As part of International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, the union movement is mobilizing to demand workers are guaranteed a fundamental human right: The freedom to have a union voice on the job. At rallies, town hall meetings, candlelight vigils and teach-ins across the nation, union members and their allies will highlight the obstacles workers face when seeking to join a union at work and showcase strategies for the overcoming those obstacles.

International Human Rights Day commemorates the anniversary of the ratification of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which established the right of people in every nation to come together into unions and bargain contracts.

The U.S. government had recognized those rights 13 years earlier with the National Labor Relations Act. But today, many workers say those rights exist only on paper. Workers may have the legal right to form unions to negotiate for better benefits, pay and safety standards—but employers across the country routinely block their efforts with threats, coercion and intimidation.

To strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose a union, the union movement worked with a bipartisan coalition in creating the historic Employee Free Choice Act. Introduced into Congress in April 2005, the act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696) would require employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union.

In 2003, nearly 38,000 workers, joined by nearly 140 allied groups, took part in 97 Dec. 10 actions in 72 cities. This year, U.S. unions and their members will be joined by brothers and sisters throughout the international trade union movement, as workers on six continents take action to support the freedom to form unions.

Stop back often to check for events in your area and get more tools for making this Dec. 10 the largest-ever mobilization for a Voice@Work.



More Tools AFL-CIO

Download a Voice@Work toolkit for planning your Dec. 10 freedom to choose a union event. Download a Dec. 10 color flier.

Get the newly updated “The Employer War—The Union Difference” feature originally published in America@work. Check out the Handbook for Students and Faculty Who Support Workers' Rights.

Get the updated AFL-CIO issues brief, The Silent War: The Assault on Workers’ Freedom to Choose a Union and Bargain Collectively in the United States.

Learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act.

Find out more about the employer war on workers who seek to form unions.

View an online comic book about what would happen if congressional elections were like National Labor Relations Board union elections (Flash plug-in needed).