Heng Rithy, a garment worker in Cambodia, says her factory has good working conditions and she can support her family because workers have a union. Credit: Solidarity Center/Shanleystudio
An estimated 450 million people work in global supply chains—in textiles, retail, fisheries, electronics, construction, tourism, transport and agriculture. Economic globalization has created benefits for consumers, business and suppliers, but the practice of sourcing goods and services from countries where wages are low and laws are lax often results in jobs that are insecure and informal, involving dangerous workplaces, forced overtime and even slavery.
The Solidarity Center works with unions, worker associations and other allies in countries throughout the global supply chain in countries such as Bangladesh, Honduras, Lesotho, Morocco and Uzbekistan to address poverty wages, dangerous and unsafe working conditions and limited rights on the job.
For instance in Lesotho, the Solidarity Center partnered with labor rights and women’s rights organizations to negotiate a worker-centered, precedent-setting program to comprehensively address the rampant gender-based violence and harassment denying thousands of women garment workers a safe and dignified workplace. The Solidarity Center is helping lead training in addressing and preventing sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence among 10,000 workers at five factories there.
Migrant workers comprise a large part of the global supply chain, traveling to countries such as Malaysia to work in factories and to Gulf countries as domestic workers. The Solidarity Center partners with unions such as the Central Organization of Trade Unions-Kenya and the Kuwait Trade Union Federation to advocate for policies and legislation that address the exploitation and abuse migrant workers face, and educate workers who plan to work abroad about labor laws and workplace rights in their origin and destination countries.
The COVID-19 crisis is especially devastating for the 50 million workers who make clothes, shoes and textiles in factories around the world. With declining sales, corporate retailers are canceling orders and factories are laying off workers, most without pay. Those...
Imagine the population of New York City. Then triple that number. That’s how many people around the world are being robbed of their freedom through human trafficking—24.9 million. While “trafficking” seems to imply movement across borders, some 77 percent of those...
The ability of workers to freely form unions is such a fundamental human right that the United Nations (UN) holds countries accountable for violating those rights, according to Lance Compa, senior lecturer in labor law at Cornell University. “Even countries that have...
Download in English. Download in Arabic. This report was made possible through the generous support of the Ford Foundation.
. Download in English Download in Arabic. This report was made possible through the generous support of the Ford Foundation.
Download here.
Through individual case studies and legal analysis, When the Job Hurts demonstrates the need for domestic workers in South Africa to receive the same coverage under the country's job safety and health compensation law as other workers. Download report.
Freedoms on the Move, a new report by Solidarity Center and CIVICUS, makes clear that many migrant workers and refugees want to have a say in their communities and their workplaces, and in the decisions that affect their lives—and is an urgent call to action for...
A Solidarity Center legal analysis shows the proposed ILO convention on gender-based violence and harassment at work is necessary because no global binding instrument exists that comprehensively addresses violence and harassment in the world of work, including...