To mark 25 years in Mexico, the Solidarity Center convened a forum on the country’s labor reform process and staged a photo exhibition at the Mueso Memoria y Tolerencia. The exhibit, Reflejos de Lucha: Miradas sobre el movimiento laboral en América del Norte (Reflections of Struggle: Insights into the North American Labor Movement), documents the democratization of labor relations in Mexico and the struggle of the independent labor movement for a more just and equitable global economy. Photographers Kevin Lara, Arturo Left, Ulises Vidal, Noboru Yorugi with special guest David Bacon, an author and photojournalist specializing in labor union issues, contributed work to the show.
Kyrgyzstan, May Day 2023. Credit: Aizhan Ruslanbekova/Solidarity Center
Sri Lanka, May Day 2023. Credit: Prasdhini Niroshika/Solidarity Center
Philippines, May Day 2023. Credit: Andreanna Garcia/Solidarity Center
Migrant domestic workers join with their Jordanian union brothers and sisters to celebrate May Day and campaign together for equal rights and wage protections for workers regardless of citizenship status. Credit: Sara Khatib/Solidarity Center
Kyrgyzstan, May Day 2023. Credit: Aizhan Ruslanbekova/Solidarity Center
Mexico, May Day 2023. Credit: Luis Iván Stephen
Philippines, May Day 2023. Credit: Andreanna Garcia/Solidarity Center
Dozens of union leaders from across Africa took part in the first-ever Summit for Democracy event on the continent March 30, where they discussed the essential role of unions in strengthening democracy and shared strategies on how unions can step up efforts to advance democracy through one of its most essential components—worker rights. Co-hosted by the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights (M-POWER) and the Zambian Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU), the day-long conference included interactive sessions focused on strengthening democracy and opening rapidly closing civic space in Africa.
“Amplifying the Voices of Workers to Safeguard Democracy in Africa” was an official side event of the second Summit for Democracy, a global democracy initiative co-hosted by Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United States and Zambia March 28–30, 2023. The second Summit showcased progress made by Summit partners on their commitments in the first year of the global initiative—M-POWER is one of the largest commitments made by Summit partners.
“There’s no democracy without workers.” – Joy Beene, Secretary General, ZCTU
Christopher Johnson, Regional Program Director, Solidarity Center gives a big shout out to ZCTU for hosting the Summit for Democracy and to M-POWER which seeks to ensure worker rights are respected and promoted.
Matthew Parks, Parliamentary Coordinator, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) describes workers’ struggles for rights as also a fight to improve the lives of their children.
“Unions are essential to democracy; if we believe in democracy we need strong labor movements.” – Thea Lee, Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (Photo: Solidarity Center)
DECLINING LABOR AND HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT
“Unity among workers is most important. Employers and the government will only recognize us when we can stay united as working people.” – Japhet Moyo, Secretary General, ZCTU
Bheki Mamba, President, Trade Union Congress of Swaziland describes deteriorating human rights and worker rights in Eswatini where government authorized shooting protestors, killing over 80 people with hundreds arrested on trumped up charges.
Kassahun Follo, President, Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, says in past 6 months, more than 60 workers have been killed during current violence in Ethiopia.
THE ROLE OF WORKERS IN DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
“How can we enjoy our rights as workers if we can’t express ourselves?” – Richard Mulonga, Chief Executive Officer, Bloggers Association of Zambia
Dan Mihadi, General Secretary, Transport Workers Union – Kenya, stresses the importance of workers and their unions to be involved in the political process to facilitate the growth of democracy.
HOW WORKERS CAN STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY THROUGH ELIMINATION OF STATE CAPTURE AND CORRUPTION IN AFRICA
Annette Chipeleme-Chola, Director, Organizing & Trade Union Development, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions and Worker Member, ILO Governing Body
“Unions can help end corruption and state capture through partnerships like M-POWER while speaking more to how people can benefit from democracy.” – Joel Odigie, Deputy General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation-Africa
YOUTH & WOMEN WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION IN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
“The voice of workers will not be heard unless they are free to organize themselves into unions.” – Toindepi Dhure, General Secretary, Zimbabwe Domestic and Allied Workers Union
Alex Nkosi, Coordinator, ITUC-Africa, shares examples of young activists who led movements for independence as examples of how the union movement needs to nurture youth leadership & participation to build & strengthen democracy.
