The Solidarity Center is the largest U.S.-based international worker rights organization helping workers attain safe and healthy workplaces, family-supporting wages, dignity on the job, widespread democracy and greater equity at work and in their community. Allied with the AFL-CIO, the Solidarity Center assists workers across the globe as, together, they fight discrimination, exploitation and the systems that entrench poverty—to achieve shared prosperity in the global economy.

The Solidarity Center acts on the fundamental principle that working people can, by exercising their right to freedom of association and forming trade unions and democratic worker rights organizations, collectively improve their jobs and workplaces, call on their governments to uphold laws and protect human rights, and be a force for democracy, social justice and inclusive economic development.

Mission:

Empowering workers to raise their voice for dignity on the job, justice in their communities and greater equality in the global economy.

Vision:

At the Solidarity Center, they believe that all people who work should receive the rewards of their work—decent paychecks and benefits, safe jobs, respect and fair treatment. They believe that economic and social injustice around the world are neither intractable problems nor acceptable byproducts of a global economy where some can win at the expense of many. Rather, they believe working women and men can collectively improve their wages and workplaces, call on their governments to uphold laws and protect human rights, and be a force for democracy, shared prosperity and inclusive economic development.

In Tunisia:

The Solidarity Center in Tunisia works with labor unions to strengthen their capacity to respond to workers’ needs and promote their rights.

The Solidarity Center supports the efforts of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), a 2015 co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for its role in brokering a peaceful path to democracy, in establishing true democracy in the country.

The Solidarity Center also assists the UGTT address the urgent need to engage with and reach out to workers by empowering women and young workers to become more active trade union members, campaign for worker rights and democracy and take part in high-level union leadership.

In Kuwait:

The Solidarity Center supports Kuwaiti unions’ active role in cross-regional collaborations, as well as capacity building programs for Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF) affiliates in the civil service and oil sectors.

Established in 1967, the KTUF was the first union formed in the Gulf region and now is composed of 15 affiliated public-sector unions and six oil sector unions with some 35,000 civil service and oil sector members. It maintains a vigorous presence in deliberations on proposed labor law reform, economic restructuring, trade union rights and democratic freedoms.

In Palestine: 

In Palestine, where trade unions are among the most significant institutions of civil society not directly tied to any political party, the Solidarity Center works with the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) in its advocacy for sustainable job creation and labor law enforcement, and its efforts to improve the lives of working people and create a more equitable society.

Solidarity Center initiatives help the PGFTU build national unions, organize workers into trade unions, train newly elected union officers and advocate for national policies aimed at creating decent jobs.

In Iraq:

The Solidarity Center supports all Iraqi trade unions as they seek to establish their human rights as workers, in law and in practice: the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), the General Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions (GFITU), the Federation of Workers Councils and Union in Iraq (FWCUI), the General Federation of Workers and Unions in Iraq (GFWUI), the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) and the Kurdistan United Workers Union (KUWU).

Supported by the Solidarity Center, the Iraqi labor movement has achieved significant gains, including passage of a 2015 labor law that expands coverage of the labor law to all workers not covered under the country’s civil service law and legalizes the right to strike.

The Solidarity Center currently is working with local civil society organizations to support their efforts to improve working conditions, with a special focus on the five liberated districts of the country (Kirkuk, Salah al Din, Ninawa, Diyala, and Al Anbar).

In Morrocco:

The Solidarity Center works closely with our partners, the Democratic Labor Confederation (CDT) and the Moroccan Labor Union (UMT), to improve the wages and working conditions for precarious workers in the country’s agriculture and services sectors. Together with our union and community allies, the Solidarity Center also holds popular education and awareness trainings to help empower working women, and to support trade unions in representing marginalized workers in the private and public sectors, including workers with disabilities.

By building the capacity of workers and local unions through leadership development and advocacy for the rights of women and young workers in the workplace, these programs successfully translate into real economic and social gains—such as the first-ever collective agreement for farmworkers in the Meknes region that includes stability in employment through job creation and job sustainability. The pact also assists temporary workers in becoming permanent workers, expands bonuses to temporary workers and ensures training, especially for women, so they can access higher paid jobs previously reserved for men.

In Bahrain:

In Bahrain, the Solidarity Center supports trade union efforts to organize and educate a cadre of skilled labor educators and grassroots activists.

The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), one of the most active trade unions in the Gulf states, represents workers regardless of political, sectarian or national differences. The GFBTU has worked to bridge the divide between various factions and nurture the collective identity of Bahrain workers.

Since 2005, the Solidarity Center has worked with the GFBTU to help build its capacity as a representative trade union. Joint programs on gender equality, youth empowerment, migrant worker advocacy and the protection of the freedom of association have helped build the cooperative partnership between the GFBTU and the Solidarity Center.