Nov 5, 2019
“There is a human rights crisis around the world—that’s why we are intensifying our work in recognizing the role labor plays in holding government’s accountable and promoting dignity and equality at work,” said Sandra Coliver from the Open Society Foundation, opening the second day of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Conference in Mexico City.
Labor is key to addressing the global crisis in human rights—Sandra Coliver, OSF. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
Coliver moderated a panel plenary with representatives from the American Bar Association, the Business and Human Rights Resource Center (BHRRC), Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) who discussed how their efforts as independent monitors and lawyers provide a key tool for worker rights advocates around the world.
More than 100 worker rights lawyers from around the world are discussing strategies to facilitate innovative litigation, help spread the adoption of pro-worker legislation and defeat anti-worker laws at the first ILAW conference. Participants yesterday discussed identified common challenges, share successes, plan strategic partnerships and more.
Key Allies: Independent Legal & Human Rights Groups
Carlos Lopez says ICJ offers an international lens on human rights abuses. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
In Zimbabwe, where ongoing protests against the nation’s economic meltdown have been met with death threats and a sustained government crackdown on union leaders and other civil society members, the ICJ this year documented 800 human rights violations, murders and hundreds of arrests and detentions, many included trade unionists.
ICJ created an emergency fund to provide protection for human rights violations in Zimbabwe, and relocated to safe places people whose houses were targeted and other assistance, said Carlos Lopez at ICJ.
The organization’s fact-finding mission with South African lawyers and others resulted in magistrate courts, made presentations before authorities and prepared a report—and in doing so, “signaled a strong message to labor lawyers activists that there is an international eye on what’s happening—solidarity,” he said.
BHRRC investigates up to 100 worker right violations a year, says Bobbi Sta. Maria. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
At BHRRC, the organization investigates up to 500 allegations of worker rights and human rights abuses each year and seeks to get companies to respond to the allegations, said Bobbie Sta. Maria.
“We create a public record of allegations against companies, work with unions, using information from the media and push the information out to investors, governments, non-governmental organizations, academics, companies,” and more, she said.
The ABA’s involvement in addressing worker rights and human rights abuses results in “fewer violations and shorter periods of confinement and creates documentation” that the ABA takes to brands to engage local suppliers, said Brittany Benowitz at the ABA.
“Having a bar association as outside observer helps in the larger effort” of achieving worker rights, she said.
ILAW Going Forward
During regional breakouts—Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America—participants built on discussions over the past day and a half to map out recommendations for ILAW and its members to further craft a network that achieves its founding goals: a global hub for worker rights lawyers to facilitate innovative litigation, help spread the adoption of pro-worker legislation and defeat anti-worker laws.
Common themes emerged: ILAW members said the network should go deeper in labor law reform and legislation and policy changes, engage in more public statements and advocacy and include migrant worker rights throughout all its advocacy.
The ILAW network should provide technical assistance and support so members can “share information on the migrant worker recruitment system and migration policies to enable unions and other stakeholders in the destination country to assist migrant workers,” said Sabnam Awal from the People’s Forum on Human Rights in Nepal.
ILAW Conference participants took part in regional breakouts to map next steps. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
Members also frequently urged ILAW to go further in helping them address gender equality issues and network around strategies to move ratification of a new global treaty ending gender-based violence at work (International Labor Organization/ILO Convention 190).
ILAW should explore “how to encourage unions to provide an equal and level playing ground free from discrimination for both men and women,” said Kaizala Tembo, from the Labor Institute of Zambia.
Many of the resources members seek are available at the ILAW website, said ILAW Board Chair Jeff Vogt, who reviewed its features in an afternoon plenary in which members shared their priorities for ILAW. The ILAW website is available in seven languages and includes a library of resources, such as legal cases submitted by members for inclusion. ILAW members may join any of the dozens of discussion groups which are organized thematically, such as migrant worker discussion group and regionally.
Horacio Meguira led a discussion on worker rights and the ILO. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
Vogt, Solidarity Center Rule of Law director, also noted that an urgent action feature will shortly be live that will enable members to react quickly with an online petition.
In the final conference plenary, Horacio Meguira from the Argentina Independent Workers union, shared a history of the ILO and engaged participants in a discussion of how worker rights lawyers can address the recent shift in the organization—comprised of representatives of workers, employers and governments—toward favoring corporate and state policies that endanger worker rights.