“The definition of democracy says it represents the interests of citizens. Is that just men? No, it’s also women. Everyone must be represented for there to be democracy.” – Naomi Kimbala Lunat, Director-Gender, Youth and Child Development, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions
CLOSING STATEMENTS
“Threats to workers … union busting, gender-based violence, are threats to democracy. The global labor movement is at the heart of promoting democracy through freedom of association.” – Lisa Peterson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Bureau, U.S. State Department
MORE FROM THE EVENT
Joel Odigie and a group of newly organizing Marriott hotel workers
Paddy Mukando, Master of Ceremonies
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. It includes steering committee members from governments, philanthropy and labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); the governments of Argentina, Canada, Spain and the United States; and Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE). The Solidarity Center is a partner.
From Haiti to Kenya, Nepal and Palestine, hundreds of thousands of workers and their families celebrated International Workers Day last week, honoring the dignity of work and the accomplishments of the labor movement in defending human rights, job stability, fair wages and safer workplaces. Together, workers and their unions demonstrated their commitment to sustaining and improving worker lives.
Here is a roundup of May Day events by Solidarity Center allies around the globe.
[Above: In Jordan, leaders of the Domestic Workers Network (DWN) rallied in support of migrant domestic and agricultural workers and against gender-based violence at work, the kafala system—in which migrant worker visas are tied to a specific employer—and a new labor law they say is unacceptable.]
Georgia, May Day 2019. Credit: GTUC
3,000 union members gathered in front of the government chancellery in Tbilisi, Georgia, requesting that the prime minister sign a social contract between citizens and the government whereby government accepts the responsibility of ensuring social equality and democracy in the country.
Guatemala, May Day 2019. Credit: Maria Elena Sabillon Paz, Solidarity Center
Haiti, May Day 2019. Credit: Reginald Lafontant, GOSTTRA
Honduras, May Day 2019. Credit: Red Contra La Violencia AntiSindical
May Day 2019, Burma (Myanmar). Credit: .Jamie Davis/Solidarity Center
Kenya, COTU-K youth celebrate May Day 2019. Credit: ITUC-Africa
Maldives, May Day 2019. Credit: Sonia Mistry, Solidarity Center
Nepal, May Day 2019. Credit: Joint Trade Union Coordination Center (JTUCC)
In Kathmandu, approximately 3,500 members from 27 affiliate unions participated in a May Day rally organized by the Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) under the slogan: “Decent work for sustainable development: Strengthen democracy and prosperity.”
Nigeria, May Day 2019. Credit: Craig Phelan, Solidarity Center
Palestine, May Day 2019. Credit: Solidarity Center
More than 1,000 union members from cities in the West Bank gathered in Ramallah to rally under the slogan: “Freedom, dignity and social justice .”
Members and supporters of the Kurdistan United Workers Union (KUWU) rally outside Parliament in support of a new labor law. Kurdistan, Iraq, May Day 2019. Credit: Soran Fareeq, Solidarity Center
Members and supporters of the Kurdistan United Workers Union (KUWU) rallied outside Parliament in support of a new labor law.
Kyrgyzstan, May Day 2019. Credit: Lola Abdukadyrova, Solidarity Center
Hundreds of union members commemorated workers’ solidarity at a May Day marathon and concert organized by the Metallurgy and Mining Workers’ Union of Kyrgyzstan (MMTUK).
This Solidarity Center photo essay offers a look into the life of mother and agricultural worker Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh, who lives and works in Khuza’a, near Khan Younis, Gaza. The Solidarity Center partners with Palestinian unions as they fight for sustainable jobs and labor law enforcement, and to improve the lives of working people.
(All photos by Abed Zaqout for the Solidarity Center.)
Palestine.Part-time ag worker.Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh.Portrait.Gaza.Abed Zaqout.12.18
Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh, now in her 60s, works in the agricultural sector—which is the main source of income for many families in the area. She must work temporary jobs on area farms to help support her large extended family.
Because she cannot find permanent work, she visits local farms daily to look for any kind of temporary job.
“Sometimes I am lucky to get a task for three days,” she says.
Palestine..Part-time ag worker Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh weeding.Gaza.Abed Zaqout.12.18
Better work is not available to Etaf because work is scarce in Gaza and it is too difficult, expensive and dangerous to travel further afield. Across Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli checkpoints and road obstructions, as well as frequent road closures, severely restrict freedom of movement, commerce and employment in Palestine.
