Jun 24, 2024
Marking the one-year anniversary of the murder of Bangladesh union leader Shahidul Islam, the Solidarity Center is demanding that the police investigation of his case be reopened to ensure that the main perpetrators of the crime are held accountable and that the persistent harassment and unfair labor practices committed against worker leaders in the country end.
A dedicated trade union organizer and leader of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), Shahidul was brutally attacked outside Prince Jacquard Sweaters Ltd. factory on June 25, 2023, in retaliation for his efforts to help workers claim their hard-earned, long overdue wages and benefits. He succumbed to his injuries in a local hospital.
Just 45 years old at the time of his death, Shahidul is survived by his wife, also a former union organizer, and two school-age children. He was the sole wage earner for his family. With bills, school fees and her cancer treatments to pay for, Shahidul’s wife is struggling to get by.
While police in February submitted a charge sheet to the Gazipur court accusing 14 individuals in the murder of Shahidul Islam, including one administrative management official from Prince Jacquard Sweaters Ltd., trial dates remain to be set and the investigation is ongoing. Though it is positive to see that police have established a clear link between factory management and the crime, labor rights groups and Shahidul’s family argue that the investigation did not go far enough and that higher-level company officials were likely involved.
“Shahidul Islam knew that without organizing rights, workers cannot collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions in far-flung supply chains,” said Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau. “Today as we honor the legacy and memory of Shahidul, we stand united with trade unions and labor rights advocates everywhere in demanding justice for him and protection for the many committed organizers, workers and trade union leaders like him working to shift power dynamics and build worker power in the Bangladesh garment sector—the changes that he died fighting for.”
She added, “There is no alternative to strengthening protections for trade unionists so that they can exercise their fundamental rights without fear of retaliation or violence. And despite the many obstacles, we hope that change is coming.”
The Way Forward
Because of brave organizers like Shahidul Islam, the Solidarity Center has documented the formation of at least 134 independent garment sector trade unions since 2015.
In light of the culture of impunity for worker rights violations that led to his untimely death, the Solidarity Center calls for accountability, justice and transformation. We also call on:
- Brands sourcing from Prince Jacquard Sweaters Ltd. factory to take responsibility for their contribution to the conditions that led to Shahidul Islam’s murder by providing financial compensation to Shahidul’s family. All brands, regardless of whether they were directly or indirectly sourcing from Prince Jacquard, should recognize that their own supply chains are vulnerable to such a horrific event and should take concrete steps to monitor for and take swift action to address wage theft and any violations of freedom of association that occur.
- The government of Bangladesh to ensure that workers’ right to freedom of association is upheld, as the free exercise of this right can safeguard workers and organizers from the kind of violence that killed Shahidul Islam. Concerted action in this area will demonstrate the government’s commitment to upholding fundamental labor rights.
Jun 24, 2024
Over 200,000 members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community in Quezon City, Philippines, marched to push for passage of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) anti-discrimination bill.
The proposed measure seeks to ensure the fundamental right of all Filipinos to access essential services, job opportunities, health care, safety and legal recourse.
BPO Employees Gays, Lesbians and Allies for Genuine Acceptance and Democracy (Be Glad) joined the protest for equality, along with several call center groups, various human rights organizations and youth, government and faith-based networks.
The group also pushed back against the legislated push for economic constitutional reform, which may allow 100% foreign ownership of strategic industries, including the booming business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, which includes call centers.
Be Glad shared in a statement, “BPO workers are at risk with the changes made in the constitution through charter change, as this will allow for unbridled race-to-the-bottom wages in the BPO industry and in other industries as well.”
Jun 14, 2024
On June 16 International Domestic Workers Day, the Solidarity Center salutes women union leaders around the world who are urging governments and employers to recognize care as a public good and a human right, and to provide care workers, including migrant workers, with the same basic rights available to other workers—including weekly days off, limits to hours of work, minimum wage coverage, overtime compensation and clear information on the terms and conditions of employment.
“Domestic workers are vital in the care economy, providing crucial support to families and communities. They deserve fair treatment, including fair pay, safe working conditions and benefits. Recognizing and valuing their work is essential for creating a more equitable society,” says Conchita “Suzanne” Baldago, founding chairperson of Sandigan Bahrain, a multinational, multi-sectoral organization representing Bahrain’s migrant workers.
