USA Network and Tom Brokaw announced today the first-ever Characters Unite National Town Hall, a ground-breaking high-level discussion on how America’s increasingly diverse and divided population can find common ground on today’s complex social issues….

Hundreds of union members joined religious and human rights activists in a vigil and rally outside the gates of the School of the Americas (SOA) last weekend to demand that it be closed.

Graduates of the school, operated by the U.S. Department of Defense at Fort Benning, Ga., have been linked to human rights violations and suppression of popular movements in the Americas, according to the activist group SOA Watch.

Many targets of assassination and torture in Latin America are trade unionists. More union members are killed each year in Latin America than in the rest of the world combined, primarily due to extreme anti-worker violence in Colombia, according to the International Trade Union Confederation.

Union members, young activists and religious groups joined in a labor caucus Nov. 22 and heard Colombian trade union members describe the dangerous conditions they live under daily. When 14 Colombian unionists were in the United States receiving training through the AFL-CIO over the past two months, four of their union colleagues back home were killed.

The caucus, which included members of the UAW, AFSCME, AFT, Plumbers and Pipe Fitters, United Steelworkers and Carpenters, also heard from Honduran workers who condemned the recent coup that stripped democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya of his office. The military coup was led by SOA graduates in Honduras, says SOA Watch.

UAW Vice President Bob King said:

The continued economic crisis in our hemisphere and the continued assassinations of trade union and community activists in Colombia and throughout Latin America will only end when there is solidarity.  As Martin Luther King often said, we need to “break the silence so that we work together to end the violence and end the poverty.” Union solidarity is critical to breaking the silence, ending the murders and creating justice.  Closing the School of the Americas is part of our work.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said scheduled elections in Honduras could not be fair “with an illegitimate government in power.” Added Trumka:

The violent and coercive repression of political opposition to the de facto coup regime, including trade unionists, has continued. At least 12 trade unionists have died in the violence since June 28. National and international human rights organizations report ongoing human rights violations committed by state security forces, including killings, severe beatings, sexual violence, the imprisonment and torture of activists, as well as the arrest and detention of President Zelaya’s supporters.

The school has trained more than 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency, psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics, SOA Watch says.  

Recently, opponents of the SOA won a victory when a joint House and Senate conference committee agreed to include language in the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill that requires the Pentagon to release names of the graduates of the School of the Americas to the public. The Pentagon had classified the names after the continued involvement of SOA attendees in human rights abuses became public.

Also last weekend, members of the labor caucus joined a march and rally at a local Publix supermarket in Columbus, Ga., in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers who are trying to get the grocery chain to agree to increase the pay and ensure better working conditions for workers who harvest most of the nation’s tomato crop.

In this cross-post from Huffington Post, Bernard Pollock, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg report on the struggles of workers on Kenya’s tea and flower plantations to organize a union for a better life.

Lake Naivasha is known as a beautiful place to see wildlife, including thousands of pink flamingos. But just off the main road to the Naivasha National Park are hectares and hectares of greenhouses as far as the eye can see. They’re not growing food inside the greenhouses. Although Kenya, like other parts of Africa, is experiencing food shortages, malnutrition and hunger because of prolonged drought. They are growing flowers. The flower factory we visited—the Sher Karuturi plant—produces up to 1 million roses a day, which are sold at auction in Dubai and Holland and eventually make their way to the European Union and the United States.

For the most part, we’re told, the conditions are better at this farm than some of the other farms. Workers are provided a stipend for housing, there’s a school located on site, and the salaries are higher than what employees of other farms make (on average $6,200 Kenyan Shillings or about $83 per month compared with $5,000 shillings or about $67).

“The reason why conditions are better off is because of our union,” said Ferdinand Jumo, a shop steward and mechanic at the plant. The Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU) is currently in contract negotiations to bargain higher wages, keep school costs down and improve safety equipment. The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center is working on helping them grow through ranks, which have been thinned because of heavy intimidation and pressure campaigns by management to prevent workers from forming unions. In fact, 10 additional flower factories abide by the collective bargaining agreement just to keep workers from organizing.

But the union, with help from the Solidarity Center continues to make changes. Says union flower picker Samson Ouuda:

One of the most important things we’ve done is fight against gender discrimination. We’ve fought differences in wages, and won new policies to stop sexual harassment.

An important win since many of the people working in the flower industry are young women.

We also spent two days meeting with tea workers and their union in Kericho and Naidu, Kenya. They work for multinational tea manufacturers Unilever and Finlays. As we drove through the tea region, it was like a never-ending labyrinth, a giant green maze of plants.

When we got to the union office in Kericho, Kenya, union officials were elated to see the staff of the Solidarity Center. Over the past couple months, more than 6,000 tea workers joined KPAWU. To help them win more members—and continue to grow—the Solidarity Center provides resources to hire organizers, conduct trainings and offer communications and transportation support, according to KPAWU branch secretary Joshua Owuor Maywen.

