Dec 20, 2024
Worker rights activists who participated in the UN’s annual climate meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, last month as members of the union observer constituency group are giving the world’s billions of working people a voice in climate negotiations and urging vigilance to ensure that climate action recognizes workers and their needs.
At COP29, labor’s major demands–including on finance, integration of a just transition work program in countries’ climate commitments and inclusion of worker rights language in all agreements–nearly all fell short.
“Worker rights is a climate justice issue. Given the acute impacts of climate change on workers, centering unions and workers within the climate discourse and national climate actions is critical. Yet, as we saw in COP29, unions and workers are often sidelined in climate decision-making,” says Jocelyn Soto Medallo, Solidarity Center climate policy specialist.
Nevertheless, reflecting the increasing urgency with which unions are organizing and responding to the climate crisis, the union delegation had more capacity than ever before to effectively and actively engage in every negotiation stream.
The union delegation, with the leadership of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), collectively represents nearly 200 million workers in 164 countries who are urging governments to prioritize climate action that supports workers’ jobs and livelihoods, and building resilient, just and carbon-neutral economies.
Solidarity Center Climate and Labor Justice Director Sonia Mistry, far right, appears with fellow panel participants who presented at COP29 side event, “Heat Stress: Protecting Workers and Increasing Resilience.” Credit: Solidarity Center
Ordinary working people, especially the most marginalized, must be represented in UN and national climate action meetings, says the worker rights delegation who attended COP29 with Solidarity Center support.
“It’s important to understand that we can and must achieve our climate goals in a way that also promotes broad access to decent work, social protection and the realization of all human rights—which critically includes worker rights. Worker rights are human rights,” says Sonia Mistry, Solidarity Center climate and labor justice director.
“Climate action must work for all, with no one left behind,” says ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle. Of 66,000 conference registrants, more than 1,770 at COP29 were fossil fuel lobbyists–in stark contrast to the 100 worker rights activists and union representatives who participated on workers’ behalf.
“Workers are dying due to the impact of climate change,” says Rebecca Okello, Central Organization of Trade Unions, Kenya (COTU-K) climate change and just transition coordinator. Credit: Solidarity Center
“There will be no climate justice without social justice,” said Rebecca Okello, Central Organization of Trade Unions, Kenya (COTU-K) climate change and just transition coordinator, who delivered a statement on behalf of unions.
“Unions influence employers to adopt green technologies and practices while securing worker rights in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Boitumelo Molete (center), Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) social development policy coordinator and just transition presidential climate commissioner, at COP29. Credit: Solidarity Center
All workers, and especially those who are working low-wage, precarious jobs are increasingly impacted by the effects of climate change, including permanent displacement because of flooding or drought, job loss due to climate-related economic disruptions and health risks caused by rising temperatures in outdoor and indoor workplaces, including in agricultural fields, on outdoor construction sites and in factories and offices without air conditioning.
Eche Asuzu, Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) climate change program coordinator, at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Credit: Ibrahim Manpa’a
“Climate issues are workplace issues,” says Ralph Gabin, Solidarity Center West Africa senior program officer, at COP29. “Especially as it affects workplace safety and health. “Unions have an important role to play in mitigating the impacts of climate change on the job, and in the formulation of just climate policies as well.”
The Solidarity Center participated in two Nigeria-focused side events, which addressed union involvement in the development and implementation of Nigeria’s national climate plan and just transition for workers in the oil sector. The Solidarity Center supported participation by Eche Asuzu, Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) climate change program coordinator, along with the Solidarity Center’s Gabin, Jocelyn Medallo, climate policy specialist, and Suzie Okomo, West Africa program officer, who presented or moderated.
Solidarity Center Program Officer Suzie Okomo moderates a COP29 side event advocating for a just transition for workers who are affected by climate change, energy transition and other climate policies. Credit: Ibrahim Manpa’a
Sonia Mistry presented on a panel at two COP29 side events: “Heat Stress: Protecting Workers and Increasing Resilience, moderated by U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee, and “Innovative Research Strategies for a Just Transition in the Global South, a panel hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), with which the Solidarity Center is a consortium partner in the IKI JET project.
Among other pressing climate goals, COP29 was the UN’s latest attempt to shepherd 200 countries into a deal on climate finance–an effort that ended with developing countries describing the amount they will receive per year in climate finance as a “paltry sum” and demanding more realistic funding.
