Workers Rights are Human Rights
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Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist, but the Colombian Government denies this. The European Union has been negotiating a trade deal with Colombia for several months, in a move which will be seen...
In the bad old days of apartheid South Africa, protestors would often "commit suicide" or suffer "accidental death" in police custody. Steve Biko was probably the most famous victim. Now it seems those days are back, just across the...
Farzad Kamangar was, like me, a trade unionist. He was also a teacher and a political activist. And on Sunday, the Iranian Government executed him for those so-called 'crimes' (although they called it 'enmity against God'). He was a 35...
Imagine that no one in your workplace has been paid overtime since 2007, and that all new jobs coming up are being filled by your boss’s family. You present a collective complaint to management. You show up at work the next day to...
Teacher trade unionists are being murdered in Colombia – the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist – every fortnight this year. Despite Colombian Government claims that the situation is improving, the latest murder...
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has written to the Turkish Ambassador calling for an urgent appeal hearing for Seher Tümer, a member of the executive board of KESK's Health and Social Service Workers Union (SES) in Ankara. Seher...
The Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has just finished its Spring meeting with a call to further action on forced labour in Burma, and for the release of those jailed for drawing attention to forced labour...
The first ever ILO Commission of Inquiry resulting from complaints by both worker and employer organisations has found evidence of systematic – and indeed systemic – violations of trade union rights in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. The...
UPDATE on the blog below. Sometimes good things happen. Just a day after he was sentenced, Mr Olyaiefard has been released. The revolutionary court has accepted that Olyaiefard had not been given a chance to appeal his original...
South African President Jacob Zuma flew into London tonight (Tuesday) with media reports suggesting that he would press Gordon Brown to relax EU sanctions on the thugs in ZANU-PF who ran, and continue to run parts of, Zimbabwe. It is...
The Iraqi Government and Iraqi political parties are interfering in the free and independent Iraqi Teachers Union (ITU). Ibrahim al-Battat , the leader of the ITU in Basra, has been arrested and an arrest warrant for Jasim Hussein...
This week, Iran is before the UN human rights review, and trade union rights are one of the abuses that will be investigated. Iranian trade unionists have released the following statement. Owen Tudor February 10, 2010 To: Human Rights...
Whilst trade unionists across Central America in countries like Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala continue to pay the ultimate price for their struggles for basic rights and social justice in Costa Rica there are also serious issues...
Tragically this month has seen the killing of a fourth trade union leader in Guatemala in three months. Following the murders of Victor Galvez in November and Miguel Chacaj Jax and Pedro Ramirez de la Cruz in December, Evelinda Ramirez...
El Salvador remains a highly dangerous place to be a trade unionist. Following pressure to bring its national laws into line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) core labour standards so that it could benefit from preferential...
This weekend, Iranian-Kurdish political activist and teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar faces the threat of imminent education, and Education International are asking people to join an email protest calling on the Iranian...
Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (MPs and Lords) has published a report today (Wednesday 16 December) which looks at how human rights can be improved at the workplace, home and abroad. The Committee criticises the...
Tragically the little reported violence in Guatemala continues unabated. Following the recent killing of MSICG activist Victor Galvez two more leaders of the labour, indigenous and campesino movement have been killed - Miguel Chacaj...
The number of trade unionists killed in Colombia this year is now just short of 40. Teaching union activists Zorayda Cortes Lopez and Leny Yanube Rengifo Gomeza were killed this month, bringing the total number of teachers killed...
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) represents 175 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates. It is celebrating International Human Rights Day by paying tribute to all human rights...
About this blog
The right to join a trade union and bargain collectively, including taking strike action, are fundamental human rights, recognised as such by Amnesty International, the UN and the International Labour Organisation. Key human rights for trade unionists include not only freedom of association, but freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, equality, freedom from forced labour/slavery and dignity at work. The TUC is a formal partner with Amnesty International UK, and this blog reports on many trade union campaigns around the world for human and trade union rights. It is predominantly written by staff at the TUC European Union and International Relations Department as well as members of the AI UK Trade Union Network and AI UK trade union liaison officer Shane Enright (that's him in the profile image with a placard - he's also often seen with a megaphone!)