Carl Gershman, President National Endowment for Democracy Derek Mitchell, President, National Democratic Institute Dan Twining, President, International Republican Institutes Shawna Bader-Blau, Ex. Director, Solidarity Center Andrew Wilson, Ex. Director, Ctr. For...
The Solidarity Center works to ensure all workers, such as Bangladesh garment workers, have access to their legal workplace rights. Credit: Solidarity Center/Balmi Chisim
The Solidarity Center works to ensure that all workers have rights protected under international law and have access to effective legal remedies if those rights are violated.
The Solidarity Center works with workers, unions and other organizations around the world to rewrite the rules so workers can form unions and take collective action to promote their rights and be free from exploitation. The Solidarity Center has assisted workers and unions in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guatemala, Myanmar, Thailand and Ukraine to analyze legislation and develop strategies to defeat repressive legislation and promote laws and regulations consistent with international law.
Our work supports novel litigation at the national and regional levels to expand rights to workers and unions. For example, the Solidarity Center has supported constitutional litigation to ensure domestic workers in South Africa have access to the national workers compensation fund, and is working with lawyers in Bangladesh to support workers in challenging the use of false criminal charges to dismiss and silence workers. The Solidarity Center also supports efforts in regional human rights courts to promote the rights of informal economy workers in Africa and to hold governments accountable for anti-union violence in the Americas.
The Solidarity Center also is working to build accountability for multinational firms in global supply chains that remain largely beyond the reach of the law in countries where their suppliers are located and in their home countries. The lack of accountability is a major driver of worker exploitation in supply chains, including wage theft, unsafe workplaces, violence against workers and attacks against unions.
Educating workers on their rights and how to use them in the workplace is also a key component of our work. Through the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW), we are building a legal community and increasing the capacity of lawyers and activists to effectively use domestic, regional and international laws and institutions. The ILAW Network brings together more than 400 lawyers in some 55 countries.
Belarus Crackdown Violates Worker, Human Rights, Say Rights Experts
A vicious crackdown in Belarus on striking workers peacefully protesting President Lukashenko’s refusal to leave power despite months-long popular protests is drawing the attention and condemnation of worker and human rights experts, including Amnesty International,...
Report: Death Threats Among Anti-Union Violence in Guatemala
Threats, including death threats, and intimidation were the most common forms of violence against union activists and workers seeking to form unions in Guatemala last year, according to a new report by the Network of Labor Rights Defenders of Guatemala (REDLG). (Read...
![CAMBODIA: Vocal Coalition Makes Legal History (2013)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Report-cover41.jpg)
CAMBODIA: Vocal Coalition Makes Legal History (2013)
Cambodia’s nascent independent labor movement and human rights organizations worked to revise a labor law proposed in 2011 that would have significantly rolled back worker rights—and a Solidarity Center report describes how they did it. English (PDF) Arabic (PDF)...
![TUNISIAN WOMEN: Sustaining the Fight for Equal Rights (2013)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Report-cover-image4.jpg)
TUNISIAN WOMEN: Sustaining the Fight for Equal Rights (2013)
In 2011, Tunisian women helped spur protests and end autocratic regimes in Tunisia and throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Today, a Solidarity Center report finds Tunisian women remain in the forefront of ensuring democratic change in their country during the...
![Unions Create Democratic Space in Zimbabwe (2013)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Report-cover8.jpg)
Unions Create Democratic Space in Zimbabwe (2013)
Unions in Zimbabwe are ensuring the concerns of working people are heard—while highlighting issues feeding into the nation's poverty crisis, a Solidarity Center report finds. English (PDF) Arabic (PDF) French (PDF) Spanish (PDF) Sources
![Solidarity Center Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund: Workers Helping Workers Recover and Rebuild. Final Report, January 2010-March 2013](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Haiti-cover1.jpg)
Solidarity Center Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund: Workers Helping Workers Recover and Rebuild. Final Report, January 2010-March 2013
Following the devastating January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti, the Solidarity Center established a relief fund to route donations from U.S. unions and workers to Haitian workers and their families in need. The final report on these efforts, released on the third...
![The Plight of Shrimp-Processing Workers of Southwestern Bangladesh (2012)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pubs_bangladesh_shrimp_repo1.gif)
The Plight of Shrimp-Processing Workers of Southwestern Bangladesh (2012)
Bangladesh’s labor code addresses pay, working hours, and on-the-job conditions. However, in the shrimp-processing industry, the code is not being adequately enforced. Bangladeshi shrimp-processing workers—the majority of whom are women—still face inadequate health...
![Gender Equality and Labor Movements: Toward a Global Perspective (Rutgers, 2012)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Photo_Gender-Equality_Cobbl2.jpg)
Gender Equality and Labor Movements: Toward a Global Perspective (Rutgers, 2012)
A critical review of the English-language research on gender equality and labor movements highlighting “best practice” case studies around the world most relevant to those engaged in building democratic and humane societies. This Solidarity Center report is part of a...