the global public services federation PSI and is also a member of the European Trade Union Confederation.

In this interview we talked with Jan Willem about the fight against fascism in Europe today, solidarity with Ukraine, the struggle to support the embattled unions in Belarus, and finally the danger of a return to austerity in Europe.

Luc Triangle is the new general secretary of the global labour movement's peak body, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The ITUC represents 191 million workers united in 340 affiliated national trade union centres around the globe.

We spoke with Luc about the ITUC's new "For Democracy" campaign, about the globally-recognised "right to strike" which is now before the International Court of Justice, and about the major challenges facing him as ITUC general secretary.

Learn more about the ITUC here.

Rebecca Owens is a proud flight attendant and active member of AFA (Association of Flight Attendants)-CWA Council 30 in Anchorage, Alaska. She has stepped up as her union is in contract negotiations at Alaska Airlines by helping to organize informational pickets, volunteering to go on camera to share the stories of her union brothers, sisters and siblings and making sure her colleagues participated in their recent strike vote. She is also working with the Alaska State AFL-CIO to get paid sick leave on Alaska's ballot to benefit her co-workers. Rebecca also recently accepted the role of Mobilization Chair for flight attendants at the airport.

Flight attendants at Alaska and other airlines around the world are expected to spend a good portion of their job working for free. We asked Rebecca about that, the state of negotiations and other current issues at her airline and in the industry.