"Fiscal policy lies at the heart of social justice. Every decision on taxation, spending, and borrowing expresses a society's social contract—defining who contributes, who benefits, and whose needs are prioritized. This brief provides trade unions with a roadmap to engage in fiscal decision-making at key stages of the budget cycle, from formulation to oversight. It highlights how progressive taxation, counter-cyclical investment, and gender-responsive budgeting can expand fiscal space for decent work, social protection, and the care economy. It also outlines concrete advocacy strategies for unions to influence both annual budgets and multi-year fiscal frameworks, embedding the financing for an inclusive, decent-job-rich structural transformation within them, while ensuring coherence between immediate measures and long-term, inclusive development goals."

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