Sep 18, 2024
In a significant win for migrant worker rights organizations and the people they represent, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov issued an August 28 decree that the republic join the UN’s Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Legal Migration (GCM). The decree demonstrates that, with the goal of improving conditions for Kyrgyz citizens who travel abroad to earn their livelihoods, Kyrgyzstan is recognizing the importance of aligning with global trends in migration governance and taking an important step toward harmonizing national legislation with international standards.
The decree follows years of work by the Solidarity Center with its partners in Central Asia, including, in Kyrgyzstan, with the Migrant Workers Union, a network of nongovernmental organizations focused on migration, and the relevant Kyrgyzstan state bodies. Collaborative actions have included gathering and reporting data on harsh conditions for migrant workers, educating migrating and returning workers about their rights, and advocating for effectively enforced protective legislation and policies.
“We celebrate the hard work of our regional partners in Central Asia, who are working in coalition to support Kyrgyzstan’s successful participation in the GCM,” says Neha Misra, Solidarity Center migration and forced labor global lead. “For too long, Central Asian migrant workers and the labor organizations that represent them have been excluded from important policy discussions within UN systems and regionally.”
The UN’s 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration sets out a cooperative framework for member states to achieve safe, orderly and regular migration within a rights-based framework, and includes a process for implementation and review. With Solidarity Center support, Kyrgyzstan unofficially contributed to the review process at the UN’s first International Migration Forum (IMRF) in 2022, in part through participation of Derbisheva Gulnara, director of Kyrgyzstan migrant rights nongovernmental organization Insan-Leilek Public Foundation, and Shamshiev Ulan, vice-chairman of the Council for Migration, Compatriots and Diasporas Abroad, under the Speaker of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Millions of citizens of Central Asian countries have migrated abroad in search of jobs to sustain themselves and their families. Most of them, including those from Kyrgyzstan, were un- or underemployed workers who have traveled to take up low-wage, precarious jobs such as domestic workers, drivers or laborers in informal arrangements with their employers. Migrant worker remittances—money sent home to support family members—account for more than 30 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s gross domestic product (GDP). Kyrgyzstan’s citizens are headed primarily to Kazakhstan or Russia, as well as further to Hungary, South Korea, Turkey or other countries. Many Central Asian migrant workers report facing discrimination, exploitation and unsafe working conditions and are at risk of being trafficked and subjected to forced labor.
The Solidarity Center has supported migrant worker rights in the Central Asia region for almost a decade, providing educational workshops and helping to organize migrant worker rights fora. Two regional fora, in 2023 and 2024, focused attention on the plight of migrant workers in Central Asia, including in Kyrgyzstan. Outcomes of the fora included coalition building, with the creation of a cross-regional group of state authorities and nongovernmental organizations that collaborate on solutions, such as countries joining or otherwise participating in the GCM. With its Kyrgyzstan partners, the Solidarity Center last year submitted a voluntary regional report to the GCM that outlines challenges to state compliance with principles such as international cooperation, human rights, the engagement of relevant government institutions and the rule of law, and proposed that Kyrgyzstan join the GCM to help meet those challenges.
A Solidarity Center-supported survey of hundreds of Kyrgyz women migrant workers across 19 Russian cities in 2021 documented brutal conditions on the job, including sexual violence. In Russia—where an estimated 750,000 Kyrgyz people have migrated for work, half of them women—workers have reported rising racism, working without official contracts or having their wages stolen, and having few opportunities to stand up for their rights or hold their employers accountable.
“Kyrgyzstan’s participation in the GCM is an important first step in garnering more recognition for the labor rights of Central Asian migrant workers,” says Solidarity Center Central Asia Country Program Director Lola Abdukadyrova in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital.
The Solidarity Center strives for worker rights for people on the move by ensuring migrant worker rights are a key part of the labor movement. Almost 170 million people are international migrant workers, comprising almost 5 percent of the global labor force. To promote respect for the rights of migrant workers and refugees of any category, the Solidarity Center partners with unions and worker rights organizations to extend workplace protections to all workers, and works in consultation with the UN and partners around the world—including in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries. In coalition, the Solidarity Center focuses on creating safe migration processes for workers, including greater regulation of labor recruiters and the elimination of recruitment fees to prevent debt bondage, and the eradication of forced labor from global supply chains. And the Solidarity Center supports the creation of networks among partners in origin and destination countries to ensure that migrant workers are protected along their journey.
Sep 16, 2024
The Solidarity Center welcomes the release of Cambodia’s Sithar Chhim, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU), who in 2022 was jailed for exercising her human right to peacefully assemble and freely associate and subsequently sentenced to two years in prison for “incitement to commit a felony”– a common charge against Cambodian rights activists.
