Apr 25, 2024
The global labor movement lost a friend and advocate, and the Solidarity Center a dear colleague with the passing of Laurence “Laurie” Clements on April 19 after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. Laurie is survived by his wife, Inja, a son, two daughters and two step-daughters.
Before Laurie’s impactful tenure at the Solidarity Center, he was a respected figure in the academic and union spheres. Starting his career at the University of Iowa Labor Center in 1984, he rose to director in 1994. Simultaneously, he served as president of the American Federation of Teachers local union and secretary-treasurer of the Iowa State Federation of Teachers. He further honed his expertise and leadership by facilitating training programs, seminars and workshops in several Balkan countries from 1996 to 2000.
Laurie joined the Solidarity Center in 2001 as country program director in Serbia. His dedication and passion for our mission took him to the Middle East and North Africa region in 2005, where he ran programs in Iraq, Kuwait and Lebanon. His leadership and invaluable contributions to our work, which we remember with deep gratitude, are a testament to his unwavering commitment.
Those fortunate enough to have attended Laurie’s training programs were witness to his unique ability to connect with participants. Our union partners, in particular, who engaged in his inspiring and thought-provoking sessions, left with a renewed sense of commitment to building union strength and solidarity.
Laurie’s fervor for organizing to advance worker rights was not just a professional pursuit but a deeply personal one. It was ignited at a young age when he witnessed the plight of workers in his neighborhood, who often suffered from work-related injuries and deaths at the docks and shipyards in his hometown of Cardiff, Wales. This early experience instilled in him a profound commitment to occupational safety and health protections.
In his recently published autobiography, “A Poem on Life,” he wrote about his childhood growing up in a government-owned “council house” with his family of five, witnessing the solidarity of the working people in his neighborhood and the power of unions to improve their lives.
“These were families who had a strong understanding of collective action,” he wrote, “and they understood the bonds of solidarity that were expressed in the industrial action of the trade union movement. The improvements in their lives had come primarily from unionization.”
Laurie Clements was a great trade unionist and a wonderful person. It was a privilege to work alongside him and call him a colleague, friend, and brother.
Mar 1, 2024
Yesterday, Dr. Davji Bhimji Attellah, the General Secretary of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU), was reportedly attacked by police while leading a lawful demonstration in protest of the delayed posting of over 1,000 medical interns critical to addressing the nationwide shortage of healthcare providers. Additional protesters were seriously injured when the police fired teargas canisters at the assembled protesters, causing a stampede.
Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau offered this statement:
“The Solidarity Center stands with our partners in the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union in strongly condemning excessive and unnecessary force by police on KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Attellah. We must stand firm in our defense of the rights of all workers to peacefully assemble, express their concerns, and engage in protest without fear of this kind of violence and retaliation.
This effort to intimidate and retaliate against workers and their elected leaders must be called out for what it is: a violation of fundamental human rights that are guaranteed by international law and by the Kenyan constitution. Our thoughts are with Dr. Attellah, the other injured protesters and the KMPDU and as we call for those responsible for this attack to be held accountable and brought to justice for their actions.”
Feb 2, 2024
The Philippines is ranked as one of the 10 worst countries for working people. Unions there face attempts to bust their organization, arrests and violence–including murder. And last year, four union activists were killed for their work. Still, the labor movement is rising to a multitude of challenges, addressing issues of importance to their members and advancing the cause of worker rights in general.
For example, the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW, above) is addressing unsafe construction practices that put workers at risk including lack of days off and risks of slipping, falling and being hit by heavy falling objects.
Union members with RIDERS-SENTRO say insurance is fundamental to their ability to earn a living. Yet, while the Philippines has government-mandated social and health insurance benefits that employers must contribute to, motorbike delivery workers are categorized as independent contractors, not employees. Riders say they cannot afford those benefits on their own, and if they do not work, they do not earn a living. RIDERS-SENTRO launched a campaign for comprehensive insurance, as well as fair rates and other demands.
Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau rides with a delivery worker in Pampanga.
Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and their affiliate unions, D’Luxe Bags Union (garments); Metroworks Union (telecommunications), Associated Philippines Seafarers Union, and Juan Wing Association of the Philippines (flight attendants) recently met with the Solidarity Center to discuss issues they face, including union busting, forced leave and non-payment of overtime.
For their courage and persistence in the face of escalating threats to their own lives, seven delegates representing the Philippine labor movement receive the 2023 AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., including (L to R) PSLINK President Annie Enriquez Geron, ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio, BIEN President Mylene Cabalona, FFW President Sonny Matula, KMU Chairman Elmer Labog, SENTRO Secretary General Josua Mata, ALU-TUCP National President Michael “Mike” Democrito C. Mendoza. Photo: AFL-CIO
In December, seven delegates representing the Philippines labor movement received the 2023 AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in recognition of “the Philippines labor movement’s resilience, persistence and courage,” as AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said at the event. The same month, the Philippines became the first Asian country to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 190 (C190) to eliminate violence and harassment at work.
On a recent trip to the Philippines, Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau met with unions and workers to hear firsthand about their advances and challenges. She also met with Senator Risa Hontiveros, a major labor ally and supporter of the labor movement’s successful campaign to convince the government to ratify International Labor Organization Convention 190 on violence and harassment.