Nov 4, 2019
The ability of workers to freely form unions is such a fundamental human right that the United Nations (UN) holds countries accountable for violating those rights, according to Lance Compa, senior lecturer in labor law at Cornell University.
“Even countries that have not ratified ILO 87”—the International Labor Organization standard covering freedom of association—“are subject to it because it’s a basic right under the UN charter,” he said.
Lance Compa, Dayhe Park, Benson Upah and Jeff Vogt open the afternoon session on freedom of association. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
Compa opened the afternoon panel plenary on freedom of association at the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) conference in Mexico City, where worker rights lawyers are discussing strategies to facilitate innovative litigation, help spread the adoption of pro-worker legislation and defeat anti-worker laws. The two-day conference in Mexico City brings together more than 100 worker rights lawyers from around the world.
Compa pointed out that the concept of freedom of association is much broader than the ability to form unions, and cited examples of workers in the United States who are exercising those rights through worker associations comprised primarily of migrant workers, walkouts at nonunionized corporations like Google, and the transnational fast food worker fight for better wages.
Benson Upah at the Nigeria Labor Congress and Dayhe Park from the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions joined Compa in leading a wide-ranging discussion with participants who shared concerns about the lack of judicial knowledge of ILO standards on labor rights and the need to educate workers about their rights.
“Unions need to embark on internal governance structural reforms, such as transparency,” Upah said. He also suggested the ILO should assist labor rights advocates in bringing companies to justice for committing offenses in one country and then moving operations to another so they will not face legal action.”
Upah also stressed another key tool to achieve worker justice: “the importance of mass action.”
Building on Success
Maureen Kalume chadi from KUDHEIHA shares discussions on migrant worker rights. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
“Capital can move freely, but where does it move?” Where it can pay workers the least, said Maureen Kalume chadi from the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA), sharing insights from an earlier roundtable discussion on achieving justice for migrant workers. The roundtable was among six that participants reported on during another afternoon plenary, where they also suggested strategic next steps for ILAW to take in the coming year.
Discussing how migrant workers are excluded from national labor laws and so denied access to justice, and how unscrupulous labor recruitment agencies take advantage of migrant workers, the group also shared success stories from India and Thailand. In Thailand, for instance, worker rights attorneys assisted migrant farm workers from Myanmar in obtaining justice after they were imprisoned for reporting abuses.
Participants in the employment discrimination roundtable shared their discussions on the intersectional concept of discrimination and how religion, ethnicity and other factors are connected with gender discrimination, points that show “the need to bolster our expertise on it, and recognize it from the outset,” said Solidarity Center Senior Gender Specialist Robin Runge.
“Isolating forms of discrimination is not effective,” she said.
The roundtable on discrimination also discussed the extent to which gender inequality is a widespread global issue, and how equal pay is not limited to unequal paychecks between women and men—for example, women may be blocked from securing higher paying jobs.
With the June passage of ILO 190 on ending violence in the workplace and the need for governments to ratify the standard, the group recommended an ILAW forum to enable members to share strategies on its implementation in their countries.
Participants in the “fissured employment relationship” roundtable shared their conversations on the need for a broad definition of worker and employer to address the growing number of “platform” companies like Uber claiming they are not employers and asking for exemptions from labor laws that protect workers.
Participants also reported on their roundtable discussions on the global supply chain, occupational safety and health and the informal economy.
Emphasis on Democracy
Arturo Alcade discussed the strategies that led to Mexico’s new labor law reform. Credit: Solidarity Center/Tula Connell
Building on earlier discussions in the conference on Mexico’s recent labor law reforms, Arturo Alcade, a prominent labor lawyer in Mexico, discussed during a lunchtime plenary how worker rights advocates for years championed the reforms now coming to fruition.
By filing complaints with the ILO on labor law violations that put worker rights abuses under international scrutiny and by working across borders with unions to hold corporations like NIKE accountable for worker rights violations, Alcalde says labor law reform “is now becoming institutionalized” in Mexico.
Follow Solidarity Center on Twitter and Facebook for updates throughout the conference.
Oct 30, 2019
More than 100 worker rights lawyers from around the world will identify common challenges, share successes and plan strategic partnerships next week in Mexico City at the first International Lawyer Action Network (ILAW) conference.
