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.
Aug 15, 2023
Tea estate workers in Sreemangal, Bangladesh, say their work is much harsher now due to increased heat and more torrential rains, endangering their health and sometimes making it impossible to reach their daily quota, cutting into their already meager wages.
An estimated 13 million people in 48 countries work on tea plantations around the world, mostly women who are paid low wages and have few or no health and safety protections. Tea plantation workers often are forced to rely on their employers for food, housing and education, adding to their vulnerability.
Workers in the Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union, a Solidarity Center partner, have achieved workplace improvements not offered at nonunion plantations, with employers required to provide daily hour-long lunch breaks and a medical facility.
Union leaders like Sreemati Bauri, a tea estate field supervisor and union leader, say more must be done–corporations in the global tea supply chain must step up to ensure decent work.
“Tea workers give a lot of sweat for their work.”
Credit: Solidarity Center / Gayatree Arun
At 10 a.m., Bangladesh tea workers begin their march across tea garden fields, where they walk long distances on their way to pick tea leaves. Each worker is assigned to pluck up to 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of leaves and get paid 170 taka ($1.55) a day if they meet their quota.
Credit: Solidarity Center / Hasan Zobayer
Shefali Rani, 35, has been a tea worker for 20 years. She has five children, all of whom studied in a primary school in the garden, where education beyond grade school is not offered.
Credit: Solidarity Center / Gayatee Arun
Families often spend their lives living in and working on tea estates, including Bashonti Devi, 40, who, with her husband, picks tea leaves to support their three daughters and son.
Credit: Solidarity Center / Hasan Zobayer
There is no escape to the shade for workers like Shefali Rani and Mithila Nayek on tea plantations, where the plants require direct sun and high humidity.
Credit: Solidarity Center / Hasan Zobayer
“It often happens that in a heat wave, it’s a hardship to meet the daily quota and so they can’t make the daily wage of 170 taka ($1.55),” says Sreemati Bauri, a field supervisor and union leader. “If a worker can’t make their daily target, it’s difficult to survive. Due to the heat, it has become too hot for them to get their wage.”
Credit: Solidarity Center / Hasan Zobayer
A Bangladesh tea worker hydrates in the scorching heat. Climate change-related hardships add to tea workers’ already harsh working conditions.
Credit: Solidarity Center / Gayatree Arun
“The heat is more excessive than before,” says Sumon Kumar Tant, a field supervisor and union member. “It’s as if they have to carry two times the burden—one the burden of tea leaves on their back, and the other, the weight of the heat.”
Credit: Solidarity Center / Gayatree Arun
Ram Dashee picked tea leaves for 50 years, and now works in the garden nursery. Her daughter also is a tea worker.
Credit: Solidarity Center / Gayatree Arun
Tea workers carry heavy bags of leaves all day as they pluck tea plants, returning to the weighing station at the end of the day with up to 55 pounds of leaves.
Aug 10, 2023
Millions of workers—most of them women—face intimidation, humiliation, physical and verbal assault, and worse on the job. A July 27, 2023, international summit in southern Africa gathered representatives from the governments of Argentina, Canada, Germany, Lesotho, Spain and the United States—along with dozens of leaders from unions, business and worker and women’s rights organizations—to highlight and advance efforts to end gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the world of work, with a focus on southern Africa.
Hosted by the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights (M-POWER),* Lesotho Federation of Trade Unions (LFTU) and Lesotho Labor Council (LLC), the daylong summit explored how governments, corporations and unions can eliminate GBVH at work, particularly by ratifying and codifying International Labor Organization Convention 190 (C190) on violence and harassment, and by replicating the negotiated and binding Lesotho Agreements in supply chains elsewhere.
(Photos: Solidarity Center/Institute of Content Engineering)
OPENING SESSION
Kingdom of Lesotho Prime Minister Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane (R) greets U.S. Department of State Special Representative for International Labor Affairs Kelly M. Fay Rodríguez (L) and United States Embassy Lesotho Deputy Chief of Mission Keisha Toms.
“We are all witness to the ever-increasing instances of gender-based violence and harassment at the workplace, not only in Southern Africa but across our beloved continent,” said Prime Minister Matekane, noting that Lesotho has committed to ethical sourcing through the U.S. African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) and the U.S. Millennium Challenge Compact II.
