Solidarity Center

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Last week at our stakeholder meeting in Dhaka, experts called for reforms to sections of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 to protect tea workers’ rights to accommodation, gratuity and leave. “We need to reform or eliminate sections that unjustly exclude tea workers from the rights enjoyed by other sector workers. These laws are oppressive,” said former Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union (BCSU) General Secretary Ram Bhajan Kairi during the event. 👏👏👏 Check out the full story 🔗: https://bit.ly/4fp9L4X #WorkerRights #LaborRights

South Africa's Constitutional Court is taking up a historic parental leave case, that we, along with members of Solidarity Center's International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW), submitted amici arguments (supporting briefs submitted to the court) that focus on the gendered underpinnings of the country's Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). The case challenges sections of the BCEA that permit four months of maternity leave to biological mothers only. By comparison, fathers have only been entitled to a 10-day paternity leave. If affirmed, the case could transform traditional gender roles and relieve unequal care burdens on women. "Although we do anticipate the Constitutional Court confirming the judgment," says Solidarity Center Law Program Counsel Ziona Tanzer, "how it does so and what it says about gender, the redistribution of care work and feminist labor law, will be significant." #GenderEquity #WorkerRights 🔗: https://bit.ly/40uYf3Y

#Consulting Opportunity available in #DominicanRepublic for experienced #researcher to conduct studies mapping working conditions in two key economic sectors. See attached #RFP. Deadline to apply is November 30, 2024. #Research #Labor #Economics #Workerrights #Laborrights #Unions #Consultancy #Applynow

Safeguarding worker rights amid changing migration flows in Central Asia is a challenge best addressed when stakeholders from the region join together to develop and coordinate safe migration strategies, according to panelists at a recent Solidarity Center webinar. ➡️ Research by the Solidarity Center found that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are primarily origin countries, with Kazakhstan becoming an increasingly popular destination country. ➡️ Overall, 58 percent of those interviewed say they migrated because of low wages in home countries, and 31 percent because of the lack of jobs and unemployment. ➡️ The survey of 1,031 migrant workers found that they are now choosing Kazakhstan (28 percent), Türkiye (27 percent), Germany (21 percent) and South Korea (16 percent) as destination countries. The full reports - one each for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan - will be available on the Solidarity Center website next month. Learn more from our recent webinar at the 🔗: https://bit.ly/4fpTr42 #Migration #MigrantWorkers

Sister Chirlene’s work - work being done by more than 60 million domestic workers around the world - including many migrant workers and women of color - makes it possible for others to do their jobs. Their value to the world’s economy is undeniable, yet domestic workers are often excluded from labor standards that would ensure their rights. Brazil has ratified International Labor Organization Convention 189. And while the government has announced a new national care policy, domestic workers are not explicitly included. By organizing unions and forming coalitions and federations like the International Domestic Workers Federation, Chirlene and domestic workers around the world are fighting to advance domestic workers’ rights everywhere. #InvestInCare #DayofCare #WorkerRights #MigrantWorkers

In many countries with a shortage of care workers, governments and employers are promoting labor migration to fill the gaps. Yet, too often, migration policies and practices ignore the rights of the workers who migrate. We will continue to work in solidarity with migrant care workers and the unions and organizations that represent them to ensure that governments promote fair regular migration pathways that ensure full worker rights and options for family unity and permanent residence while also preserving the ability for care workers to stay in their home countries. #InvestInCare #DayofCare #WorkerRights #MigrantWorkers

Our partner Sabreen provides life-saving services as a paramedic. Her work is critical to her community, but her employer doesn’t always show it. She credits her union, the Union of Ambulance and Emergency Services Palestine, for ensuring that her rights as a worker are protected and she is paid what is outlined in their collective bargaining agreement. All care workers, whether they provide direct care to our loved ones who are sick or they care for our homes and children while we go to work, deserve decent working conditions, fair wages and social protections. #InvestInCare #DayofCare #WorkerRights

#InvestInCare

Sister Sisanda has provided care for expecting and new mothers in her community for nearly 20 years, but it wasn’t until 2021 that her job was recognized as permanent work by South Africa’s government. Millions of care workers around the world, who are mostly women of color and often migrant workers, from community health care workers like Sisanda to domestic workers in Brazil, provide critical services but lack legal protections and tools to make their voices heard. Through their union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), Sisanda and fellow coworkers fought for recognition and are now shifting their focus to using solidarity and collective power to lift up all community healthcare workers in the country. #InvestinCare #DayofCare #WorkerRights #MigrantWorkers