“The ILAW Network’s inaugural conference in Mexico City aims to bring together lawyers from around the world to construct bottom-up strategies to promote and defend the rights of workers, associations and unions,” says Jeff Vogt, Solidarity Center Rule of Law director and ILAW board chair. “With workers facing constant attacks worldwide, it is more critical than ever that their advocates provide the best support possible.”
The Solidarity Center launched ILAW in December 2018 as a global hub for worker rights lawyers to facilitate innovative litigation, help spread the adoption of pro-worker legislation and defeat anti-worker laws. Since then, more than 350 hundred individuals and organizations from more than 50 countries have joined, most recently from the Nigerian Labor Congress.
“ILAW is needed now more than ever to effectively represent workers across borders,” says Ruwan Subasinghe, International Transport Workers’ Federation legal adviser and founding member of the ILAW Advisory Board, which includes 20 lawyers from 20 countries with expertise on a broad range of legal matters.
“This conference gives progressive worker rights lawyers a much-needed opportunity to learn from each other, build networks and strengthen cooperation.”
Globalizing Strategies to Protect Worker Rights
Participants from dozens of countries at the November 4–5 conference will discuss corporate accountability in supply chains, migrant and informal worker rights, the employment relationship, employment discrimination in all its forms, and workers’ right to exercise freedom of association.
In sharing success stories, legal advocates, who have been instrumental in ensuring workers achieve justice, seek to take their victories globally.
In 2018, for instance, worker rights lawyers won a key victory in Thailand, where a court dismissed criminal defamation charges against 14 migrant workers from Myanmar who faced jail time after reporting abusive working conditions on a poultry farm. The workers left the farm in 2016 and filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand describing forced overtime, unlawful salary deductions, passport confiscation and restrictions on movement.
“I see the ILAW network as a basis of strategic development of lawyers practicing labor law worldwide, as a source of sharing best practices and the opportunity to bring each other’s knowledge home to our countries to determine its best implementation,” says Raisa Liparteliani, vice president of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC) and founding ILAW Board member.
The conference will enable participants “to share best practices and challenges of lawyers from different countries and build the common strategy for worker rights protection, covering not only litigation but advocacy campaigns, law making process, awareness raising and more,” she says.
Follow Solidarity Center on Twitter and Facebook for updates throughout the conference.
Sep 5, 2019
The Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) hosted the founding of the Nigeria chapter of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW) this week. The event was part of the nationwide union’s efforts to strengthen global ties to advance worker rights. More than 20 legal practitioners and scholars attended the event and are among ILAW’s newest members.
The Nigerian Labor Congress hosted the founding of the Nigeria chapter of ILAW this week. Credit: Moses Umaru, NLC
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja to announce the partnership, NLC President Ayuba Wabba said ILAW will provide an opportunity for lawyers in the country to connect directly with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and with labor lawyers around the world. “The whole essence of working in synergy is to continue to provide for the interest of workers, and defend human rights,” he said.
ILAW, a project of the Solidarity Center, now includes nearly 300 members from more than 50 countries. Launched last November, ILAW seeks to bring together legal practitioners and scholars to best represent the rights and interests of workers and their organizations and effectively advocate for workers in a global working environment. The ILAW Network is supported by an advisory board, comprised of 20 lawyers from 20 countries, with expertise on a broad range of legal matters.
In Nigeria, where jobs increasingly are contracted out and workers are forced into low-paying, insecure informal economy work, Wabba sees ILAW as another tool for strengthening the labor movement by coordinating efforts to counter the anti-worker moves by employers.
The challenges workers face in Nigeria are similar to those around the world—making collaboration of lawyers in multiple legal jurisdictions essential, says Jeff Vogt, Solidarity Center rule of law director and ILAW board chair.
“ILAW will always stand for, and protect the rights of workers and trade unions across the globe and in Nigeria,” says Vogt.
More than 20 legal practitioners and scholars took part in launching the country’s ILAW chapter. Credit: Moses Umaru, NLC
The Federal Capital Territory chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association also welcomed the partnership. “As an association of lawyers in Nigeria, we want to be part of this network,” said attorney Emmanuel Adedeyi.
In short, said Wabba, the partnership with ILAW means that “when you are in the courtroom as lawyers, we will also be on the street to compliment what you are doing in the courtroom—and that is the whole essence of us working together.”
ILAW membership includes access to legal resources and worker rights lawyers around the world. Find out more.
