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Dec. 10 Human Rights Day Actions Growing
"Workers rights are human rights." That's the message that CWA and the entire labor movement is taking to communities across the country on December 10, International Human Rights Day.
CWA locals are taking the lead in many locations, planning actions, rallies and other events to make sure the public knows why workers' rights are important and how they have been abused in the United States.
The AFL-CIO reports that more than 60 events are planned so far, in big communities and small. The actions are intended to remind the public that "workers rights are human rights" and to encourage more members of Congress to support the Employee Free Choice Act, which would put in place cardcheck recognition for union representation and first contract arbitration to stop employers from endlessly delaying
negotiations.
To date, there are 205 cosponsors of the measure in the House and 41 in the Senate, with Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) signing on most recently.
International Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948, which included "the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests." The measure was won through the efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt, who headed the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and who was determined to win global recognition of universal rights for all. She considered the adoption of these principles to be her greatest accomplishment and viewed herself as the ambassador for the common man and woman.
In 1935, the United States had adopted the National Labor Relations Act, which outlined workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively. But today, in the United States, those rights are hollow, as millions of American workers are harassed, intimidated and even fired when they seek union representation on the job or try to bargain a contract.
"We cannot have true democracy in the United States without workplace democracy," said CWA President Larry Cohen. "Every other democracy in the world acknowledges the importance and value of workers' rights and makes sure that these rights are respected. In the United States, in contrast, workers who want a union voice encounter harassment and worse from management, as well as the failure of their government to uphold workers' rights."
"This effort to restore workplace democracy is a critical one for CWA and the entire labor movement. Our actions on December 10 must send a strong message to the public, to elected officials and to corporate America that we must have real workers' rights in our democracy," he said.
Jeff Crosby, president of IUE-CWA Local 81201 and the North Shore, Mass., AFL-CIO, is coordinating outreach among CWA officers who also head AFL-CIO central labor councils. CWA leaders are encouraged to plan actions that demonstrate that the right to bargain collectively and freely organize represent a public good and a real benefit to the community.
Among the activities planned for the week of Dec. 5-10 are rallies, prayer breakfasts with local leaders, teach-ins on college campuses, testimony before community workers' rights boards, meetings with members of Congress and state and local legislators, and actions that highlight major campaigns, including CWA's fight at Verizon Wireless and Comcast.
Activists from American Rights at Work, Jobs with Justice, the Interfaith Coalition and many other allies are planning and joining events nationwide.
Local unions and labor councils also can obtain a radio public service announcement recorded by Julian Bond, chairman of the board of the NAACP. The message asks everyone to please join the NAACP and the union movement in the campaign for workers' rights. "Every 23 minutes American workers are punished by corporate employers and the federal government for exercising their workplace rights…. Let's stand together to protect our human rights."
CWA locals are taking the lead in many locations, planning actions, rallies and other events to make sure the public knows why workers' rights are important and how they have been abused in the United States.
The AFL-CIO reports that more than 60 events are planned so far, in big communities and small. The actions are intended to remind the public that "workers rights are human rights" and to encourage more members of Congress to support the Employee Free Choice Act, which would put in place cardcheck recognition for union representation and first contract arbitration to stop employers from endlessly delaying
negotiations.
To date, there are 205 cosponsors of the measure in the House and 41 in the Senate, with Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) signing on most recently.
International Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948, which included "the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests." The measure was won through the efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt, who headed the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and who was determined to win global recognition of universal rights for all. She considered the adoption of these principles to be her greatest accomplishment and viewed herself as the ambassador for the common man and woman.
In 1935, the United States had adopted the National Labor Relations Act, which outlined workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively. But today, in the United States, those rights are hollow, as millions of American workers are harassed, intimidated and even fired when they seek union representation on the job or try to bargain a contract.
"We cannot have true democracy in the United States without workplace democracy," said CWA President Larry Cohen. "Every other democracy in the world acknowledges the importance and value of workers' rights and makes sure that these rights are respected. In the United States, in contrast, workers who want a union voice encounter harassment and worse from management, as well as the failure of their government to uphold workers' rights."
"This effort to restore workplace democracy is a critical one for CWA and the entire labor movement. Our actions on December 10 must send a strong message to the public, to elected officials and to corporate America that we must have real workers' rights in our democracy," he said.
Jeff Crosby, president of IUE-CWA Local 81201 and the North Shore, Mass., AFL-CIO, is coordinating outreach among CWA officers who also head AFL-CIO central labor councils. CWA leaders are encouraged to plan actions that demonstrate that the right to bargain collectively and freely organize represent a public good and a real benefit to the community.
Among the activities planned for the week of Dec. 5-10 are rallies, prayer breakfasts with local leaders, teach-ins on college campuses, testimony before community workers' rights boards, meetings with members of Congress and state and local legislators, and actions that highlight major campaigns, including CWA's fight at Verizon Wireless and Comcast.
Activists from American Rights at Work, Jobs with Justice, the Interfaith Coalition and many other allies are planning and joining events nationwide.
Local unions and labor councils also can obtain a radio public service announcement recorded by Julian Bond, chairman of the board of the NAACP. The message asks everyone to please join the NAACP and the union movement in the campaign for workers' rights. "Every 23 minutes American workers are punished by corporate employers and the federal government for exercising their workplace rights…. Let's stand together to protect our human rights."