Freedom to Form Unions
Honduras, garment workers, worker rights, Solidarity Center

More than 40,000 garment workers in Honduras are now covered by collective bargaining agreements following long-time Solidarity Center support for organizing. Credit: Solidarity Center/Molly McCoy

Unions promote a higher level of economic equality in societies and are a fundamental element of a free and democratic society. Freedom of association—workers’ right to form and join unions and pursue a voice on the job and in their communities—is the foundation for worker rights. The Solidarity Center trains union organizers and provides support for unions around the world. We support organizing campaigns, educate workers about their legal right to form a union and promote strong labor laws. The Solidarity Center works directly on the ground with workers to form unions and win collective bargaining agreements. For instance, in Cambodia, 8,000 hotel and casino workers at Nagaworld casino won large wage increases and reinstatement of their dismissed union president following Solidarity Center union organizing support and legal assistance. And in Honduras, long-time Solidarity Center support for organizing has resulted in more than 40,000 garment workers, mostly women, now covered by collective bargaining agreements. Read the “Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association” report presented in 2016 to the United Nations.

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...

2,000 Bangladesh Garment Workers Cheer Big Wage Win

More than 2,000 garment workers in Bangladesh are celebrating a new collective bargaining agreement that includes a 10 percent pay increase—double the amount required by law—and creation of a committee to prevent violence and harassment on the job. The pact,...

Myanmar Garment Workers Stand Strong, Win New Pact

Workers at the Myan Mode garment factory in Myanmar (Burma) are celebrating the  return to the job of many recently fired union members. Following a two-month fight against the factory’s attempt to use COVID-19 to destroy their union, they won an agreement May 30 that...
Report: Death Threats Among Anti-Union Violence in Guatemala

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...

2,000 Bangladesh Garment Workers Cheer Big Wage Win

2,000 Bangladesh Garment Workers Cheer Big Wage Win

More than 2,000 garment workers in Bangladesh are celebrating a new collective bargaining agreement that includes a 10 percent pay increase—double the amount required by law—and creation of a committee to prevent violence and harassment on the job. The pact,...

Myanmar Garment Workers Stand Strong, Win New Pact

Myanmar Garment Workers Stand Strong, Win New Pact

Workers at the Myan Mode garment factory in Myanmar (Burma) are celebrating the  return to the job of many recently fired union members. Following a two-month fight against the factory’s attempt to use COVID-19 to destroy their union, they won an agreement May 30 that...

The Struggle for Worker Rights in Egypt (2010)

The Struggle for Worker Rights in Egypt (2010)

The situation for workers in Egypt in 2010 sadly bears all too much similarity to that conflict between Egyptian workers and their government so many centuries ago. Today’s Egyptian government maintains an iron grip on power, harshly punishes dissent and plays a...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest