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,...
The Solidarity Center supported the development of the Afro-Colombian Labor Council, the first national organization in Colombia dedicated to improving the working conditions of Afro-descendants. Credit: Solidarity Center/Rhett Doumitt
The Solidarity Center engages with unions and their allies through an analysis and practice of equality, radical inclusion and intersectionality that is explicitly feminist, anti-racist, pro-equality, pro-worker, pro-migrant and class conscious.
The Solidarity Center designs and implements strategies to confront the multiple and intersecting forms of oppression that contribute to economic structures in which women and other groups of workers are devalued and excluded from economic and social equality. This requires a conscious effort to examine how oppressive forces play out throughout the global labor movement with a commitment to dismantle these systems. Explicit in this work is the understanding that the agency and leadership of the most marginalized workers are key components of decent work and economic justice for all.
The Solidarity Center has assisted unions and their allies in countries such as Cambodia, Colombia, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Nicaragua, South Africa and Tunisia to ensure meaningful participation of historically excluded and marginalized workers in unions and other democratic structures.
See related factsheets, videos and reports.
In Morocco, the Solidarity Center supported a multi-year effort to build women worker power and gender equality which led to the inclusion of women workers during negotiations for the first collective bargaining agreement in the informal agriculture sector. In Colombia, the Solidarity Center supported the development of the first national organization dedicated to improving the working conditions of Afro-Colombians.
In Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and Tunisia, Solidarity Center is assisting in strengthening union efforts to promote inclusion of individuals with disabilities. In Nicaragua, Solidarity Center supports domestic workers as they address inclusion of LGBTQI union members to ensure they can represent themselves, articulate their priorities and increase their leadership opportunities and visibility.
The Solidarity Center:
- Conducts research and awareness-raising to challenge systems of oppression and inform inclusive approaches to building worker power across social identities at all levels
- Supports representative, inclusive leadership in our partner organizations
- Engages in cross-movement work to combat tools of oppression that impact women, including gender-based violence and harassment at work
- Brings together unions and community groups to identify shared socioeconomic struggles, analyzes how those struggles are linked to systemic racism and implements organizing, legal and advocacy strategies to collectively overcome the oppression that entraps workers in poverty
- Advocates for economic policies that uproot systemic discrimination and exploitation in labor markets.
M-POWER SUMMIT: Program to End Violence, Harassment Changing the Dynamic in Lesotho
![Solidarity Center Solidarity Center](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Solidarity-Center-podcast-logo-REV210318-150x150.png)
/
Global Impact report: Eradicating Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Work
The Solidarity Center Global Impact report highlights the Solidarity Center's support of unions and civil society organizations in ending gender-based violence (GBVH) at work and showcases key outcomes, including a landmark agreement to address GBVH in Lesotho garment...
![Taken for a Ride 2: Accelerating Towards Justice](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ISSUE-BRIEF-Taken-for-a-Ride-2-pdf-1.jpg)
Taken for a Ride 2: Accelerating Towards Justice
This report is an update to the original Taken for a Ride Issue Brief, released in March of 2021. Download it in English or Spanish.
![Roadmap To Justice: How Kyrgyzstan’s Platform Economy Workers Can Stand For Their Rights (2022)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KYRZreport-1.jpg)
Roadmap To Justice: How Kyrgyzstan’s Platform Economy Workers Can Stand For Their Rights (2022)
The digital platform share in the economy in Kyrgyzstan is growing, and with that growth, an increasing number of people are working through these platforms. Due to its growth, the vulnerability of workers in this sector has also become more apparent, especially for...
![Roadmap To Justice: How Kazakhstan’s Platform Economy Workers Can Stand For Their Rights (2022)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KAZreport.jpg)
Roadmap To Justice: How Kazakhstan’s Platform Economy Workers Can Stand For Their Rights (2022)
Kazakhstan has the most developed digital market in the region, and digital platform companies operate in Kazakhstan’s major cities. With the sector’s growth, the vulnerability of workers in this segment has also become more apparent, especially for marginalized...
![THE HIGH COST OF LOW WAGES IN HAITI (2022)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Haiti.The-High-Cost-of-Low-Wages.September-1-2022.pdf.jpg)
THE HIGH COST OF LOW WAGES IN HAITI (2022)
Haitian garment workers face increasing difficulty in covering basic expenditures as prices soar while wages hover far below the cost of living. Download in English and Haitian Creole.
![The Informal Economy and the Law in Uganda](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The-Informal-Economy-and-the-Law-in-Uganda-Updated-12082022-pdf-1.jpg)
The Informal Economy and the Law in Uganda
The report analyzes how the current legal framework in Uganda fails to fully recognize and protect the rights of workers in the informal economy, even though they constitute 85 percent of Uganda’s labor force and over 50 percent of Uganda’s GDP. The gaps in Ugandan...
![Bargaining for Decent Work and Beyond: Transforming Work and Lives Through Collective Bargaining Agreements in the Honduran Maquila Sector (2022)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Publication.Cover-shot.Bargaining-for-Decent-Work-and-Beyond-Hnduras.5.22.jpg)
Bargaining for Decent Work and Beyond: Transforming Work and Lives Through Collective Bargaining Agreements in the Honduran Maquila Sector (2022)
Unions in the Honduran maquila sector bargain to improve work conditions and address gender-based violence at work, and so provide options for those who may migrate to seek jobs, a Solidarity Center report finds. Download in English and Spanish.