Palestine.Part-time ag worker Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh with husband and grandkids.Gaza.Abed Zaqout.12.18
After work, Etaf drinks tea with her husband and some of her grandchildren, at home. Her wages help support her 65-year-old husband, who is unemployed because of a disability, as well as five grandchildren and her own children. Etaf’s six grown children work temporary jobs and cannot earn enough to sustain the extended family, she says.
Palestine.Part-time ag worker Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh picks tomatoes.Gaza.Abed Zaqout.12.18
Etaf picks tomatoes, which will be sold at a nearby market.
Because her daily wage is not enough to cover the cost of one meal for her large family, she supplements her wages by keeping her own chickens and pigeons.
Palestine.Part-time ag worker Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh rides to work.Gaza.Abed Zaqout.12.18
Etaf and other women head to work in the fields on an open-bed truck.
Agriculture, which employs nearly half of the world’s workforce is one of the threemost hazardous sectorsfor workers. The precariousness of this work is compounded by informal employment arrangements or agreements with labor brokers, violence and harassment on the job.
Agriculture workers are often denied decent wages and women, despite their predominance in the sector, earn up to 50 percent less than their male co-workers for doing the same job.
Despite the hardships,agricultural workers around the world—cacao harvesters in the Dominican Republic, Moroccan vineyard and olive grove laborers in Meknes and agricultural workers in Gaza—are joining with unions and worker associations to improve their workplaces and win rights on the job.
Palestine.Part-time ag worker Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh picks vegetables.Gaza.Abed Zaqout.12.18
Through an onsite office supported by the Solidarity Center, Palestinian labor activists provide workers like Etaf with a variety of services, including job counseling; legal referrals for unpaid wages, medical treatment and employer reimbursement for workplace injuries; and education around labor rights. Solidarity Center supported the PGFTU women’s committee’s outreach to women workers in 75 work sites in West Bank in 2018, meeting face-to-face with 1,149 women workers and helping them form 14 worker committees.
Palestine.Part-time ag worker Etaf Awdi Hamdi Eqdeeh brings tea for husband and grandkids.Abed Zaqout.12.18
“I have been dreaming of a normal decent life like that lived by humans in the rest of the world,” Etaf says.
Around the world, workers, their unions and other associations are striving to promote the rights of working people at their jobs and in their everyday lives.
While every job has value, not all jobs are “good jobs.” Millions of jobs around the world do not offer the social protections or the sense of dignity that allow workers to enjoy the benefits of their own hard work.
The Solidarity Center works with unions and other allies to empower workers around the world to achieve decent work together.
WHAT MAKES A “GOOD JOB”?
In Thailand, Burmese migrant workers and their families learn about their rights on the job through training programs organized by the Human Rights Development Foundation (HRDF), a Solidarity Center ally.
But what are those rights? What makes a job a “good job”?
At the Pae Pla Pier in Mahachai, Thailand, Burmese dockworkers cart barrels of fish. Credit: Solidarity Center/Jeanne Hallacy
GOOD JOBS ARE SAFE
At the Gldani Metro Depot in Tbilisi, Georgia, employees work with dangerous chemicals and face constant danger from high voltage electrical wires. Their union, the Metro Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia (MWTUG), is addressing these safety and health risks with assistance from the Solidarity Center.
At the Gldani Metro Depot in Tbilisi, Georgia, employees like repairman Tamaz Simonishvili work with dangerous chemicals and face constant danger from high voltage electrical wires—safety and health risks his union, Metro Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia, is addressing with the assistance of the Solidarity Center. Credit: Solidarity Center/Lela Mepharishvili
The Solidarity Center also partners with numerous unions and worker associations in Bangladesh to train garment workers in fire safety and other measures to improve their working conditions.
The Solidarity Center partners with numerous unions and worker associations in Bangladesh to train garment workers in fire safety and other measures to improve their working conditions. Credit: Solidarity Center
GOOD JOBS PAY LIVING WAGES
At thePalmas del Césarpalm oil extraction plant in Minas, Colombia, workers are represented by Solidarity Center union allySintrapalmas-Monterrey. The union organized subcontracted workers into its bargaining unit, significantly improving their wages, benefits and job conditions.
At the Palmas del César palm oil extraction plant in Minas, Colombia, workers are represented by Solidarity Center union ally Sintrapalmas-Monterrey. The union organized subcontracted workers into its bargaining unit, significantly improving their wages, benefits and job conditions. Credit: Solidarity Center/Carlos Villalon
In Sri Lanka, where jobs are shifting from the industrial to service sector, workers like members of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Industry Employees’ Union (FBTIEU) are forming unions in the hotel and tourism sectors to ensure that the new jobs pay living wages and offer social benefits.