(Photo: UN Climate Change – Kiara Worth)
Looking ahead, COP30 in Belém, Brazil–in the Amazon–will be a critical moment for the labor movement and its coalition partners across civil society to push for ambitious climate plans that center worker rights. More than ever, the critical work of national-level organizing is needed to build political will, and trade unionists amplifying worker voices within climate negotiation spaces nationally and internationally.
Of the task at hand, says Boitumelo Molete, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) social development policy coordinator, “Together, we must build a future where environmental sustainability and social equity go hand in hand.”
What Are the COPs?
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is a series of annual meetings held by the United Nations to address climate change and the principal decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was established at the first Earth Summit in 1992.
The first COP, in 1995, focused on starting negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate change. During the mid-1990s, COPs began negotiating the Kyoto Protocol, which established legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. From 2011 to 2015, COPs negotiated the Paris Agreement as part of the Durban Platform, resulting in 196 national governments entering into a legally binding international treaty on climate change on December 12, 2015.
At COP28, countries agreed to launch the Loss and Damage Fund to compensate countries most vulnerable to climate change. COP 29, dubbed the “Finance COP,” put the issue of climate financing at the center of the negotiations agenda–that is, how to secure and distribute the external funding developing economies need to transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient path.
Dec 12, 2024
Rallies, activist sessions, labor platforms, global gatherings and more—-during this year’s 16 Days of Violence Against Women, Solidarity Center’s diverse efforts around the world are all centered on the same goal: ratification and implementation of a treaty to end gender-based violence and harassment at work and action to end GBVH in countries that had not yet ratified the treaty.
Between November 25 and December 10, International Human Rights Day, activists worldwide are raising attention to the more than 743 million people who have experienced job-related violence or harassment, and are pressing for countries to ratify and adhere to International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 190. Adopted in 2019, C190 seeks to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work that includes gender-based violence and harassment.
So far, 45 countries have ratified the convention, and union activists around the world are campaigning to ensure workers experience tangible results that address the harassment and violence many face every day at work because of their gender. In countries that have not yet ratified C190, activists utilizing collective bargaining as a tool to prevent and end GBVH.
As stated on the C190 Arc Task Force, a new website backed by a coalition of activists including the Solidarity Center: “No one should have to endure gender-based violence and harassment at work.”
Gayan Prasad of the National Postal Telecommunication Union in Sri Lanka takes part in a 16 Days of Activism training. Credit: Solidarity Center/Ponniah Yogeshwari
Worldwide Action to End GBVH
Globally, one in 15 workers have experienced gender-based violence with Black and Indigenous workers experiencing higher rates of GBVH. Unions, at the center of addressing GBVH, also need awareness of the issues and opportunity to join with GBVH campaigns.
“Traditional trade unions will need to think of new strategies,” said Gustavo Gonzalez, United Nations Philippines resident coordinator. Speaking at an event in the Philippines during the 16 Days of Action, he noted the importance of organizing, along with anticipating the future of work that will disproportionately impact women workers.
At the event, a coalition of women union leaders in the Philippines launched a gendered analysis of the labor movement’s 15-point agenda to address women’s persistent challenges in violence, segregated workforce participation, and representation in decision-making processes.
In Sri Lanka, where the country has not ratified C190, five union leaders and members from sectors such as health care and the informal economy took part in an activism session in Colombo that highlighted the importance of C190 and strategies for securing its ratification. Participants shared action plans for raising awareness and disseminating the information at the union and workplace levels and presented a petition to the government urging ratification of C190.
Global Conferences Highlight GBVH
Solidarity Center participants in two conferences joined union and feminist leaders from around the world in Bangkok during the 16 Days of Activism.
At the Feminist Forum on Migration and Displacement, the Solidarity Center brought participants together in a two-day migration forum to explore key issues shaping the realities of women and gender-diverse people in migration and displacement, including climate change, discrimination, civic participation and organizing, and war, conflict and occupation. The forum, held in advance of the Women in Migration Network (WIMN), sought to foster meaningful discussions and build strategies that will drive lasting change.
Also in Bangkok, the Solidarity Center joined thousands of activists, feminists, artists who came together in discussions, performances and conversations at the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) forum. Bringing together health care workers from Palestine and South Africa and domestic workers from Peru and Kenya working in Jordan, the Solidarity Center held an interactive strategy session with participants around building capacity to propose remedies for addressing decent work in the care economy. “Elevating Care as Critical Infrastructure: Workers Uniting through Collective Action,” was co-sponsored with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance and International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF).