With International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 149, 156, 189 and 190 providing a normative framework for governments and employers, women workers at the ILO are urging a holistic framework to implement rights outlined by these conventions and affirm care worker rights.
With global labor partners the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Solidarity Center assisted partner domestic worker and other care economy unions and associations with preparations for the ILO’s 112th Session of the International Labor Conference (ILC). Activities included in-person discussions to survey care and domestic workers around the world regarding the development and enforcement of a new care work definition that correctly includes domestic workers as care workers.
An in-person workshop surveying Gulf region domestic worker associations affiliated with Solidarity Center partner Integrated Community Center (ICC) found that although care workers, most of whom in the Gulf are migrant workers, benefit from some legal provisions—such as in Bahrain and Kuwait, from fixed contracts, paid leave and health insurance—the kafala system systematically interferes to drag back any formal economic conditions. The Integrated Community Center (ICC) includes 14 Kuwait-based migrant worker associations and many more affiliate associations across MENA, Africa and Asia. Migrant workers account for an average of 70 percent of the employed population in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and more than 95 percent of private sector workers in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“We need changes in domestic workers’ situations to level up their dignity,” says Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association community leader Jinki Escuadro about her participation in the ICC’s in-person survey.
The ICC is reporting that labor and domestic work laws in the Gulf are inadequate, including Kuwait’s Domestic Worker Law (2015) and Bahrain’s Private Sector Labor Law (2012)—in no small part due to lack of enforcement.
Under the kafala system, employers in the region—including household heads, governments and private business owners—continue illegal practices such as confiscating and withholding migrant care workers’ passports, engaging in wage theft and enforcing non-contractual working hours, among other practices. The kafala, an employer-driven sponsorship system in Arabian Gulf countries, ties migrant workers to their employers, effectively denying migrant workers fundamental rights and fueling abuse.
The Gulf is routinely at the center of controversy regarding migrant domestic worker complaints of physical, mental and sexual abuse. Estimates by the International Trade Union Confederation indicate that more than 2.1 million women employed in households across the region are at risk of exploitation. Despite recent reforms, two-thirds of Kuwait’s population is comprised of migrant workers who remain vulnerable to abuse that includes physical and sexual violence, reports Human Rights Watch.
ILO Convention 189 established the first global standards for domestic workers more than a decade ago to protect the 75.6 million domestic workers around the world, most of whom are women, many of whom are migrants and children. But there is still much work to be done, say unions, including recognition of the care work performed by domestic workers as one of the cornerstones of the construction of fair, inclusive and resilient societies based on gender equity and decent work.
“To the workers: keep fighting, keep advocating for the recognition of our rights as domestic workers,’ said Carmen Britez, president of the IDWF, the first and only global union federation founded and led by women of color from the Global South. Credit: Solidarity Center / Alexis de Simone
Carmen Britez, president of the IDWF, the first and only global union federation founded and led by women of color from the Global South, issued a message to the workers, governments and employers at the ILC: “To the workers: keep fighting, keep advocating for the recognition of our rights as domestic workers. To the governments: you have responsibilities to uphold to workers and to our societies, to domestic workers, because we have been fighting for our labor rights over many years. And to the employers I say, at a minimum, have a little bit of heart, think about where you come from. Who is taking care of your children? Who is taking care of your grandparents? And where do you come from? From a woman! So take note of this, be sensitized to it, open your hearts and look at us as we are: workers!”
Solidarity Center Americas Regional Program Deputy Director Alexis De Simone says, “Marginalization of poor women workers–especially women of color and migrant workers–is not an accident. It is a deliberately built power structure. And because it was deliberately built by people, it can be deliberately dismantled by people.”
The ILO estimates that by 2030, almost 2 billion children under the age of 15 and 200 million older persons will need care, representing a combined increase over less than a decade of 200 million people who need care. At least 756 million people globally—75 percent of whom are women—are paid domestic care workers who provide direct and indirect care services in a private household. Even considering only those employed directly by households, domestic workers account for 25 percent of all care workers, making up 89 percent of paid home health care workers and 94 percent of paid child care workers.