“We are grateful that sister Sithar Chhim has been released and laud LRSU leaders and activists for their commitment and courage in continuing to fight for their rights,” says Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau.
Chhim was jailed with seven union colleagues for peacefully walking a picket line at Phnom Penh NagaWorld Hotel and Casino in 2022 and sentenced the following year to two years in prison for “incitement.” In years prior, the union’s successful organizing and activism had won substantial wage increases for thousands of NagaWorld employees.
The arrests and later convictions prompted global condemnation, including from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the UN Human Rights Office and inspired a global union campaign for the release of LRSU leaders and for their charges to be expunged by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) and other unions worldwide.
The 2024 ITUC Global Rights Index rates Cambodia as one of the worst countries to work in, where workers have “no guarantee of rights.”
Sep 16, 2024
The Solidarity Center condemns the brutal murder of well-known land and human rights defender Juan Ló Pesca in Honduras, and calls for a transparent investigation into the crime and punishment of those who played any role in his untimely death.
López, a member of the Honduran Network Against Anti-Union Violence (RedContraVA) Aguan sub-network, was shot September 14, 2024, after leaving Mass by several gunmen. Prior to his murder, he had received numerous threats and was under protective measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. At the time of his death, he was working to prevent destructive mining projects in the Montaña Botaderos National Park. And his assassination came one day after calling for the resignation of the mayor of Tocoa, where López served as a city councilor, to resign.
Honduras is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for rights activists.
“Juan López paid a terrible price for his dedication to standing with unionists and environmental, land rights and other human rights defenders facing threats for their activism. His murder cannot go unpunished,” said Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center executive director. “As we honor his legacy, we stand in solidarity with RedContraVa , the Committee of Popular Organizations of Aguan and other groups from around the world calling for justice for Juan and an end to threats to land and rights defenders in Honduras.”
————————
DECLARACIÓN: Los asesinos del activista Hondureño de derechos territoriales y humanos, Juan López, deben ser llevados ante la justicia
El Centro de Solidaridad condena el brutal asesinato del conocido defensor de los derechos ambientales y humanos Juan López en Honduras, y urge una investigación transparente sobre el crimen y la judicializacion de quienes desempeñaron algún papel en su prematura muerte.
López, miembro de la Red Contra la Violencia Antisindical de Honduras (RedContraVA), subred Aguán, fue baleado el 14 de septiembre de 2024, después de salir de la misa, por hombres armados. Antes de su asesinato, había recibido numerosas amenazas y se encontraba bajo medidas de protección ordenadas por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. En el momento de su muerte, luchaba para prevenir megaproyectos mineros destructivos en el Parque Nacional Montaña Botaderos. Juan López era regidor municipal de Tocoa y fue asesinado un día después de haber pedido que el alcalde actual de Tocoa renunciara.
Honduras es uno de los países más peligrosos del mundo para los activistas de derechos humanos.
“Juan López pagó un precio terrible por su dedicación a apoyar a los sindicalistas y defensores del medio ambiente, de los derechos a la tierra y otros derechos humanos que enfrentan amenazas por su activismo. Su asesinato no puede quedar impune”, dijo Shawna Bader-Blau, directora ejecutiva del Centro de Solidaridad. “Al honrar su legado, nos solidarizamos con la RedContraVA, el Comité de Organizaciones Populares del Aguán y movimientos sociales de todo el mundo que piden justicia para Juan y el fin de las amenazas a los defensores de la tierra y los derechos humanos en Honduras”.
Sep 4, 2024
Delivery drivers at iFood in Brazil say they face exhausting workdays, low pay, lack of adequate company support and poor health conditions. In fact, wages that do not cover the cost of living -–or even do not meet the local minimum wage law—force drivers to work longer hours, leading to unsafe or hazardous working conditions and accidents, say experts and app-based drivers.
“There are dangerous conditions on the road with intense traffic that increases the risk of accidents,” says Beethoven Gomes de Oliveira, an app driver in João Pessoa. “This is also true for mototaxi workers. And the app companies don’t care about us workers, they treat us as if we are disposable.”
Delivery drivers say they suffer from exhausting workdays, low pay and poor health conditions. Credit: Paloma Luna
Injuries for the low-wage delivery drivers are on the rise. São Paulo Hospital reports that the percentage of trauma patients rose from 20 percent of motorcycle drivers in 2016 to 80 percent in 2022. Nearly seven people die riding a motorbike on average every day in São Paulo, which health and safety experts attribute to the rapid expansion of food delivery apps.
