To tackle the enormous challenges workers face in the global economy, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) - the national federation that represents millions of working women and men in the United States - launched the American Center for International Labor Solidarity in 1997.

The Solidarity Center is a non-profit organization that assists workers around the world who are struggling to build democratic and independent trade unions. We work with unions and community groups worldwide to achieve equitable, sustainable, democratic development and to help men and women everywhere stand up for their rights and improve their living and working standards.

The Solidarity Center and its union partners promote democracy, freedom, and respect for worker rights in global trade, investment, and development policies and in the lending practices of international financial institutions.
Our programs raise public awareness about the abuse of the world's most vulnerable workers.
Above all, our programs help the world's workers secure a voice in the developing global economy, and thus in their own future.

In response to partner requests, the Solidarity Center provides a wide range of education, training, research, legal support, organizing assistance, and other resources to help build strong and effective trade unions and more just and equitable societies. The Center's education programs feature training in basic human and worker rights, union skills, advocacy, occupational safety and health, economic literacy, and civic and voter education. Our programs are designed for workers, unions, and community organizations in developing societies, particularly those seeking to promote democracy and play an essential role in creating public policies in their countries.

The Solidarity Center receives funding from both public and private non-profit sources. Funding sources include the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO, private foundations, and national and international labor organizations.

The American labor movement has supported workers abroad since its founding more than a century ago. Along with other civil society organizations, it has received U.S. government funding to promote the cause of workers and the development of democratic trade unions in countries all over the world. The programs implemented and the partners chosen are determined solely by the Solidarity Center and the AFL-CIO.

We welcome your comments. If you'd like to know more about the Solidarity Center, please feel free to contact us.

Write:    Solidarity Center
             888 16th Street NW, Suite 400
             Washington, DC 20006

Call:      202-974-8383

E-mail:  Information