On Organizing Labor with Tobias Bavnsgaard

Greetings Glocal Citizens!

“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Monday of this week, we celebrated global visionary, activist and minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For many, it is a time to reflect on how far the US and the world have progressed concerning civil/human rights for Black and colonized peoples. Dr. King’s work, especially as the Civil Rights Movement began casting a wider net on the levers of social and economic exclusion, was very much focused on supporting workers--dignity in labor. My guest this week has us fully engaged in reflection as he has spent his career focused on labor. Born and raised in Denmark, Tobias Bavnsgaard is an experienced International advisor and development program manager with more than a decade of international experience working and living in developing countries. After living in Mozambique, Tanzania, Bangladesh and a stint back in Denmark, he and his family are currently based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. From early in his career, unions played a key role affording him a strong background in labor organizations and working with development projects and programing in the civic and social sectors on the local, national and international levels.

His international profile began to take shape in 2012, with the production of “The Good Growth,” a documentary making a critical assessment of the social impacts of economic growth by comparing the reality in Brazil, Philippines and Ghana against each other and to the Danish context. The documentary has been translated into English, Spanish, French and Arabic to reach a wide base of international trade union leaders and activists.

With the advent of a more digitized world, the future of work and the evolution of work spaces are very necessary ongoing conversations. I hope this episode provides a foundation of knowledge and framwork for how to consider solutions leading to better long-term outcomes for global workers.

Where to find Tobias?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram

What’s Tobias listening to?
Den Yderste Grænse / The Outer Limits Podcast

Other topics of interest:
Dr. King’s Last Campaign
About the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO)
Tesla Strike in Sweden
About the Toyota HiAce and transporting the masses
On Civil Conflict in Ethiopia