Workers Fear Poor Treatment Could Expand
Motorcycle and bike drivers are among Brazil’s 1.6 million app drivers and delivery people, a figure that grew rapidly after COVID as workers seek jobs in the informal economy to sustain themselves and their families. And iFood drivers delivered more than 100 million orders in August.
iFood is owned by the Dutch investment company Prosus, a subsidiary of South African tech giant Naspers, and dominates the Brazilian food delivery market with an approximately 80 percent share. iFood anticipates total revenue from its financial arm to rise 52 percent next year-–an amount workers say could easily cover living wages and safer working conditions.
“Pay is very low, not enough to meet our basic needs. For example, maintenance costs are very high, alongside vehicle insurance and food,” says Gomes de Oliveira, leader of the João Pessoa Municipal Delivery Workers’ Commission. We are out on the street all day–12 to 15 hours–to make 100 reales (approximately $18), and even that is a struggle.”
Fabricio Bloisi, iFood CEO, was appointed Naspers joint CEO in July, a move that app-based workers say may spread a business model that destroys their lives.
During a recent shareholders’ meeting, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE) raised concerns about the treatment of delivery workers under Bloisi during his iFood tenure. The wider Naspers group owns the food delivery services Mr D Food, Superbalist, Takealot and Delivery Hero (25 percent).
iFood Stalls Negotiations, Basic Democratic Rights
App-based workers, the government and iFood worked together in 2023 on legislation to regulate the digital platform sector—but iFood did not negotiate in good faith with workers during the four-month process, stalling negotiations until recently when the company reached out to the Ministry of Labor.
Even as workers struggled for decent wages and safer working conditions, they say iFood has opposed their democratic right to form a union and stand together in their struggle. A FairWork report finds no evidence the platform ensures freedom of association and the expression of workers’ voice, and no evidence that it supports democratic governance.
Union supporters say they also are targeted by the company’s algorithm, with iFood blocking the accounts of leaders who question their organizing. Delivery drivers have regularly face inaccurate algorithims that cut their pay—or even deny them jobs.
“There are many algorithmic issues: accounts being blocked or deactivated, payments charged incorrectly or to the wrong person, deviations from the route without pay,” says Gomes de Oliveira.
A key part of drivers’ campaign for fairness is addressing arbitrary and unfair algorithms. Delivery workers suffer from bans from the app, without the right to defend themselves.
Company Should ‘Go Beyond Pursuit of Profits’
A 2022 report shows how far iFood was willing to control workers, including monitoring WhatsApp groups, creating fake profiles on social media and infiltrating with an agent. “The Hidden Propaganda Machine of iFood,” found the company hired an auditor specializing in human rights and spent over $1.1 million on research to determine strategies that would not increase the app’s fees during strikes.
As a result of the report and investigations conducted by the Federal Public Ministry and the Labor Public Ministry, iFood and its advertising agencies signed a Conduct Adjustment Term in July 2023. The company agreed it would not increase the fare for trips during a strike—an action delivery workers say often happened, resulting in “strikebreakers.” iFood also is obliged not to intervene directly or indirectly in workers’ organizations, and cannot influence the creation, operation and agendas of associations and unions.
Yet drivers say that iFood continues to violate international treaties, including the right for everyone, without discrimination, to equal pay for equal work and to form and join unions for the protection of their interests.
As the National App Delivery Workers’ Alliance said: “We believe that business leadership should go beyond the pursuit of profits. It should include a commitment to the well-being of workers, ensuring dignified working conditions and promoting practices that respect human rights.
Sep 4, 2024
In a significant win for equity on Firestone Liberia’s rubber plantation in Harbel, more than 90 percent of contract workers voted Saturday to join the Firestone Agricultural Workers’ Union of Liberia (FAWUL). With 1,660 votes for FAWUL representation, contract workers won the right to negotiate collectively with the employer for, they hope, the same wages and benefits currently enjoyed by directly employed workers who are already represented by FAWUL.
“We owe it to generation after generation of workers who have suffered to secure good jobs and dignity for ALL,” says FAWUL Chairperson Rodennick Bongorlee.
FAWUL’s organizing success is the result of the union’s long-term campaign for equity for Firestone’s contracted workers, whose precarious jobs and low wages, often for the same work as permanent employees, are in stark contrast to hard-won worker rights on the rubber plantation.
