Dec 20, 2024
Worker rights activists who participated in the UN’s annual climate meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, last month as members of the union observer constituency group are giving the world’s billions of working people a voice in climate negotiations and urging vigilance to ensure that climate action recognizes workers and their needs.
At COP29, labor’s major demands–including on finance, integration of a just transition work program in countries’ climate commitments and inclusion of worker rights language in all agreements–nearly all fell short.
“Worker rights is a climate justice issue. Given the acute impacts of climate change on workers, centering unions and workers within the climate discourse and national climate actions is critical. Yet, as we saw in COP29, unions and workers are often sidelined in climate decision-making,” says Jocelyn Soto Medallo, Solidarity Center climate policy specialist.
Nevertheless, reflecting the increasing urgency with which unions are organizing and responding to the climate crisis, the union delegation had more capacity than ever before to effectively and actively engage in every negotiation stream.
The union delegation, with the leadership of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), collectively represents nearly 200 million workers in 164 countries who are urging governments to prioritize climate action that supports workers’ jobs and livelihoods, and building resilient, just and carbon-neutral economies.
Solidarity Center Climate and Labor Justice Director Sonia Mistry, far right, appears with fellow panel participants who presented at COP29 side event, “Heat Stress: Protecting Workers and Increasing Resilience.” Credit: Solidarity Center
Ordinary working people, especially the most marginalized, must be represented in UN and national climate action meetings, says the worker rights delegation who attended COP29 with Solidarity Center support.
“It’s important to understand that we can and must achieve our climate goals in a way that also promotes broad access to decent work, social protection and the realization of all human rights—which critically includes worker rights. Worker rights are human rights,” says Sonia Mistry, Solidarity Center climate and labor justice director.
“Climate action must work for all, with no one left behind,” says ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle. Of 66,000 conference registrants, more than 1,770 at COP29 were fossil fuel lobbyists–in stark contrast to the 100 worker rights activists and union representatives who participated on workers’ behalf.
“Workers are dying due to the impact of climate change,” says Rebecca Okello, Central Organization of Trade Unions, Kenya (COTU-K) climate change and just transition coordinator. Credit: Solidarity Center
“There will be no climate justice without social justice,” said Rebecca Okello, Central Organization of Trade Unions, Kenya (COTU-K) climate change and just transition coordinator, who delivered a statement on behalf of unions.
“Unions influence employers to adopt green technologies and practices while securing worker rights in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Boitumelo Molete (center), Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) social development policy coordinator and just transition presidential climate commissioner, at COP29. Credit: Solidarity Center
All workers, and especially those who are working low-wage, precarious jobs are increasingly impacted by the effects of climate change, including permanent displacement because of flooding or drought, job loss due to climate-related economic disruptions and health risks caused by rising temperatures in outdoor and indoor workplaces, including in agricultural fields, on outdoor construction sites and in factories and offices without air conditioning.
Eche Asuzu, Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) climate change program coordinator, at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Credit: Ibrahim Manpa’a
“Climate issues are workplace issues,” says Ralph Gabin, Solidarity Center West Africa senior program officer, at COP29. “Especially as it affects workplace safety and health. “Unions have an important role to play in mitigating the impacts of climate change on the job, and in the formulation of just climate policies as well.”
The Solidarity Center participated in two Nigeria-focused side events, which addressed union involvement in the development and implementation of Nigeria’s national climate plan and just transition for workers in the oil sector. The Solidarity Center supported participation by Eche Asuzu, Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) climate change program coordinator, along with the Solidarity Center’s Gabin, Jocelyn Medallo, climate policy specialist, and Suzie Okomo, West Africa program officer, who presented or moderated.
Solidarity Center Program Officer Suzie Okomo moderates a COP29 side event advocating for a just transition for workers who are affected by climate change, energy transition and other climate policies. Credit: Ibrahim Manpa’a
Sonia Mistry presented on a panel at two COP29 side events: “Heat Stress: Protecting Workers and Increasing Resilience, moderated by U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee, and “Innovative Research Strategies for a Just Transition in the Global South, a panel hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), with which the Solidarity Center is a consortium partner in the IKI JET project.
