Labor & Employment Law

The World Watches and Supports WI Workers

By Tula Connell

The world is watching Wisconsin. Because it’s clear if Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the state legislature succeed in their attacks against the middle class there, it can happen across the United States.

The International Trade Union Confederation is outraged over the assault by Walker and other Republican Party state governors on the  good, middle class living standards. Nothing less than democracy, fundamental rights and freedom are at stake. 

Says ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow:

Violating these fundamental democratic rights in other countries such as China, Egypt, Guinea or Mexico is rightly condemned by the US, so what are people to make of such abuse of power in the US itself?  The rights to organise and bargain collectively for fair wages and conditions are cornerstones of any democracy, and removing these rights means democracy itself is under attack.

Moreover, the economic and employment crisis will not be fixed by taking away workers? incomes.  These moves will destroy, not create jobs, as household incomes fall and economic demand falls even further. 

From Amensty International:

Under international law, all workers have a human right to organize and to bargain collectively.  These rights are an essential foundation to the realization of other rights, and are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, as well as conventions adopted by the International Labor Organization.  

AIUSA stands in solidarity with those seeking to defend collective bargaining rights anywhere these rights are threatened, and we urge Gov. Walker and Wisconsin legislators to protect workers? rights by rejecting any attempt to limit collective bargaining.  We further call on the Governor to respect the right to peaceful protest and ensure that protesters are not intimidated or subjected to unnecessary or excessive force.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 21, 2011 (boomark / email).