Despite representing more than 200,000 members in the agriculture sector and representing some of the most vulnerable workers, union membership in the industry has declined over the past two decades. During this time, companies have tried whatever they can to cut costs, including implementing child labor, mechanizing the plucking industry. According to one of the workers:

The machines pluck everything, including snakes and spiders, while the tea pluckers pluck tea—hiring casuals or “temporary” workers at lower wages and reduced benefits.

New plants and factories popping up outside of the main tea areas provide stiff competition for the Kenyan tea market by undercutting costs using child labor and low wages. The union is actively fighting against child labor. It’s playing a role in implementing international labor standards required under the Fair Trade rules, including monitoring union plants.

Stay tuned for more stories of workers’ struggles as we visit Solidarity Centers all over Africa.

Today is United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Around the globe, workers are saying “No” to violence against women.

Although we often limit discussions on violence against women to domestic violence, it also is a human rights issue and a workplace issue, experts say. 

Millions of women work in insecure, temporary, unsafe, underpaid and unpaid jobs. They are subjected to sexual harassment, abuse and rape. According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), certain types of work situations increase these threats, such as when women travel for their work or migrate to find work or are employed as domestic workers.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler says in a statement:

Violence against women is a global problem that affects women of all ages, ethnicities, races, nationalities and socioeconomic backgrounds. It is also a workplace issue. Power imbalances in workplaces and the precarious employment conditions of many women increase their risk of being victims of sexual harassment, abuse and rape.

At the same time, domestic violence and other gender-based violence often impedes the ability of women to go to work and earn a living to support their families. To meet their families’ needs, many women have become economic migrants, subject to exploitation by unscrupulous employment agencies and employers.

Flight Attendants-CWA President Patricia Friend says union members are recognizing more and more that violence against women can spill over into the workplace.

We need to be aware that some of our members are coming to work in very difficult circumstances and may need our help. This is a human rights issue, and any human rights issues is a union issue.

Globally, women not only are vulnerable to domestic violence, but are caught in wars and forced into human trafficking for sex in large numbers, says Friend, who represents the AFL-CIO on ITUC’s committee on women.

In March, the AFL-CIO Executive Council issued a Charter of Rights of Working Women, pointing out that women are increasingly moving from place to place as economic migrants, rather than as dependents of male migrants, and are subjected to exploitation by agencies and employers. This situation is unacceptable, Shuler says.

Employers must be held responsible for ensuring that women have a safe workplace free of all forms of violence and sexual harassment. That is why today is so important. Until we have brought an end to violence against women, our families, our economies, our nations and our world will pay the price for our inaction.

To commemorate the day, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will launch his Network of Men Leaders, a major new initiative of his UNiTE to End Violence Against Women campaign.

Each member of the Network—current and former politicians, activists, religious and community leaders, and others—will work to support the longstanding efforts of women and civil society organizations worldwide to end violence, undertaking actions from raising public awareness to advocating for adequate laws.

Dave Caldwell, president of the Central Ohio Labor Council AFL-CIO; Michelle Mills, CEO & president of St. Stephen’s Community House; Columbus City Council member Andrew Ginther; Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Hearcel Craig; and Columbus Labor Council member Bob Garvin took part in the Christmas Care campaign.

Suzanne Irwin, who works in communications for the Central Ohio Labor Council, reports on union volunteer efforts to help the community this holiday season.

St. Stephen’s Community House has joined forces once again with the Central Ohio Labor Council in the 2009 Christmas Care/One New Toy Campaign at St. Stephen’s Community House in Columbus, Ohio. Community leaders, labor officials and public officers gathered Friday, Nov. 20, to highlight the partnership and address the urgent needs of central Ohio families.

The St. Stephen’s Community House and Central Ohio Labor Council collaboration began in 1982 through the inspirational leadership of former Columbus City Councilman John Maloney to provide children with at least one new toy and family holiday provisions. Since then, the Christmas Care/One New Toy program has served countless union families in the Greater Linden area. More than 2,300 families will be served at St. Stephen’s on the Dec. 19 and 20 distribution dates. The Central Ohio Labor Council will donate $8,000 in new toys, along with pallets of fresh vegetables, fruits, dairy products, poultry and bakery goods valued at more than $100,000.

Michelle Mills, St. Stephen’s CEO and president, says the efforts of union volunteers are essential to St. Stephen’s mission:

The profound civic-minded support of the Central Ohio Labor Council is vitally important to the families of St. Stephen’s Community House. Our historic alliance creates a spirit of joy and self sufficiency within the Greater Linden community. We are indebted to the council’s generosity and magnanimous efforts.

Central Ohio Labor Council Executive Director Walter Workman says union members were glad to come together to help families during these difficult times:

Hunger is hard. What began in 1982 as an effort to sustain families has grown into an annual effort that involves more than 200 labor volunteers. We do what has to be done for families—union and nonunion—who are in need.

Registration for the 2009 Christmas Care/One New Toy program is available through St. Stephen’s Community House before Dec. 12, 2009.

Families residing in the following central Ohio Zip codes are eligible with appropriate documentation: 43201, 43211, 43219, 43224, 43229, 43230, 43231 and 43081.

For registration requirements, please call 614-294-6347.

In Arkansas and other key states, union members are rallying to demand that their senators support real health care reform.

Senators are heading home for Thanksgiving this week, but when they return, they’ll begin debate on one of the most important priorities of our lifetime: health care reform.

Although we’ve made good progress in this fight in recent weeks, the bill under consideration by the Senate still has some flaws that need to be addressed. Contact your senators now and ask them to pass real reform—without a new tax on health benefits. 

Here’s the latest news on the battle for health care reform:

• Check out this great state-by-state interactive map of the effects of health care reform at healthreform.gov (scroll down).
• Surprise! Big-money corporate front groups like the Chamber of Commerce are bankrolling ads against health care reform.

• Greg Sargent asks: Do “centrist” senators understand the need for reform?
• Steve Benen notes that, in arguing against health care reform this weekend, Senate Republicans managed to avoid truth almost entirely.
• E.J. Dionne says the glass is more than half full: The progress we’ve made on the ongoing health care crisis is good.
• It is estimated that the Senate bill could reduce health insurance premiums in the individual market by 25 percent.

In a big victory last week, more than 1,000 graduate students at the University of Illinois exercised their freedom to bargain and won a contract that includes what all workers deserve: fair wages and better working conditions.

Unfortunately, too many employees around the country are denied the freedom to bargain. Trying to come together with your co-workers, to form a union and fight for a better life, can get you threatened, harassed and even fired. In a new piece at the Huffington Post, Robert Naiman says the graduate students’ win shows that all workers need the Employee Free Choice Act, to make sure everyone has the chance at a voice on the job:

…there’s a political barrier that obstructs many private-sector workers in the United States from being able to taste the victory that GEO [Graduate Employees Organization] members tasted: the need for labor law reform. If the Employee Free Choice Act were law, currently unorganized private-sector workers from Miami to Fairbanks would have the same ability as GEO members to advocate collectively and effectively for their interests, largely free of the fear of retaliation.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case today.  

Naiman says the Employee Free Choice Act is needed to create a level playing field between employees and their bosses. It’s about giving all workers an opportunity to get their fair share through their own efforts to bargain for a contract—improving their economic security and their ability to support their families and their communities.

Read Naiman’s full post here.

When 14 Colombian trade union members were in the United States for a training program, they were unable to forget just how dangerous it is to support unions in their home country. During the two months they were here, four of their colleagues were assassinated.

In a memorial service at AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C., yesterday, we joined the Solidarity Center and the Colombian workers to honor those who were killed and to reaffirm our determination to fight for workers’ and human rights in that country.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told the group:

We want our Colombian sisters and brothers to know that as we fight for basic trade union rights in this country, we are totally dedicated to their struggle to organize and collectively bargain in an atmosphere free of fear, terror and violence.

Shuler noted the AFL-CIO has recognized the courage, strength and valor of the Colombian union movement by presenting the 2008 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to Colombian human rights activist Yessika Hoyos.

The Colombian workers participated in the Trade Union Strengthening program sponsored by the Solidarity Center, with funding and support from the U.S. Department of Labor. As part of the program, the Colombians joined union organizers on the ground for three weeks. They worked with organizers from AFSCME, TCU/IAM, North Shore (Mass.) Labor Council, Sacramento Central Labor Council and the Teamsters. TCU/IAM, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Teamsters also provided training for the Colombians.

Colombia is the deadliest country in the world for trade unionists. At least 34 trade unionists have been killed this year in Colombia, with 10 deaths in the past eight weeks alone.

Jose Diogenes Orjuela Garcia, organizing director of the Colombian CUT union federation, said at the memorial service:

We want to have a country where union rights and human rights are respected. If you add up all the acts of violence [against union members] there have been more than 10,000 in the past 20 years.    

Both Shuler and Garcia made it clear that the United States should not sign a free trade agreement with Colombia until the violence against union members ends. Says Shuler:

The AFL-CIO stands with the…entire Colombian labor movement in their continued opposition to the Colombia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. We cannot permit a permanent trade instrument that incorporates a labor market based on the literal assassination of workers and their unions.

For us, these struggles are one and the same. We are fighting for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act not only to help end the unchecked violations of organizing and collective bargaining rights by employers in this country, but to set a new standard for the United States and its corporations operating in Colombia and throughout the globe.