This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center.

The majority of workers around the world eke out a living in the informal economy, left vulnerable to exploitation and caught in a hand-to-mouth existence. They are largely unprotected by the laws of their country and excluded from the social benefits that formal workers consider their right.

This is a cross post from the Solidarity Center.

For three U.S. trade unionists undertaking a 10-day learning and outreach tour to the Middle East and North Africa, meeting workers on the front lines of change has been inspirational.

In this cross post from the Solidarity Center website, Tim Ryan, the center’s director for Asia and Europe, gives a rare glimpse of the Belarus workers’ continuing struggles.

It’s been a bad decade for the workers of Belarus. This former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991 and, for a time, new unions independent of government or company control grew significantly. But under continuing political repression by President Alexander Lukashenko over the past 10 years, recently formed workers’ organizations face extinction in what is often called the last dictatorship of Europe.

As Egyptian flags snapped in the frigid wind, nearly 100 Egyptian American and other activists—including more than 50 union members—rallied last night in front of the White House to support the Egyptian people’s ongoing struggle for freedom and democracy.

This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center.

One year ago, a massive earthquake shattered Haiti, violently disrupting the lives of more than 1 million people and killing more than 200,000. Workers in the island nation faced extraordinary challenges as they struggled to find loved ones, bury their dead, and secure shelter for their families amid the rubble.

This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center.

Palestinian hotel workers ended 2010 with a major victory, gaining important rights and protections after more than a year of negotiations with the Arab Hotel Association.