In a recent discussion with the Solidarity Center in Batangas, workers at a factory where automotive wiring harnesses are made said they face grueling overtime. “We work long hours with constant overtime, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” a worker said, noting they can work six hours standing on the assembly line with no rest, often for seven days a week.
Dec 15, 2023
Belarus has become “a conveyor belt of torture against political prisoners,” where worker and human rights activists face daily raids, arrests and lengthy prison terms for fighting for democracy and the right to freedom of association, said the wife of a leading dissident last week.
Natallia Pinchuk, whose husband is Nobel laureate and human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, visited the Solidarity Center and spoke to staff about her husband’s imprisonment and the Belarus government’s repression of trade union activists.
Known for his leadership of the Viasna Human Rights Center–which he founded in 1996 to support political prisoners and their families–Bialiatski is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence at a brutal penal colony in Horki for receiving international financial support for the organization. He was among a dozen activists the Belarus regime arrested in July 2021 during raids of activists’ homes and the offices of civil society organizations.
“Ales represents the tragic situation of political prisoners in Belarus,” Pinchuk said. She added that the government imprisons 10 to 15 people every day, a considerable number for such a small country, and still conducts raids against and imprisons union activists.
Pinchuck said she has been unable to get information on Bialiatski’s condition since he was placed in solitary confinement in October. He is ill, requiring daily medication that Pinchuk cannot provide to him because political prisoners are prohibited from receiving outside materials. Compounding the situation, political prisoners face violence perpetrated by prison officials.
“Political prisoners are beaten in showers. Other prisoners beat them regularly, and prison officials are instigating those beatings,” she said.
Belarus’ president, Alexander Lukashenko, has held power since 1994. In 1996, he changed the constitution to consolidate power in the office of the president, which sent thousands of Belarusians into the streets in protests that were violently suppressed. He later claimed a landslide victory in August 2020, sparking widespread claims of fraud and massive protests and strikes. Lukashenko’s regime responded to the 2020 protests with ruthless repression, leading to deaths, injuries and over 10,000 arrests.
The International Trade Union Confederation has ranked Belarus among the 10 worst countries in the world for workers in its 2023 Global Rights Index, citing the forced dissolution of unions and targeted arrests and imprisonment of trade unionists. More than 30 trade union activists are imprisoned in Belarus because they fought for workers’ rights. Others, in danger and unable to work, live in exile abroad.
Nov 16, 2023
In response to the unveiling of the Biden administration’s Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights and High Labor Standards Globally, Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau issued the following statement:
“The Biden administration’s announcement today represents the first time the U.S. government has made a holistic commitment to global worker rights. If this new global labor strategy is fully resourced and implemented, the United States has a historic opportunity to play a critical role in reversing corporate- and government-supported exploitation of millions of working people and bolster democratic freedoms around the world.
“It is impossible to overstate the need for this long-awaited commitment to worker rights. In many countries where the United States has diplomatic, trade and economic development influence, workers’ ability to exercise everyday democracy—through the rights to form and join unions, strike and bargain together for fair wages and decent working conditions—is consistently repressed, often violently and sometimes fatally. In just the past two months, police allegedly shot and killed three garment workers and injured many more during protests for a higher minimum wage in Bangladesh; entered a labor union leader’s home in the Philippines, shooting him dead; and assaulted workers in Nigeria protesting over lost wages, seriously injuring the union’s leader. This new strategy to advance global labor rights is a roadmap for the U.S. government to expand its use of diplomatic and trade leverage and multilateral tools and settings to garner additional countries’ support for upholding worker rights.
“The U.S. government should use its direct influence or its convening power with other nations to address labor rights repression in places like Belarus and Myanmar, where unions fighting for democracy have been outlawed by their governments, their leaders and members beaten, jailed, sent into exile or killed.
“This all-of-government labor rights strategy should also focus on influencing labor laws and increasing employer accountability. Today, U.S. companies too often treat sourcing like a game of Whac-A-Mole, jumping from country to country when strengthened and enforced labor laws drive workers’ pay closer to a living wage. And, most of the 2 billion people who work in the informal economy, including agriculture and domestic workers, street vendors and drivers and delivery workers in the growing platform economy, have no access to health care, sick leave or support when they are injured or lose their jobs.
“The Biden administration’s trade approach in Mexico has the potential to be a game-changer for workers and an example of this new labor strategy’s potential impact. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement includes a rapid response complaint mechanism unions are using to remedy worker rights abuses. Tying worker rights to U.S. market access and investing in independent union organizing has led to an unprecedented growth of democratic unions that represent workers’ interests and are winning wage hikes and safety improvements in factories that supply the U.S. market. Replicating this kind of approach to worker-centered trade policy should be a priority.
“We are hopeful that this commitment to global labor rights will mean workers are represented in conversations about how to sustain good union jobs in communities worldwide that are most impacted by the transition to a clean energy economy. We look forward to workers’ rights and livelihoods becoming front-and-center in conversations about the evolution of technology in the workplace. And, we look forward to expanded investment and prioritization of a worker rights approach to ending gender-based violence and harassment and other forms of exploitation on the job.”
