Trade unions on virtually every continent have played important roles in guaranteeing workers’ rights and in bringing about more democratic forms of governance in their nations. Solidarnosc not only toppled the communist government in Poland but gave rise to the chain of events that led to the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the communist empire in Eastern Europe. Worker opposition to apartheid in South Africa, to military dictatorship in Brazil, Chile, and elsewhere, and union presence at the center of the pro-democracy movements in South Korea and the Philippines, attest to the truth that there can be “no democracy without free trade unions and no free trade unions without democracy”.
Today there are workers in many nations who, against great odds, are standing up for their most basic human right – the freedom to form unions of their own choosing, governed by them– as the best way to end injustice at their workplaces and to improve their daily lives and those of their families. They seek a voice in the matters that affect them most: improvement in their working conditions and a work environment free of harassment or intimidation.
Occasionally, their outrage is heard and understood by the rest of the world and the governments that would suppress them are forced to act responsibly and allow the flowering of free and independent democratic trade unionism. Too often, their efforts go unrecognized and they pay a high price for having sought improvement in their working lives, including secure employment, living wages and social benefits protection.
It is our purpose to give support to workers in these struggles and to seek to galvanize the efforts of international labor, human rights and democracy organizations to act in solidarity with such workers and assist them in their struggles. While the first CFTU project is to support and advance the cause of free and independent unions in Cuba, we will also concentrate on denials and restrictions of trade unions in other totalitarian regimes around the world, such as Venezuela, China, Zimbabwe, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, and Burma.
The Committee for Free Trade Unionism is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. The CFTU aims to promote trade union freedom by working with a worldwide network of trade union experts and other groups committed to the advancement of free trade unionism and providing defenses against trade union persecution and oppression anywhere in the world.