Among other pressing climate goals, COP29 was the UN’s latest attempt to shepherd 200 countries into a deal on climate finance–an effort that ended with developing countries describing the amount they will receive per year in climate finance as a “paltry sum” and demanding more realistic funding.
(Photo: UN Climate Change – Kiara Worth)
Looking ahead, COP30 in Belém, Brazil–in the Amazon–will be a critical moment for the labor movement and its coalition partners across civil society to push for ambitious climate plans that center worker rights. More than ever, the critical work of national-level organizing is needed to build political will, and trade unionists amplifying worker voices within climate negotiation spaces nationally and internationally.
Of the task at hand, says Boitumelo Molete, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) social development policy coordinator, “Together, we must build a future where environmental sustainability and social equity go hand in hand.”
What Are the COPs?
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is a series of annual meetings held by the United Nations to address climate change and the principal decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was established at the first Earth Summit in 1992.
The first COP, in 1995, focused on starting negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate change. During the mid-1990s, COPs began negotiating the Kyoto Protocol, which established legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. From 2011 to 2015, COPs negotiated the Paris Agreement as part of the Durban Platform, resulting in 196 national governments entering into a legally binding international treaty on climate change on December 12, 2015.
At COP28, countries agreed to launch the Loss and Damage Fund to compensate countries most vulnerable to climate change. COP 29, dubbed the “Finance COP,” put the issue of climate financing at the center of the negotiations agenda–that is, how to secure and distribute the external funding developing economies need to transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient path.
Dec 12, 2024
Rallies, activist sessions, labor platforms, global gatherings and more—-during this year’s 16 Days of Violence Against Women, Solidarity Center’s diverse efforts around the world are all centered on the same goal: ratification and implementation of a treaty to end gender-based violence and harassment at work and action to end GBVH in countries that had not yet ratified the treaty.
Between November 25 and December 10, International Human Rights Day, activists worldwide are raising attention to the more than 743 million people who have experienced job-related violence or harassment, and are pressing for countries to ratify and adhere to International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 190. Adopted in 2019, C190 seeks to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work that includes gender-based violence and harassment.
So far, 45 countries have ratified the convention, and union activists around the world are campaigning to ensure workers experience tangible results that address the harassment and violence many face every day at work because of their gender. In countries that have not yet ratified C190, activists utilizing collective bargaining as a tool to prevent and end GBVH.
As stated on the C190 Arc Task Force, a new website backed by a coalition of activists including the Solidarity Center: “No one should have to endure gender-based violence and harassment at work.”
Gayan Prasad of the National Postal Telecommunication Union in Sri Lanka takes part in a 16 Days of Activism training. Credit: Solidarity Center/Ponniah Yogeshwari
Worldwide Action to End GBVH
Globally, one in 15 workers have experienced gender-based violence with Black and Indigenous workers experiencing higher rates of GBVH. Unions, at the center of addressing GBVH, also need awareness of the issues and opportunity to join with GBVH campaigns.
“Traditional trade unions will need to think of new strategies,” said Gustavo Gonzalez, United Nations Philippines resident coordinator. Speaking at an event in the Philippines during the 16 Days of Action, he noted the importance of organizing, along with anticipating the future of work that will disproportionately impact women workers.
At the event, a coalition of women union leaders in the Philippines launched a gendered analysis of the labor movement’s 15-point agenda to address women’s persistent challenges in violence, segregated workforce participation, and representation in decision-making processes.
In Sri Lanka, where the country has not ratified C190, five union leaders and members from sectors such as health care and the informal economy took part in an activism session in Colombo that highlighted the importance of C190 and strategies for securing its ratification. Participants shared action plans for raising awareness and disseminating the information at the union and workplace levels and presented a petition to the government urging ratification of C190.
