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    The Labor Rights Initiative

    Advancing labor rights, corporate accountability, and improvement of working conditions globally.

    Introduction

    The Labor Rights Initiative coordinates technical legal assistance to at risk labor rights defenders, and works for the advancement of labor rights and the improvement of working conditions. Launched in July 2021, the Labor Rights Initiative expands on the Justice Defenders Program’s previous work on labor. It supports unions and worker rights organizations, as well as individual labor activists, in their pursuit for the realization of labor rights, including the right to freedom of association. The Initiative supports the use of international human rights mechanisms, such as the ILO supervisory mechanism, IACHR, the United Nations human rights protection mechanisms, and others. It also engages in direct advocacy with governments and employers within domestic judicial and non-judicial fora. It has worked in a number of countries, including Serbia, Ecuador, and India, on issues such as freedom of association, access to remedy, and forced labor.

    Freedom of Association

    The Labor Rights Initiative supports workers and unions in advancing labor rights through addressing barriers to organizing and collective bargaining and the expansion of non-standard forms of employment which deny workers their rights, especially of those already in vulnerable situations. (Photo Credit: Maruf Rahman/Pixabay)

    Freedom of Association in Ecuador

    State of the Right to Form and Join Unions in Ecuador

    In July 2022, Labor Rights Initiative staff undertook a factfinding trip to Ecuador to engage with workers and unions, as well as government officials and other stakeholders, regarding the violation of labor rights. Workers reported on the irregular payment of salaries, a lack of sick or vacation time, exposure to pesticides, and women facing longer hours and less pay as priority issues. Workers and unions also stated alleged retaliation, including termination and blacklisting, against unionized workers, as well as delays or refusal by the government to register unions. (PC: Naomi Glassman-Majara)

    Read the trip report - Here

    Freedom of Association in Serbia

    The Labor Rights Initiative published a Commentary on Serbia’s Draft Law on Seasonal and Other Occasional Employment, discussing how the proposed draft law expands the category of workers considered as non-standard employees, potentially pushing entire sectors outside of a traditional employment relationship and denying workers their right to freedom of association. The commentary also emphasizes that the draft law has the potential to worsen conditions for migrant workers, who already face poor working conditions and a lack of regulation of existing labor law in the country. (Photo Credit: hpgruesen, 2017, https://pixnio.com/architecture/bridges/serbia-construction-metal-bridge-coast-construction-architecture#.)

    Read more - Here

    Freedom of Association in Serbia Cont.

    Upon the Serbian government's introduction of a Revised Draft Law on Employment in Seasonal and Other Casual Jobs in Certain Industries on Migrant Workers and the Right to Unionize, the Labor Rights Initiative published a revised commentary. The Revised Draft Law remains overly broad, posing serious risks for the deterioration of labor rights across eligible sectors under the law. (Photo Credit: USACE, 2014, Flickr)

    Read more - HERE

    Gender Justice in the Workplace

    The Labor Rights Initiative works to improve equity and equality for women in the workplace through campaigns targeting gender discriminatory policies.

    Labor and Gender in Tajikistan

    The Labor Rights Initiative supported the Office of Civic Freedoms of Tajikistan in their advocacy for women’s equal access to work based on Tajikistan’s domestic and international obligations under the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Together with partner organizations, we were able to successfully advocate for the reduction of the list of prohibited professions for women from 334 to 194. (Photo Credit: Gennadiy Ratushenko, 2010, Flickr)

    Maternity Leave Discrimination in Lesotho

    The Labor Rights Initiative supported the National Clothing Textile and Allied Workers Union of Lesotho (NACTWU), seven allied unions, and two individual plaintiffs in the presentation of a constitutional court case challenging discrimination in paid maternity leave policies in Lesotho as women workers in the textile and security sectors receive half as much paid leave as women in all other sectors of the economy.

    Corporate Accountability

    The Labor Rights Initiative pursues corporate accountability in specific cases of abuse and promotes improved corporate practices through direct engagement. (Photo Credit: UUSC4All, 2007, Flickr.)

    Forced and Bonded Labor in India

    The Justice Defenders Program published a report documenting widespread bonded labor, child labor, low wages, and inhumane working conditions in the sandstone industry in Rajasthan, India. The report urges the Indian government to effectively implement laws to reduce and penalize these human rights violations. The Labor Rights Initiative expands on this work and engages directly with U.S. importers of Rajasthan-sourced sandstone to improve their due diligence practices across their supply chains. (Photo Credit: Mahitosh Bagoria, HEDCON)

    Read the report - here

    Access to Remedy

    In partnership with the local grassroots organization ASTRA Anti-Trafficking Action, the Labor Rights Initiative issue working with local and international NGOs and labor lawyers to secure access to remedy for a group of migrant workers who experienced wage theft and other labor rights violations. (Photo Credit: Bernard Spragg, 2012, Flickr.)

    Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Law

    The Labor Rights Initiative collaborated with Oxfam Germany, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and the banana workers union ASTAC of Ecuador to present two complaints to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) under Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Law. The complaints are against German supermarkets that import bananas from Ecuadorian farms and allege violations against occupational health and safety, the right to freedom of association, withholding of the appropriate wages, and unequal treatment committed by the Ecuadorian banana companies in violation of the German supermarkets’ due diligence requirements. The Labor Rights Initiative continues to engage on the procedural and substantive issues relevant to the proceedings under Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Law.

    Judicial Harassment

    The Labor Rights Initiative conducts trial observations in cases of criminalization of union leaders and labor rights defenders. (Photo Credit: Thmey Thmey Media)

    Jorge Acosta

    The Justice Defenders Program published a trial observation report on the criminal complaints against Jorge Acosta, the coordinator of the ASTAC banana workers’ union in Ecuador. The report concludes that proceedings were characterized by numerous irregularities and were “the result of an improper motive…namely a desire to intimidate the defendant and interfere with lawful organizing activities.” (Photo Credit: Naomi Glassman-Majara)

    Read the report - here

    Obert Masaraure

    The Labor Rights Initiative is currently monitoring the cases against Obert Masaraure, national president of the rural teachers’ union ARTUZ. Masaraure faces charges of murder, in connection with the death of a colleague in which an investigation previously cleared Masaruare of wrongdoing, and incitement to public violence in connection with social media posts. Local and international NGOs believe these criminal charges are in retaliation for Masaraure’s labor organizing. (Photo Credit: Talentkulkat, 2020, Wikimedia Commons).

    Read our statement - here

    Pre-Trial Observation Report: Zimbabwe v. Obert Masaraure

    This report details the fundmanetal freedoms violations and fair trial violations in the pre-trial stages of the two cases against Obert Masaraure. The charges fit into a consistent pattern of arrests, charges, and criminal proceedings that amount to an attack on labor rights and the criminalization of union leaders in Zimbabwe. (Photo Credit: ARTUZ.)

    Read the report - HERE

    Labor Rights Initiative Team