In Sri Lanka, where jobs are shifting from the industrial to service sector, workers like members of Food Beverage and Tobacco Industry Employees’ Union are forming unions in the hotel and tourism sectors to ensure the new jobs pay living wages and offer social benefits. Credit: Solidarity Center/Pushpa Kumara
GOOD JOBS TAKE CARE OF WORKERS
The National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Allied Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMSSRM, known as “Los Mineros”) has won many bargaining pacts that include significant economic benefits and essential safety and health protections for workers.
A miner in Mexico’s Baja California Sur, Ruth Rivera also is a shop steward for her union, SNTMMSSRM (Los Mineros), which has won bargaining pacts that include significant economic benefits and essential safety and health protections. Credit: Solidarity Center/Roberto Armocida
Agricultural workers in Rustenburg, South Africa, are members of the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU), a Solidarity Center partner, which represents migrant farm workers in Mpumalanga Province and assists them in gaining access to health care and other services.
A FAWU member plants cabbage seedlings on a farm in Rustenburg, South Africa. Credit: Solidarity Center/Jemal Countess
GOOD JOBS GIVE WORKERS A BREAK
Across the Arab Gulf, more than 2.4 million migrant domestic workers often toil 12–20 hour days, six or seven days a week. Domestic workers in Jordan recently formed a worker rights network that advocates for better working conditions and includes migrant workers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan domestic workers in Jordan defend their rights. Credit: Solidarity Center/Francesca Ricciardone
The Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotel, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA), a Solidarity Center partner, has been at the forefront of championing the rights of domestic workers at the national level and working locally to organize workers into the union and educate them about their rights.
The Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotel, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers union, a Solidarity Center partner, has been at the forefront of championing the rights of domestic workers at the national level and working locally to organize workers into the union and educate them about their rights. Credit: Solidarity Center/Kate Holt
GOOD JOBS EMPOWER WOMEN
Dozens of journalists and media professionals have taken part in the Solidarity Center’s ongoing Gender Equity and Physical Safety training in Pakistan, identifying priority gender equality issues at their workplaces and in their unions, and outlining strategies for addressing those issues.
Journalists in Pakistan participate in Solidarity Center-sponsored gender equality workshops. Credit: Solidarity Center/Immad Ashraf
Through her union, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions Workers Union (PGFTU) and the Solidarity Center, kindergarten teacher Khadeja Othman says she has gained new skills in workshops, training courses and hands-on experience.
Khadeja Othman, a Palestinian kindergarten teacher in Ramallah’s Bet Our Al Tahta village. Credit: Solidarity Center/Alaa T. Badarneh
ORGANIZED WORKERS HELP CREATE GOOD JOBS
Workers and their families on the Firestone rubber plantation used their union, the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia (FAWUL), to negotiate work quotas that could be met without the need for children to assist their parents. Children also now receive free education as a result of union negotiations.
Opa Johnson, a rubber tapper on the Firestone plantation, is a member of the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia, which negotiated work quotas that could be met without the need for children to assist their parents. Children also now receive free education as a result of union negotiations. Credit: Solidarity Center/B.E. Diggs
Even self-employed workers have organized to defend their right to decent work. The Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA), a Solidarity Center partner, trains negotiators in collective bargaining with municipalities to provide adequate space for vendors and other informal workers throughout their cities.
Nyaradzo Tavariwisa makes and sells peanut butter to support her family. Credit: Solidarity Center/Jemal Countess
UNIONS HELP MAKE JOBS BETTER
Working people time and again have proven that when they are free to form and join unions and bargain for better working conditions, they can achieve decent work, improve their lives and benefit their families and communities.
In Peru, two unions, both Solidarity Center allies, represent palm workers on plantations and in processing factories. These unions have helped improve dangerous working conditions, access to healthcare and job stability through collective bargaining and labor inspections.
Peruvian palm oil workers travel across the plantation where they live and work. Credit: Solidarity Center/Oscar Durand
THE SOLIDARITY CENTER HELPS WORKING PEOPLE ATTAIN DECENT WORK
Decent work means employment that provides living wages in workplaces that are safe and healthy. Decent work is about fairness on the job and social protections for workers when they are sick, when they get injured or when they retire.
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