Dec. 2, 2005—In the week leading up to International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, workers in countries as diverse as Bosnia, Cambodia and Bahrain will join U.S. workers in mobilizing through rallies, teach-ins and other events as part of a worldwide effort to support workers’ freedom to form unions and other basic human rights. In the United States, thousands of activists in more than 100 cities will call on employers and lawmakers to restore the freedom of workers to form unions.
International Human Rights Day commemorates the anniversary of the ratification of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which established the right of people in every nation to come together into unions and bargain contracts.
A Message to the WTO: Respect Human Rights
In Hong Kong, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney will join hundreds of other global union leaders Dec. 10 for a rally to coincide with the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Global union leaders also will present a series of proposals to the WTO that highlight the link between the respect for the right of all workers to decent work and respecting human rights, says International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) General Secretary Guy Ryder.
In conjunction with the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, the ICFTU produced posters proclaiming “Workers’ Rights Are Human Rights” in 10 languages that many countries will use in their Dec. 10 actions.
“This message is more important than ever in the lead up to the Hong Kong Ministerial to make it clear to the trade negotiators at the WTO that they must take into account the social dimension of any future trade liberalization,” Ryder says. The ICFTU represents 145 million workers through its 234 affiliated organizations in 154 countries.
A Human Chain, Rallies and Teach-Ins
On Dec. 10, workers in Bahrain will drape buildings in the capital city of Manama with white sheets and form a human chain as part of a national campaign against poverty.
Mexican workers will celebrate International Human Rights Day Dec. 10 with rallies in Puebla and Tehuacán to highlight the plight of workers at maquiladoras—plants owned by foreign companies, including many U.S.–based corporations, that pay low wages, ignore environmental rules and refuse to allow workers to form unions.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, workers will mark 10 years of peace Dec. 10 by focusing the country’s attention on workers’ rights as human rights. Unions in the Upper Drina region will publicly launch a joint organizing program aimed at reaching out to workers of all nationalities within the region.
Thousands of Cambodians will hold a mass rally to call for workers’ rights as human rights in an event that likely will be the largest gathering of Cambodians in one location in many years. The rally is sponsored by members of eight labor federations, 18 nongovernment organizations, four student and youth associations and one law firm.
Meanwhile, members of Nigeria’s Labor Congress’ Women Commission will march to the National Assembly Dec. 10 to demand that lawmakers pass pending legislation that protects women’s rights.
U.S. Workers Seek Passage of Employee Free Choice Act
In the United States, workers have the right to form unions under the National Labor Relations Act, but employers routinely thwart their efforts through firings, intimidation and harassment.
To strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose a union, the union movement worked with a bipartisan coalition in creating the historic Employee Free Choice Act. Introduced into Congress in April 2005, the act would require employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union.
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