Am I Not Human? Honor Public Workers' Bargaining Rights

Soulclap to Human Rights Watch for making the connection between human rights and the attack on the American Dream being made by a number of Republican governors around the nation.

Proposals in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and other states to strip public workers of collective bargaining rights violate international labor rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today.

"There are real financial constraints on states, but that is no excuse to seek to eliminate fundamental rights," said Alison Parker, US Program director at Human Rights Watch. "State governments can negotiate cost savings with workers without violating their rights in the process."

International law on the right to bargain collectively applies in both private and public workplaces. The United States championed the International Labor Organization's 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, under which the US pledged "to promote and to realize ... fundamental rights" defined in the declaration, the first of which is "freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining."

The United States is also a party to and bound by its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees everyone the right to protect his or her interests through trade union activity. As the Human Rights Committee has made clear on multiple occasions, that includes collective bargaining. Denying the right to collective bargaining would violate this international treaty, Human Rights Watch said.


Most major advanced democratic countries honor collective bargaining rights of public employees. For example, all EU countries allow public sector workers to bargain collectively. In a 2008 case, the European Court of Human Rights found that Turkey's restrictions on public employee bargaining rights violated the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the province of British Columbia to restore collective bargaining agreements nullified by legislation.


By contrast, many undemocratic countries restrict or prohibit collective bargaining by public employees. For example, the Egyptian government has prohibited public sector collective bargaining. It allowed public employee unions to exist, but in name only, favoring government-controlled unions and quashing any attempt to bargain collectively.

Under federal law in the United States, public employees' right to organize is respected, compliant with international standards. However, federal law severely restricts subjects of bargaining in ways that run afoul of international standards - federal employees cannot bargain over economic issues such as pay and benefits, for example.

At the US state level, many states respect the right to organize and bargain collectively and allow wide scope for subjects of bargaining, consistent with international standards. Other states, like North Carolina, prohibit collective bargaining altogether, in violation of international human rights norms.

Wisconsin historically has been called a "laboratory of democracy" in the American system with a strong record of honoring workers' rights of association, organizing, and bargaining. It was one of the first states to grant public employees the right to bargain collectively, but is now on the verge of violating those basic rights, Human Rights Watch said.


Having the right to bargain collectively does not guarantee outcomes sought by workers and their unions. Nor does it mean that cost savings cannot be achieved. Rather workers' representatives and representatives of employers, whether public or private, have a right to bargain hard for their interests. The reason why collective bargaining is recognized as an international human right is that the compromises resulting from a process in which workers have an autonomous voice reflect principles of dignity, equality, and democracy consistent with human rights principles.

"Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and other states threatening to impose harsh new restrictions on public employees' collective bargaining rights should step back from the brink," Parker said. "They should honor public employees' right to bargain collectively."

Roots of Humanity feels that each of us can fight against human rights abuses in the world. We simply need to do something. Protest. Meditate. Pray. In the case of bloggers ... we want you to blog on the 27th of each month. Just share information on behalf of our human siblings in all suffering areas who are either barred from communication by their governments, or lacking in technology to ask: Am I Not Human?

Will Racism Cost Obama The Election?

I was born & raised in Los Angeles. Tom Bradley was my mayor and I thought he was going to be the first African American governor of California. In fact, I went to sleep with polls indicating a solid victory for Tom Bradley over his white opponent. Imagine my dismay when I woke up in the morning to learn that Tom Bradley lost the election. It was such a surprise that it became known as the 'Bradley Effect' ... the situation when white voters tell pollsters one thing ... then get behind the ballot booth curtain and do another.

I worry about Barack Obama losing votes on November 4th due to the subtle racism of white Democratic or independent voters who simply won't pull the lever for the Black guy.

So, I was very pleased to hear the drumbeats from Carmen about a courageous speech given by Richard Trumka, Secretary Treasurer of AFL-CIO, in which he gave a passionate plea to workers in the labor union movement to no longer tolerate racism.

Take a moment to listen to what Mr. Trumka have to say:

If we want things to change, we must change. We have to speak out when we see actions or behaviors that harm race relations ... whether those actions occur by white people or African Americans.

What say u?