An advocacy campaign and strategic communications professional, Eugenio has worked for unions and international organizations as a campaign consultant and communications director for over 20 years. Between 2008 and 2020, he worked as Director of Communications at SEIU 32BJ, one of the most influential unions in the United States. He is currently Senior Manager for Communications at the World Federation of Service Unions UNI Global Union.
What do you think are the current challenges in the cooperation sector?
In an era defined by uncertainty and by the overwhelming increase in economic and social inequality, both in the countries of the South as well as in the North, it is reasonable to expect that the international development community is reflecting on the need to adapt structures, roles, practices and approaches in a world in which a pandemic, a war or the merciless effects of climate change will disrupt the plans and projects in progress.
How do you consider they should be faced?
In this context of fast-paced change, organizations working to promote international solidarity can benefit from the experiences of the most dynamic trade unionism, the most effective feminism or the success of different versions of the civil rights movement.
An example from outside the box that combines the action strategies of all the above movements: in barely a decade, the successful Fight for $15 campaign, promoted in the United States by the SEIU union, has achieved wage increases worth 70 billion dollars for 24 million workers, putting 30% of the country’s working population on the road to achieving the $15 per hour minimum wage. An experience that can, due to its unquestionable impact, SEIU’s organizational creativity and skillful use of the power accumulated by the trade union movement for the benefit of society as a whole, offers an interesting experience that due to its unquestionable impact can serve as an inspiration for aid organizations interested in promoting processes of systemic social change.