Jun 7, 2024
Workers employed by the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila are demanding a clear explanation for the surprise termination at the end of this month of more than 1,000 employees. Almost half of those losing their livelihoods are full-time, permanent employees, said the Center of the United and Progressive Workers (SENTRO) during a June 3 press conference and solidarity rally with global union International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF).
Representing two Sofitel union chapters, SENTRO with IUF is calling for transparency from Philippine Plaza Holdings, Inc., which owns the hotel, regarding the hotel’s abrupt June 30 closure announcement, allegedly for structural renovations, an explanation for surprise termination and management’s plans for the hotel.
Sofitel this year is reporting its best business performance in almost half a century.
“We gave our whole life to Sofitel, then they will suddenly terminate us. A lot of us are deep in problems right now,” said Philippine Plaza Supervisory Chapter President Arnold Bautista on behalf of the Sofitel workers whom he represents during the press conference.
Bautista recounted how management consistently informed staff of upcoming renovations only to abruptly announce a complete closure on May 7 and distribute surprise termination notices to employees the following day.
“If hotel operations can proceed while the renovations are ongoing, then a closure is not necessary. If the safety concerns are serious enough to warrant a closure, then why is Sofitel still accepting guests and deploying workers in the hotel? Has it been knowingly putting both guests and workers at risk?” asked IUF and SENTRO in an online statement.
Sofitel’s workers are urging transparency regarding the owners’ plans. “We’re willing to wait if Sofitel will be renovated and reopened. What the union and the workers want is that we won’t be terminated. If they have other plans, [they should] include the employees who have contributed to their business,” said Philippine Plaza Chapter President Nestor Cabada during the press conference on behalf of the Sofitel workers whom he represents.
“As long as one of us is still standing, we will fight,” he added.
The Philippines is ranked as one of the 10 worst countries for working people. Unions there face attempts to bust their organization, arrests and violence. Four union activists were killed for their work in 2023 and, last year, seven delegates representing the Philippines labor movement were awarded AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in recognition of the Philippines labor movement’s resilience, persistence and courage.
Watch video here.
Jun 5, 2024
Through expanded regional and global partnerships, the Organization of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA) is growing its campaign for increased budgetary allocation to health care in the region, said OTUWA Executive Secretary John Odah from Abuja, in a solidarity message to the opening session of the 24th Plenary of the West African Health Sector Unions Network (WAHSUN).
Now in its fourth year, OTUWA’s “Health Care Is a Human Right” advocacy campaign is allying with global union federation Public Services International (PSI), civil society organizations across the region and WAHSUN to better advocate for equal and fair health care access for all who live within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Nearly 83 percent of Africa’s workers are trapped in poorly paid and uncertain informal-sector jobs and lack access to state-provided health care or health insurance—an unfair financial burden on the continent’s most vulnerable individuals. And yet West Africa’s governments are not implementing the 15 percent minimum annual budgetary health allocation to which African heads of state agreed in the landmark 2001 Abuja Declaration. No country in the region achieves this percentage currently.
OTUWA’s campaign, launched in 2020 by national labor federations from five countries, has expanded its reach to health sector unions and national labor centers in eight countries—including the Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo—as well as to civil society organizations such as the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with the World Health Organization defines the right to health as “a fundamental part of our human rights and of our understanding of a life in dignity.” The Solidarity Center supports OTUWA in this campaign and on other worker rights initiatives.
“Together we must get public health services out of their chronic state of neglect and underfunding,” Odah told the Solidarity Center, adding that OTUWA’s campaign is adding good governance to its health care demands.
Thus far, the campaign has gathered and released important regional health care worker data and initiated advocacy meetings with national, regional and continent-wide African Union legislators and policymakers, including the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The campaign most recently saw success in Nigeria earlier this year, where the federal government announced a disbursement of almost $70 million to bolster the country’s health infrastructure.
“Only a transparent, democratic system can secure, fairly allocate and responsibly spend increased health care funds,” said Odah.
OTUWA represents national trade union centers in the 15 West African countries comprising ECOWAS. PSI encompasses more than 700 trade unions that represent 30 million workers in 154 countries.
