WHY WE’RE DIFFERENT
We are the largest U.S.-based international worker rights organization partnering directly with workers and their unions, and supporting their struggle for respect, fair wages, better workplaces and a voice in the global economy.
We value the dignity of work and workers. We know how all the work everyone depends on gets done–who picks the food for your table, cleans your home so you can go to the office, makes your clothes, keeps your streets clean. And at our core is every worker’s right to solve issues through collective action and to form unions.
What’s New
![An in-person workshop in Kuwait surveying Gulf region domestic worker associations 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 interferes to drag back any formal economic conditions. Credit: Integrated Community Center (ICC)](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kuwait.-Care-Domestic-worker-survey-of-Gulf-region-domestic-worker-associations-affiliated-with-Solidarity-Center-partner-Integrated-Community-Center-ICC.ICC_.03.2024-400x250.jpg)
Domestic Workers ‘Level Up Their Dignity’: Advancing Rights for Care Workers
![Workers surprised by sudden termination rally outside the Sofitel hotel with worker rights protest signs](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Philippines.SENTRO-Sofitel-hotel-workers-rally-against-surprise-mass-job-loss-400x250.jpg)
‘We Will Fight,’ Say Terminated Philippines Hotel Workers, Demanding Transparency
![In the heart of Kantamanto Market, one of the city's largest markets, head porter Hawa Latif carries goods on her head with a co-worker.](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ghana.Accra-market-porters-informal-economy.Jonathan-TorgovnikGetty-ImagesImages-of-Empowerment.https___www.imagesofempowerment.org_wp-content_uploads_WIEGO_ACCRA_8086_FULLY_RELEASED-scaled--400x250.jpg)
West Africa: Union Health Care Campaign Expands Reach
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The Solidarity Center Podcast
BILLIONS OF US, ONE JUST FUTURE
CONVERSATIONS WITH WORKERS (& OTHER SMART PEOPLE) WORLDWIDE SHAPING THE WORKPLACE FOR THE BETTER
Hosted by Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau
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Making the Gig Economy Work for Workers
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Our work
Programs in
Countries
Reach:
MILLION
Partners with
88 PERCENT OF WHOM ARE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS
![2302-mapwork2023 A map of the global areas that Solidarity Center works in](https://www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2302-mapwork2023.jpg)
Reaching 70 Million+ People Worldwide
Solidarity Center in the News
The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: An Effective Tool for Promoting Workers’ Rights?
The impetus for the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact was the Rana Plaza industrial disaster, which took the lives of roughly 1,200 garment workers. The compact required the fulfillment of several time-bound commitments by the Bangladesh government—labor law reform, protection of the right to freedom of association and ensuring fire and building safety. Jeffrey Vogt argues the compact has not been effective for much of its four years. [READ MORE]
How Garment Workers Used Fashion on the Picket Line
David Welsh, currently country director for the Solidarity Center in Southeast Asia, has worked in both Bangladesh and Cambodia. He says in both countries, “it’s the same brands and the same export markets, primarily the U.S., North America, and the EU,” and “the same 15 to 20 brands monopolize the market and set the conditions worldwide.”
FIVE YEARS ON FROM TAZREEN, WORKERS’ PROGRESS AT RISK
Solidarity Center Director of Asia programs, Timothy Ryan, says that the Bangladesh government and industry’s reaction to the empowerment of garment workers and their unions runs the risk of harming not only Bangladesh garment workers but the very trade deals that make the country’s garment and textile sector its economic engine.