In highlighting unions’ ongoing progress in preventing and eliminating GBVH, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) found women union members continue to lead the struggle for gender-equal and violence-free workplaces. The ITUC released Unions in Action to End Violence and Harassment in the World of Work which includes the latest survey of union action for the ratification and implementation of C190.
Jun 24, 2024
With the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and national union federations like the AFL-CIO, the Solidarity Center helped partner domestic worker and other care economy unions and associations join a global conversation about decent work and the care economy at the ILO’s 112th Session of the International Labor Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The annual ILC conference sets the international labor standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and brings together governments, employers and workers of almost 200 member states to discuss key social and labor issues and develop policies and programs to promote decent work for all.
“The first message I would give is to the workers, to keep fighting, keep advocating for the recognition of our rights as domestic workers. To the governments, you have responsibilities to uphold to workers and to our societies—and in this case, specifically to domestic workers—because we have been fighting for our labor rights over many years. And to the employers I say, at a minimum, have a little bit of heart. Think about where you come from. Who is taking care of your children? Who is taking care of your grandparents? And where do you come from? From a woman! So take note of this, be sensitized to it, open your hearts and look at us as we are: WORKERS.”
– Carmen Britez, President, IDWF. Video Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
ILO Convention 189 established the first global standards for domestic workers more than a decade ago to protect the 75.6 million domestic workers around the world, most of whom are women, many of whom are migrants and children.
“I am a domestic worker. I cooked, cleaned and took care of babies. This is my first time here and I have very high expectations. I hope that we can make the care economy and others have decent work, minimum wage and dignity in society and the world of work”
– Samphous Von, Deputy General Secretary, Cambodia Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA.)
Photo Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
But there is still much work to be done, say unions, including recognition of the care work performed by domestic workers—and the right of domestic and other informal workers to access care—as one of the cornerstones of the construction of fair, inclusive and resilient societies based on decent work and gender equity.
“Centering domestic workers in the care economy, recognizing domestic work as real work… that would be a game changer.”
– June Barrett, Second Vice President, IDWF. Video Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
With International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 149, 156, 189 and 190 providing a normative framework for governments and employers, women workers at the ILC urged a holistic framework to implement rights outlined by these conventions and affirm care worker rights.
“Countries have ratified conventions, some have not. Activists have lobbied, have advocated for many rights for some of the care economy, and some have not. I see this as an opportunity to ensure I go back and make sure the fundamental rights at work for domestic workers are upheld. [Sierra Leone has] ratified C189 that looks at decent work for domestic workers, but there has to be implementation of it. We do have a law that the government says speaks about all workers, but we are significant about domestic workers. The work of domestic workers, they are individual workers and the nature of their work is very different. So having the laws implemented for them is very critical.”
– Chelcy-Alma Aminata Heroe, Chief Executive Officer and founder, Sierra Leone Domestic Workers Union and Sierra Leone Informal Workers Organisation. Photo Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
“Healthy communities will actually build productive societies. In that sense, putting a focus on care workers and ensuring their rights are protected are very important. Here at the ILC we are looking into the care economy at how it exists in different parts of the world and what care means to them in different parts of the world. Looking into decent work aspects and also putting care as public good”
– Fathimath Zimna, General Secretary, Maldives Trade Union Congress.
Photo Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
“Centering domestic workers in the care economy, recognizing domestic work as real work… that would be a game changer.”
– June Barrett, Second Vice President, IDWF. Video Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
“The discussions so far are complicated but I say to the governments and employers, spend a day in the shoes of a domestic worker. Go wash dishes. Go clean a floor. Go make a bed. Help somebody go to the bathroom. Let’s see if you feel the same.”
— Doug Moore, Executive Director, United Domestic Workers (UDW/AFSCME Local 3930) and member of the Solidarity Center Board of Directors. Photo Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
“We want to see that Convention 189 be ratified because it’s the core of what we have to use for domestic workers in my country to be covered by labor legislation”
— Martha Mosoang, Secretary General, Lesotho Trade Union Congress. Photo Credit: Solidarity Center/Mollie Relihan
“We, domestic workers, are here at the International Labor Conference because this space is OUR space. This is a space for dialogue, a place where we can be building together towards decent work, with dignity, for all domestic workers. Recognize that OUR work is what permits you all to realize your work”
— Chirlene dos Santos, Secretary of Union Education,
FENATRAD-Brazil National Federation of Domestic Workers. Photo Credit: Solidarity Center/Alexis De Simone
Mar 26, 2024
Black women across the world are experiencing the same issues–despite borders, distances and cultural backgrounds–and the best way to face those challenges are solidarity, coalition building and convening organizations, say Solidarity Center partners who joined the recent Black Women’s Roundtable‘s (BWR) 13th Annual “Women of Power” Summit in Washington, D.C. The 26 international participants, all of them Black women labor leaders from 14 countries in Africa and the Americas, joined the summit for a day focused on international issues.
