Dec. 10, 2005—As part of International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, the union movement mobilized to demand workers are guaranteed a fundamental human right: The freedom to have a union voice on the job. At rallies, town hall meetings, candlelight vigils and teach-ins across the nation, union members and their allies highlighted the obstacles workers face when seeking to join a union at work and showcase strategies for the overcoming those obstacles.
Workers taking part in Dec. 10 actions in the United States were joined by workers around the world—from countries as diverse as Bosnia, Cambodia and Bahrain—who held events to support human rights, including workers' freedom to form unions. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney joined hundreds of other global union leaders in Hong Kong Dec. 10 for a rally to coincide with the meeting of the World Trade Organization.
International Human Rights Day commemorates the anniversary of the ratification of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which established the right of people in every nation to come together into unions and bargain contracts.
The U.S. government had recognized those rights 13 years earlier with the National Labor Relations Act. But today, many workers say those rights exist only on paper. Workers may have the legal right to form unions to negotiate for better benefits, pay and safety standards—but employers across the country routinely block their efforts with threats, coercion and intimidation.
To strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose a union, the union movement worked with a bipartisan coalition in creating the historic Employee Free Choice Act. Introduced into Congress in April 2005, the act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696) would require employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union.
In 2003, nearly 38,000 workers, joined by nearly 140 allied groups, took part in 97 Dec. 10 actions in 72 cities. This year, U.S. unions and their members were joined by brothers and sisters throughout the international trade union movement, as workers on six continents took action to support the freedom to form unions.
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