Solidarity Center - Category: Freedom to Form Unions

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.

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Publications

More Attacks on Rights of Ukrainian Workers

In a significant assault on worker rights in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky last week signed into law legislation that deprives around 73 percent of workers of their right to union protection and collective bargaining. “For more than 15 months, the Federation...

Podcast: In Midst of War, Ukrainian Parliament Attacks Worker Rights

Even as war rages in Ukraine, with daily bombings, food and medicine shortages and tens of thousands of displaced people crowded in cramped public spaces, the Ukrainian Parliament recently passed a series of laws that attack workers’ basic rights on the job and...

Experts Share Strategies for Stopping Wage Theft of Migrant Workers

A significant number of migrant workers worldwide are not paid for work performed, and legal remedies to recover them are few. But new policies have proven effective in ensuring migrant workers are treated fairly, a global panel of experts said yesterday. “Paying...

Myanmar Union Activists Assaulted, Detained by Military

Apr 26, 2022

Two women unionist activists in Myanmar were assaulted and arrested late last week after the taxi they were traveling in was rammed by a military vehicle in eastern Yangon. According to eyewitnesses at the scene, six soldiers exited a military vehicle after ramming...

Podcast: Mexican Auto Workers Win Landmark Victory

Mar 3, 2022

Thousands of workers in Mexico recently formed an independent union at a GM auto plant in Silao, in central Mexico, voting out a corporate-supported union that did not operate in their interest. On the latest episode of The Solidarity Center Podcast, Maria Alejandra...

Americas Human Rights Court Rules Workers Have Right to Strike

Jan 28, 2022

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights this week issued an historic ruling that affirmed a worker’s right to strike. The case arises out of a collective dispute in 1996 when efforts by the Union of Workers of the Judicial Body to negotiate a new collective agreement...

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2020 Annual Report

Feb 3, 2021 | Publications, What's New

Download here.

What Difference Does a Union Make? Banana Plantations in the North and South of Guatemala

Jan 27, 2021 | Americas, Guatemala, What's New

Guatemalan banana workers without a union work longer hours and earn less than half than of those who are unionized, and report more cases of verbal and physical abuse. Download in English. Download in Spanish.

Made for this Moment: How ILO Convention 190 Addresses Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the World of Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Dec 10, 2020 | Equality & Inclusion, Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Work, Publications

This report highlights how C190, the first global treaty that recognizes the fundamental right to work free from gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), addresses GBVH in the world of work and identifies concrete steps to address it. Read the full report here in...

REPORT: CLIMATE CHANGE IN BANGLADESH DRIVES WORKER VULNERABILITY, POVERTY

Nov 20, 2020 | Bangladesh

This report, The Intersection of Climate Change, Migration and Changing Economy, explores the links among climate change, economic activities and migration in the coastal areas of Khulna and Jashore, Bangladesh, demonstrating its impact on the availability of decent...