US under fire for labor rights abuses

The United States, a self-styled promoter of human rights and global democracy, has come under heavy fire for "serious violations" of labor rights in its own backyard. According to a new report released recently by the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), many categories of workers in the United States–including government employees, independent contractors, and agricultural and domestic workers–are excluded from the Labor Relations Act that provides for freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. More than 25 million private civilian workers and 6.9 million federal, state and local government employees do not have the right to negotiate their wages, working hours and employment terms, according to the study. For those workers that do have the right to organize, the report points out, there is insufficient legal protection against anti-union discrimination. "The credibility of the United States, which takes a strong international stand on human rights issues, is severely damaged by the lack of protection for working people, especially the most vulnerable, within its own borders," says ICFTU Secretary-General Guy Ryder. This only encourages other governments to seek a competitive advantage in global markets by violating the fundamental rights of their own workers, he adds. The ICFTU says it represents 155 million workers in 236 affiliated organizations in 154 countries and territories. The study provides a long list of rights violations, including breaches of international conventions relating to child labor, and discrimination against undocumented migrant workers. A 2002 ruling by the US Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in the country, stated that undocumented workers are not entitled to back-pay as a remedy for unfair labor practices and they are not entitled to reinstatement. "This ruling has therefore made it difficult to enforce trade union rights of several million undocumented workers," says the report. According to the study, the United States is also in violation of conventions it has ratified with the Geneva-based International Labor Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations. Although the United States has ratified the ILO Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labor, says the report, child labor remains a problem in the US, particularly in agriculture, where fewer regulations apply and children are exposed to hazardous working conditions. "Many children work long hours in the fields and are exposed to dangerous pesticides, sharp knives and heavy equipment. At the same time, the number of inspections for the enforcement of child labor laws has decreased substantially," it says. Furthermore, the report notes a number of new child labor regulations have worsened safety conditions for young workers, especially by lowering the minimum age for handling dangerous operations, such as operating fryers and grills in fast food restaurants and loading of paper balers and compactors. Asked if these US violations have been identified before international bodies, Tim Noonan, ICFTU's director of campaigns and communications, said that several cases have been brought before the ILO supervisory procedures in recent years. The most recent references to US labor standards–specifically concerning freedom of association and collective bargaining–can be found in the 2004 Global Report of the ILO under the procedures for follow-up to the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work entitled "Organizing for Social Justice," he said. This report, which covers the global trends concerning "Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining" in countries which have not ratified ILO Conventions 87 and/or 98, makes reference to threats by employers to denounce undocumented migrant workers as a barrier to unionization of those workers. Noonan said the ILO report also singles out employer opposition to trade union organization as being a key factor in relation to relatively low levels of union membership in the US private sector. Asked how these violations could be put right, Noonan said: "We believe that it is important that other governments remind the United States of its obligations as a member state of the ILO." Furthermore, he said, there should be public pressure within and outside the United States on the current administration of Pres. George W. Bush to rectify the ongoing violations. Noonan said the US trade union movement itself "has been very active in criticizing the labor policies of the Bush administration, and finding ways to help workers organize and join unions in very difficult circumstances." "But the laws and practices of the Bush administration are so strongly biased against trade unions that the capacity of unions to organize, campaign and lobby is restricted," he added. For example, he pointed out, 53 percent of non-union workers in the United States say they do want to have the benefit of a union in their workplace. Meanwhile, the ICFU study also says there is "a clear trend towards lower standards under the Bush administration." The right to strike is only allowed for private sector workers, but even there this right is severely restricted. There are legal limitations for workers to engage in concerted activity such as intermittent strikes and secondary boycotts. Moreover, the law allows for permanent replacement of striking workers, and also allows for those replacement workers to vote in union decertification elections. The report also notes that, despite the existence of Equal Opportunities legislation, women earn on average considerably less than men, as do workers from ethnic minorities.