Solidarity Center partners at the U.S. Capitol. Credit: Terrance Heath/Solidarity Center
“Our issues are the same. It’s just the faces and the locations that differ. And when we get together, that is when something great is going to happen,” said Bashiratu Kamal, gender equality officer with the General Agricultural Workers Union in Ghana, who spoke on a panel during the summit’s Global Empowerment Day.
The rally. Credit: Verolyne Banard/Solidarity Center
Global Empowerment Day featured high-profile panelists including Ambassador Hilda Suka Mafudze, African Union ambassador to the United States; Jamila Thompson, senior adviser to the U. S. Trade Representative; and Carolina Wanga, president and CEO of Essence Magazine.
During the day’s discussions, punctuated by laughter, chants and even a spontaneous song, participants called attention to the problems women in their respective communities are facing, such as gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) and the treatment of workers in the care economy. The lack of women’s representation in decision-making processes, they noted, is all the more important because this year 4 billion people are going to the polls in national elections.
“It is very important that women have power in a democratic society. We have said and reaffirmed that, and we are convinced that democracy without women is incomplete and that society today is demanding us to be in power decisions,” said Delys Puerta Arellano, treasurer of the Single Union of Education Workers of Bolívar, in Colombia.
Black women labor leaders met at the Solidarity Center office for a leadership meeting in preparation for BWR Global Day. Credit: Terrance Heath/Solidarity Center
Participants also celebrated the strides their home countries have made for women’s rights. Zingiswa Losi, the first female president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), highlighted South Africa’s efforts, including the passage of ILO Convention 190, the establishment of a minimum wage, the South African Constitutional Court ruling granting workers’ compensation to domestic workers and progressive policies on parental leave. She said she was looking forward to taking other ideas, learned at the summit, home to further advance women’s and worker rights.
Credit: Bill Lee/Black Women’s Roundtable
The Solidarity Center has long been a champion for women’s rights, both in and out of the workplace, and has partnered with many women’s rights organizations around the world, including BWR, according to Sarah McKenzie, Solidarity Center program strategy and innovation director. McKenzie serves as co-chair of BWR’s Global Empowerment Working Group and connects Black women labor leaders from Africa and the African diaspora to BWR. She also helped launch the East African Women’s Roundtable in November 2023.
A discussion of working conditions for sugarcane workers in the Dominican Republic and how Dominicans of Haitian decent are treated there. Credit: Bill Lee/Black Women’s Roundtable
“Creating a space for these amazing leaders to come together is important because they are able to bring their wealth of knowledge to come up with solutions, provide support and build coalitions, not only just for one another, but also for other Black women and labor leaders in the United States and broader civil society,” said McKenzie.
Added McKenzie: “This summit is not just a one and done thing. The Solidarity Center is supporting these women to build out country coalitions and organize around the issues that were discussed at the summit. These women will be working closely together cross-regionally to develop advocacy plans aligned with global strategy and key priorities.”
Credit: Bill Lee/Black Women’s Roundtable
Credit: Bill Lee/Black Women’s Roundtable
Feb 2, 2024
The Philippines is ranked as one of the 10 worst countries for working people. Unions there face attempts to bust their organization, arrests and violence–including murder. And last year, four union activists were killed for their work. Still, the labor movement is rising to a multitude of challenges, addressing issues of importance to their members and advancing the cause of worker rights in general.
For example, the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW, above) is addressing unsafe construction practices that put workers at risk including lack of days off and risks of slipping, falling and being hit by heavy falling objects.
Union members with RIDERS-SENTRO say insurance is fundamental to their ability to earn a living. Yet, while the Philippines has government-mandated social and health insurance benefits that employers must contribute to, motorbike delivery workers are categorized as independent contractors, not employees. Riders say they cannot afford those benefits on their own, and if they do not work, they do not earn a living. RIDERS-SENTRO launched a campaign for comprehensive insurance, as well as fair rates and other demands.
Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau rides with a delivery worker in Pampanga.
Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and their affiliate unions, D’Luxe Bags Union (garments); Metroworks Union (telecommunications), Associated Philippines Seafarers Union, and Juan Wing Association of the Philippines (flight attendants) recently met with the Solidarity Center to discuss issues they face, including union busting, forced leave and non-payment of overtime.
For their courage and persistence in the face of escalating threats to their own lives, seven delegates representing the Philippine labor movement receive the 2023 AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., including (L to R) PSLINK President Annie Enriquez Geron, ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio, BIEN President Mylene Cabalona, FFW President Sonny Matula, KMU Chairman Elmer Labog, SENTRO Secretary General Josua Mata, ALU-TUCP National President Michael “Mike” Democrito C. Mendoza. Photo: AFL-CIO
In December, seven delegates representing the Philippines labor movement received the 2023 AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in recognition of “the Philippines labor movement’s resilience, persistence and courage,” as AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said at the event. The same month, the Philippines became the first Asian country to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 190 (C190) to eliminate violence and harassment at work.
On a recent trip to the Philippines, Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau met with unions and workers to hear firsthand about their advances and challenges. She also met with Senator Risa Hontiveros, a major labor ally and supporter of the labor movement’s successful campaign to convince the government to ratify International Labor Organization Convention 190 on violence and harassment.
In a recent discussion with the Solidarity Center in Batangas, workers at a factory where automotive wiring harnesses are made said they face grueling overtime. “We work long hours with constant overtime, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” a worker said, noting they can work six hours standing on the assembly line with no rest, often for seven days a week.
Sep 25, 2023
As the United Nations met in New York this week, U.S. President Joe Biden and Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced the launch of the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights. This joint commitment, if adequately resourced and executed with labor union participation, will put worker rights and decent jobs at the center of critical conversations including the transition to a clean energy economy, the role of emerging technologies, corporate accountability in supply chains, ending gender-based violence and harassment at work and other global priorities.
Calling the agreement a landmark, Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau said it “affirms respect for freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining and the essential role of democratic trade unions in advancing a just and vibrant global economy.”
All photos: Solidarity Center / Brian Offidani Photography unless otherwise indicated.
As the presidents of the United States and Brazil got set to announce the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights during the United Nations meeting in New York, U.S. union leaders discussed with their Brazilian counterparts their expectations for its implementation. U.S. labor leaders from the AFL-CIO, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and United Steelworkers (USW) met with Brazilian leaders from Unitary Workers’ Central (CUT), General Workers’ Union (UGT), Union Force, Brazilian Unions’ Central (CSB), Brazil Workers’ Central (CTB) and the New Union Workers’ Central (NCST). Gustavo Garcia, Solidarity Center program officer, helped moderate the session.
Luiz Marinho, Brazil’s minister of labor and employment and Thea Lee, U.S. Department of Labor’s deputy undersecretary for international affairs, addressed a meeting with U.S. and Brazilian union leaders, officials from the U.S. government and the International Labor Organization (ILO), and representatives from the business sector.
Moacyr Roberto Tesch Auersvald, NCST president, addressed representatives from the ILO and U.S. government meeting on the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights. To his right: Antonio Fernandes dos Santos Neto, CSB president and to his left, Adilson Gonçalves de Araújo, CTB national president.
Stuart Appelbaum, UFCW executive vice president and RWDSU president, expressed support and solidarity to the Brazilian labor movement. He praised the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights and the efforts from all parties to make this initiative a reality.
Cathy Feingold, AFL-CIO international affairs department director and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) deputy president, highlighted the importance of the initiative in protecting vulnerable workers, including platform workers in Brazil and the United States.
Antonio Fernandes dos Santos Neto, CSB president and Moacyr Roberto Tesch Auersvald, NCST president, praised both countries’ support and cooperation to advance labor rights. They described the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers as a “historic moment.”
Members of the Brazilian labor delegation, AFL-CIO and Solidarity Center, along with Brazil Minister of Labor and Employment Luiz Marinho, visited the United Auto Workers Region 9A headquarters. President Biden stated earlier in the week: “Let me be clear, whether it’s the auto workers union or any other union worker, record corporation profits should mean record contracts for union workers.” All of Brazil’s trade union centrals have announced support for striking UAW workers. Credit: UAW
The ILO and the U.S. government organized a meeting with U.S. and Brazilian labor leaders and business sector representatives to discuss the impact of the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights. Joining them are Gonzalo Martinez de Vedia, Solidarity Center Brazil program director, and Lianet Rosado, Brazil program officer.