Global Conferences Highlight GBVH
Solidarity Center participants in two conferences joined union and feminist leaders from around the world in Bangkok during the 16 Days of Activism.
At the Feminist Forum on Migration and Displacement, the Solidarity Center brought participants together in a two-day migration forum to explore key issues shaping the realities of women and gender-diverse people in migration and displacement, including climate change, discrimination, civic participation and organizing, and war, conflict and occupation. The forum, held in advance of the Women in Migration Network (WIMN), sought to foster meaningful discussions and build strategies that will drive lasting change.
Also in Bangkok, the Solidarity Center joined thousands of activists, feminists, artists who came together in discussions, performances and conversations at the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) forum. Bringing together health care workers from Palestine and South Africa and domestic workers from Peru and Kenya working in Jordan, the Solidarity Center held an interactive strategy session with participants around building capacity to propose remedies for addressing decent work in the care economy. “Elevating Care as Critical Infrastructure: Workers Uniting through Collective Action,” was co-sponsored with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance and International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF).
In highlighting unions’ ongoing progress in preventing and eliminating GBVH, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) found women union members continue to lead the struggle for gender-equal and violence-free workplaces. The ITUC released Unions in Action to End Violence and Harassment in the World of Work which includes the latest survey of union action for the ratification and implementation of C190.
Dec 11, 2024
Thousands of teachers rallied in Pristina on December 5 to demand that the government meet with them to resolve longstanding poor work conditions and unfair compensation. For more than two years, Kosovo’s Ministry of Education has refused to meet with Kosovo teachers’ union SBASHK or implement a long-delayed collective agreement that will improve working conditions and provide a dignified pay raise.
“By opposing a collective contract, [the minister] is also opposing education workers. When there is no dialogue, there is no democracy,” said SBASHK President Rrahman Jasharaj.
Three collective contracts that were signed previously were never fully implemented. The most recent, signed in 2021, was invalidated by the Ministry of Education in November 2022 with a promise of new negotiations, which have yet to materialize.
Teachers gathered at the Education Ministry to present a raft of demands, which included that the government recognize the sacredness of teachers’ work in educating future generations and meet with them. Teachers subsequently moved the rally to the Kosovo Assembly to further advocate for education workers and the children under their care.
The government’s refusal to meet with them, say teachers, is a cynical dismissal of their sacrifices in keeping children in school during the bloody Kosovo war and the COVID pandemic, even while they have helped support colleagues, schools, children and their families through the mental health struggles and economic challenges caused by both events.
During the 1998-1999 Kosovo war, SBASHK played a vital role in preserving education services. Today SBASHK advocates for better working conditions and fair salaries, safer schools and professional growth opportunities for teachers. A five-week 2022 teachers’ strike for a living wage in response to COVID pandemic and Ukraine war-related inflation earned teachers a significant salary increase that has yet to be implemented. Meanwhile, regional economic challenges continue to threaten teachers’ and their students’ well-being. Recent economic analysis of the West Balkans shows that inflation in 2022 had surged to a two-decade high, with food and energy prices skyrocketing and eroding the purchasing power of households.
“It’s unfortunate that education workers, who are among the most important in any society, have to resort to a protest to prompt their government to engage with them,” says Solidarity Center Southeastern Europe Country Program Director Steven McCloud.
“A fair collective agreement with teachers is essential for ensuring the highest quality of education for students,” he said.
Dec 9, 2024
A four-year, regional, health care rights campaign led by the Organization of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA) is expanding its success and influence in the region with Sierra Leone’s Finance Minister last month announcing a 2 percent increase in the country’s budget allocation for the health sector, from 7 percent in 2024 to 9 percent in 2025.
“The Sierra Leone Labor Congress appreciates the increase as a success of our health care campaign,” says OTUWA Executive Secretary John Odah, while noting that Sierra Leone’s government has not met the 15 percent minimum annual budgetary health allocation to which African heads of state agreed in the landmark 2001 Abuja Declaration.
