When women agricultural workers in Morocco joined to form their first union and negotiate a contract that established gender equality and prohibited sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence on the job, their collective action followed years of Solidarity Center training and support. This GivingTuesday offers a chance to support violence-free workplaces—and all […]

Union women who work at factories, on farms, in restaurants, taxis and offices successfully campaigned for an international treaty to end gender-based violence at work. Authors of a new book, “Stopping Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Work: The Campaign for an ILO Convention,” share these womens’ stories and describe the powerful movement they created with […]

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was sold with the promise to “promote and attain sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development, equality and structural transformation.” However, many governments’ failure to engage civil society partners, including the labor movement, as they begin to develop national strategies and plans for implementation of the agreement means that the rights of working people are not being effectively represented or protected, and their access to decent work is therefore imperiled. “Unions in my country are not fully aware of the AfCFTA,” says Sierra Leone Labor Congress (SLLC) Secretary General Max Conteh. Similarly, trade unions […]

As the world witnesses some of the greatest challenges to democratic governments since the 1930s, unions offer a strong and essential counter to the trend, according to Cornell University Professor Angela Cornell. “Many studies show that organized labor has played critical role in developing and defending democracy. The organized working class was the primary carrier of democracy,” Cornell said today at the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW) Conference opening plenary. Cornell, co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy, along with several book contributors, opened the Conference’s third and final day with a discussion of the handbook, […]

Participants in the afternoon plenary at the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW) Global Conference heard updates on how trade agreements are advancing worker rights and learned strategies for incorporating forced labor bans and protecting workers’ freedom to form unions. With a focus on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Eric Gottwald and Pablo Franco […]

As governments and employers move to address the effects of the climate crisis and toward a sustainable future, workers and their unions must be part of the discussions to ensure the creation of decent jobs and respect for workers’ fundamental rights, panelists said today in the opening plenary of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers […]

Databases of legislation, compilations of laws and successful practices that advance worker rights, trainings, and coordination with allied organizations are some of the suggestions members of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW) recommended the organization pursue. Meeting in breakout groups on the first day of the ILAW Network Global Conference, worker rights lawyers shared their work on, and requested support in, areas involving the global supply chain, informal economy work, employment discrimination, migrant worker rights, workplace safety and health and violence and harassment in the world of work. “There is a need for more cooperation and sharing of […]

Opening the ILAW Network Global Conference 2022, Solidarity Center Rule of Law Director and International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW) Chair Jeffrey Vogt cited the many challenges facing workers—and reviewed the significant achievements ILAW Network members have accomplished to ensure workers achieve their basic rights on the job. “We’re seeing that every effort is being […]

A vibrant labor movement is key to thriving democracies because unions reduce economic inequality, strengthen the social safety net and unite diverse groups, say Cornell University law professor Angela Cornell and Colombia union activist and labor lawyer Mery Laura Perdomo. . Find out More Democracy

Why Organized Labor Is a Democratic Catalyst

The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy

Democracy Under Siege 

The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule

Democracy in Retreat: Freedom in the World, 2019

Colombia

Colombian Workers Risk

The Nobodies Take Office in Colombia: An In-Depth Analysis

Will Colombia’s new president be able to deliver on the myriad reforms he promised voters?

What labor and trade union agenda should the new Colombian government and Congress pursue? Here are some proposals 

Colombia: ITUC demands free and fair presidential elections 

We need a new social contract to rebuild workers’ trust and lives 

Colombia’s leftwing government unveils tax-the-rich plan to tackle poverty

Colombia Election: Gustavo Petro Makes History in Presidential Victory

Haiti garment workers should be paid four times their current salaries just to keep pace with the cost of living, a new Solidarity Center study finds. The High Cost of Low Wages in Haiti: A Living Wage Estimate for Garment Workers in Port-au-Prince, determined that based on the current minimum wage ($781 per month), workers […]