(Washington, DC, April 18, 2007) – In accepting an award from American Rights at Work today, Human Rights Watch hailed the partnership between labor rights and human rights organizations as crucial for defending workers’ right to organize, including in the United States, where that right has come under sustained attack.
Workers’ rights are human rights. The right to form and join trade unions is protected in the same key pieces of international law that protect all other basic rights.
Carroll Bogert, associate director of Human Rights Watch
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“Workers’ rights are human rights,” said Human Rights Watch Associate Director Carroll Bogert in an acceptance speech to be delivered at the American Rights at Work (ARAW) annual Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Awards celebration in Washington, DC. “The right to form and join trade unions is protected in the same key pieces of international law that protect all other basic rights.”
Human Rights Watch strongly supports the Employee Free Choice Act, a new piece of US legislation that passed the House of Representatives in March and is now pending in the Senate. The legislation would reduce some barriers to union organizing and strengthen penalties for anti-union discrimination.
“We are grateful to American Rights at Work for helping shine a spotlight on the unlevel playing field US workers face when they try to organize unions,” said Bogert. “And we’re honored that ARAW is recognizing our work with this prestigious award.”