Like many countries in the region, in the context of mounting national debt, multinational tax dodging and illicit financial flows, Sierra Leone’s government is struggling to provide essential services to its citizens, including accessible health care.
Sierra Leone’s health care funding increase builds on the success of OTUWA’s “Health Care Is a Human Right” campaign this year in Nigeria, where the federal government in April announced a disbursement of almost $70 million to bolster the country’s health infrastructure.
Given that more than 80 percent of West Africa’s working people earn their living in poorly paid and uncertain informal-sector jobs, lack of access to state-provided health care or health insurance is placing an unfair financial burden on low‐income individuals and households, say unions. A United Nations report noted that 381 million people, or almost 5 percent of the world’s population, were pushed into extreme poverty in 2019 by out-of-pocket health expenditures.
OTUWA’s health care rights campaign unites West Africa’s unions in a fight for equal and fair health care access for all. Campaign participants, which include OTUWA affiliates and national health care unions, have been advocating since 2020 for the protection of health worker rights and effective, accessible health care for all with national and continent-wide African Union legislators and policymakers, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament. An OTUWA survey of 700 health workers living in Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo provided a window into the region’s health-sector shortcomings and presented a raft of recommendations that included increased funding for the health care sector across the region. This year, the campaign expanded its influence through an alliance with Public Services International, a global union federation that represents 30 million workers in 154 countries and, to preserve public resources, added good governance to its demands.
“We celebrate with our Sierra Leonean brothers and sisters and will continue to support unions that are demanding more investment by governments in the health of their citizens,” says Solidarity Center Africa Regional Program Director Christopher Johnson.
OTUWA represents trade union national centers in the 15 West African countries comprising ECOWAS. None of West Africa’s signatory governments–required by ECOWAS Fundamental Principles to promote and protect human rights in accordance with the African Union (AU) Charter on Human and People’s Rights, including provision of social protections such as health care–are implementing the 15 percent minimum annual budgetary health allocation.
Dec 9, 2024
Gold miners in Colombia won their first-ever contract, one that included an annual 3.5 percent wage increase and coverage of all sick leave up to 180 days. The collective bargaining agreement, signed with international corporation Zijin Continental Gold, critically incorporates respect and protection of workers’ rights on the job.
“I’m proud to advocate for workers’ rights and benefits at the Zijin Continental Gold Company. That’s what we seek: to protect workers and ensure they and their families have a better quality of life,” says Sergio Alexander Moreno Moreno, president of Sintramienergética Seccional Buriticá. The union includes more than 450 members at the Buriticá branch and 4,000 members nationwide.
The miners endure difficult conditions with low pay and, over 15 years, had won several arbitration awards. With Solidarity Center support, workers reached the August agreement with the company through negotiation and joint dialogue with the government among representatives of governments, employers and workers on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policies.
The union also negotiated creation of a Labor Dialogue Committee to monitor the contract and ensure its compliance, an essential part of the agreement, says Daniel Esneider Valencia Duque, secretary of collective affairs and labor disputes.
The new contract for gold miners is key to establishing worker rights, says Sergio Moreno, union president.
Achieving Gains with Partnership
To achieve the significant gains for workers, the Solidarity Center engaged with union leadership in a comparative analysis of past arbitration agreements and offered communication support during the bargaining process.
“They helped us draft our fair list of demands, when we reached the collective bargaining stage,” says Cristian Rizo, union general secretary. “The Solidarity Center has greatly supported us in our growth.”
Bolstering skills training and strengthening miners collaboration is part of Solidarity Center’s regional efforts in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, where multinational corporations force miners to endure long days in difficult and often dangerous conditions.
Sharing the benefits of their union in a video, workers describe how they will benefit with the new contract, and urge others to join unions to defend their rights.
“Unity is strength.”