Below: Harry Nkhetse, senior facilitator and leadership coach, Tobaka Consultants, Mountain Peak Business Solutions, and summit co-emcee, with Marieke Koning, co-emcee and ITUC policy adviser.
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS IN ELIMINATING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT AT WORK: C190
Eradication of GBVH is an urgent, compelling global challenge that will only be resolved when workers have the power to bring about change, for which they need rights to freedom of association and of collective bargaining, said Marieke Koning. The panel included government representatives from Argentina, Germany and Lesotho.
Collective bargaining agreements are the most effective mechanism for implementing progressive laws in Argentina’s experience, said Cecilia Cross, Argentina’s undersecretary for inclusion policies in the world of work (below left). “For Germany, the reason to ratify is that C190 sends such a strong global signal—that it really defines globally what is harassment at work,” said Dr. Anna Montén-Küchel, first secretary, labor and social affairs, German missions in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.
“Efforts must be made at the global level as national efforts alone are not enough to tack this issue, which knows no borders,” said Joaquín Perez Rey, Spain’s secretary of state for employment and social economy, by video. “Gender-based violence and harassment have no place in our workplace,” he added.
U.S. GLOBAL LABOR PRIORITIES
Kelly M. Fay Rodríguez described the Lesotho Agreements as a model for other employers in Lesotho and beyond, and M-POWER as a vehicle for mobilizing like-minded governments to participate. “Culture change is required to create the conditions that allow workers, their families and their communities to thrive,” she said.
HOW WORKERS AND COMPANIES ARE ADDRESSING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT IN A GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN: FOCUS ON THE LESOTHO AGREEMENT
“I experienced so much harassment at the factory before the program at Nien Hsing was established,” said Popoti Ntebe, a UNITE member and factory worker. “Because of the high level of unemployment in our country, workers tend to be harassed because of poverty.”
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS IN CREATING SAFER, FAIR AND HEALTHY WORKPLACES FREE FROM HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE
To protect rights better, unions and other activists must maximize pressure on government, said Teboho Tolo (R), LFTU president, presenting with Zingiswa Losi, president, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). “We must mobilize support!” he said.
WOMEN WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION IN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
Sethelile Ntlhakana, Lesotho field representative for Worker Rights Consortium, moderates the session.
Gloria Kente, an organizer with the South African Domestic Services and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU), in yellow, leads fellow panelists Mathekiso Tseote, NACTWU shop steward (left); Leboela Moteban, LFTU gender focal person; Thato Sebeko, LLC member; and Puleng Selebeli, United Textile Employees (UNITE) member, in song.
“No struggle can be won without women’s participation,” said Mathekiso Tseote.
CLOSING STATEMENTS AND COMMITMENTS
“The world is watching; this is a precedent,” said Laura Gutierrez, AFL-CIO global worker rights coordinator, about the Lesotho Agreements. The AFL-CIO in partnership with its M-POWER colleagues wants to replicate this kind of program in the region and around the world, she said, because “M-POWER partners together recognize that in order to advance worker rights, ALL workers must have the power and ability to organize freely.”
“We must highlight [C190’s] importance as a key instrument in bringing an end to violence and harassment at work and in particular ensuring that women have a safe place to work,” said Chris Cooter, high commissioner for Canada in South Africa, by video.
The M-POWER GBVH project’s launch in Lesotho marks the milestone that Lesotho has committed to upholding worker rights through promotion of decent work for all workers in all economic sectors, said Richard Ramoeletsi, Lesotho minister of public service, labor and employment, in closing remarks.
MORE FROM THE EVENT
* M-POWER is a historic global initiative focused on ensuring working families thrive in the global economy and elevating the role of trade unions and organized workers as essential to advancing democracy. The government of the United States and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) co-chair M-POWER, joined by steering committee members: the governments of Argentina, Canada and Spain; the International Domestic Worker Federation; the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU); the AFL-CIO; and Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE). Additional partners include the governments of France, Germany and South Africa, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum, ProDESC, Solidarity Center and Worker Rights Consortium.