A 2008 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and subsequent agreements were key for workers and labor rights in Liberia, where Firestone is the country’s largest employer. Previous to these agreements, plantation workers had endured working conditions that a 2005 human rights lawsuit against the company described as,”forced labor, the modern equivalent of slavery,” where exploitative quotas resulted in excessive hard labor and children working alongside their parents in lieu of attending school. However, through a series of agreements with the company since 2008, FAWUL won for directly employed workers improved conditions that include reduced quotas, better working conditions and compensation, on-site free schooling for workers’ children, a free onsite health clinic and somewhat improved housing.
But, after 15 years of partnership with agricultural workers on the plantation, the company is increasingly backtracking. By FAWUL’s calculations, since 2019, some 3,500 full-time jobs have been lost to Firestone-imposed transfers to contract positions, lay-offs and forced retirements. In 2019, Firestone fired up to 2,000 employees and required them to sign contracts with “labor contractors,” who in turn hired the former employees to perform the same work under Firestone Liberia’s supervision, but at significantly lower rates of pay, with no benefits and without the protections provided by FAWUL’s CBA.
Without collective voice and effective representation through a union, contract workers have been subject to safety risks and exploitation. Although all plantation workers face grave dangers to their health and safety, low-wage contract workers cannot afford personal protective equipment such as boots, gloves and glasses and are at increased risk related to acid use and snake bite exposure. And inadequate company housing for contract workers—usually a small, two-room brick apartment that houses 15–20 people from two extended families—is exposing contract workers and their families to unsafe crowding and, some workers report, rat infestation.
And, without CBA protection, contracted workers complain of economic exploitation. Contract tappers last month were describing Firestone Liberia’s measurement process for reimbursing latex extraction as “cheating,” and said they are being forced to work excessive overtime regularly without commensurate pay or, sometimes, any pay at all. Contract cup washers, most of whom are women who walk more than an hour to work, say they too are forced to work excessive hours without fair or, sometimes, any compensation. Excessive hours are enforced by threat of discipline or dismissal contract workers told the Solidarity Center—a very serious threat for those trapped in debt bondage to the company.
“We applaud the courage and spirit of the Firestone plantation workers who have steadfastly fought for a union to improve their lives and working conditions,” says Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau.
FAWUL in 2007 was awarded the AFL-CIO’s annual George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award in recognition of the union’s “extraordinary courage” in successfully organizing more than 4,000 Firestone Liberia workers for the first time in the company’s 82-year existence in the country. An indirect subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Inc., Firestone Liberia is the largest contiguous natural-rubber producing operation in the world. The company supplies Bridgestone with raw and block latex with which to manufacture tires in the United States. Approximately 25,000 people reside on the Firestone-Liberia plantation, including roughly 8,500 workers with their families. Because Firestone Liberia is an employment-standards trendsetter, plantation wages and working conditions have a direct impact on the livelihoods, rights and dignity of all workers in Liberia.
The Solidarity Center, in partnership with the United Steelworkers (USW), works with Liberian unions in key extractive industries such as mining, timber and rubber, as well as with domestic workers, to support them as they better serve their members and assist workers in forming unions.
Aug 30, 2024
The future of children—their education, development and eventual livelihoods—is an essential reason for ending the war in Sudan, according to the Teachers’ Campaign to End the War.
The Sudanese Teachers Committee, which organized the peace initiative, is part of the Sudanese Civil and Labor Coalition that includes labor and civil society organizations, and is a member of al Taqadum-Sudanese Civil Front movement.
Under the banner, “Teachers are builders of civilizations and advocates of peace,” the Sudanese Teachers Committee points out that no family is “untouched by the destruction caused by the war,” and notes that teachers are the most capable in leading the movement by rejecting the war, with education as the key to achieving peace.
The war in Sudan, which began April 15, 2023, has resulted in the killing, displacement and starvation of millions of people, as well as the destruction of vital public institutions. Nearly 26 million people, half of Sudan’s population, are facing acute hunger. More than 12 million people have been displaced by fighting between a military government and a paramilitary group.
Some 19 million children are out of school, while teachers have not received wages since the start of the war. The committee is serving the public by providing school—at least 6,000 facilities—in shelters.
Reaching Out for Children’s Education
On a Facebook page, which now includes 118,000 followers, the Solidarity Center-backed committee has added dozens of first-person videos by those calling for an end to war, and is campaigning for students’ ability to learn to read and return to school.
Committee leaders note that receiving an education is a basic right as stipulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a United Nations treaty signed by Sudan.
The committee also has created a series of posters illustrating the destructive actions of war and how children thrive with education and peace.
“Peace is a means to achieve comprehensive economic and social development, and through it societies advance,” the committee says. “There is no renaissance and development in a country suffering from wars, division and conflicts.”