Watch a video about the campaign.
May 31, 2024
Gender-based violence and Harassment (GBVH) is a pervasive issue in Nigeria, affecting individuals across various sectors and walks of life. It encompasses a range of harmful behaviors directed at individuals based on their gender, including physical violence, sexual harassment, psychological abuse, and economic exploitation. Legal frameworks and policies aimed at addressing GBVH remain weak, and cultural beliefs still reinforce the culture of silence and stigma.
Efforts to combat GBVH in Nigeria have gained momentum in recent years, with increased advocacy, awareness campaigns, and support services for survivors. Initiatives like “Mista Silas: A Tale of Unheard Voices” play a crucial role in this fight by using art to amplify the voices of those affected and raise awareness of the issue and its impacts.
Scenes from the play “Mista Silas: A Tale of Unheard Voices ” from the performance. Credit: Maigemu Studios/Solidarity Center
“Mista Silas” is a compelling stage play that explores the profound and often overlooked impact of GBVH in the workplace. It shines a spotlight on the prevalence and effects of discrimination and GBVH, brings to life the stories of those who have faced such challenges and gives voice to their struggles and resilience.
The event commenced with a panel discussion with union leaders from Nigeria’s two labor centers, the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), with Solidarity Center Country Coordinator Chris Adebayo. The panel session titled, “The Impact of Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the Workplace” provided a platform for deeper exploration of the theme presented in the play.
“We have a lot of laws in place in Nigeria, but implementation is close to zero,” said NTUC Women’s Commission President Hafsat Shuaib. “But right now, we have [ILO Convention]190, which is really at the forefront for everybody. Together, we can put it into action. Eliminating gender-based violence and harassment is everybody’s business, and so we must all come together and fight against it. All hands must be on deck.”
From left: Chris Adebayo, Country Coordinator, Solidarity Center; Comrade Hafsat Shaibu, NTUC Women’s Commission President.
“Gender-based violence and harassment is criminal. It is a crime against the individual, it is a crime against humanity, and it is a crime against God. We are valued as human beings, as individuals. We work to earn a living, and earning a living does not include [access to] our bodies,” said Rita Goyit, head of the Women and Youth Empowerment Department for the NLC.
Left to right: Comrade Rita Goyit, head of the Women and Youth Empowerment Department for the NLC; Ms. Toyin Falaiye, global labor lawyers’ network ILAW.
After the panel session, the play set the stage for a narrative exploring the toxic nature of abuse of power that fuels GBVH in the world of work by introducing Mista Silas, a perpetrator of GBVH, in his office. With an air of entitlement, he disregards women’s autonomy, seeing them merely as objects for male pleasure.
As the story unfolds, it highlights the insidious nature of GBVH and the attitudes that perpetuates it. Mista Silas’s words and actions exact an emotional and psychological toll on his victims, confronting the audience with the harsh realities many women face in the workplace.
The women experience harrowing harassment and retaliation for refusing Mista Silas’s advances, portraying survivors’ trauma and resistance. Their synchronized movements and harmonized voices evoke the solidarity and strength found in shared experiences and illustrate the widespread impact of GBVH and the courage required to stand against it.
By understanding the experiences of those affected by GBVH in the workplace, we can raise awareness and cultivate empathy and a more profound commitment to fostering safe and respectful workplaces.
The play is a call to action. It underscores the importance of implementing effective policies and support systems to protect and empower all workers. Workplaces must collectively strive to create environments where everyone feels valued, respected and safe.
The audience responded to the performance with a standing ovation. Some wiped away tears, while others expressed gratitude and requested additional information from the Solidarity Center. Audible murmurs and gasps of shock and empathy were heard throughout the performance, especially during scenes depicting abusive experiences. The play’s power to elicit such emotional reactions highlights the effectiveness of storytelling and the personalization of the issue of gender-based violence and harassment.
From left: Sophie Hart, MEL, USDOL, and Marie Ledan, Grant Officer’s Representative, USDOL, giving special remarks.
In their closing remarks, Sophie Hart and Marie Ledan, representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, reiterated the importance of addressing gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work and thanked the Solidarity Center for using the arts and storytelling to raise awareness of the issue.
Watch highlights.
