Trade Unionism and Democracy in the 21st Century
March 07, 2007
Las Vegas
AFL-CIO Executive Council statement
We resolve to fulfill the yearning of the human spirit for liberty, justice and community; to advance individual and associational freedom; to vanquish oppression, privation and cruelty in all their forms; and to join with all persons, of whatever nationality or faith, who cherish the cause of democracy and the call of solidarity, to grace the planet with these achievements.
Preamble to the AFL-CIO Constitution
For more than a century, the American union movement has led the struggle to achieve democratic, political and economic rights at home and abroad. From Lawrence, Mass., to the Detroit sit-down strikes, from Gdańsk, Poland, on the Baltic Sea to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, the struggle and sacrifice of working people has challenged the unchecked power of the state and the abuses of untrammeled market forces.
While many things have changed in the past century, the bedrock principle of freedom of association remains the same. Without freedom of association, there would be no independent trade unions, workers’ rights or political democracy. The rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively are enshrined in internationally recognized documents: the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the ILO’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The words in these documents are weapons in the ongoing fight for human freedom and justice.
The struggle for democracy is central to protection of workers’ rights and to the building of a world that is peaceful, decent and just. Democracy is a triumph of the oppressed, not a gift of the oppressor. It only can be built from the bottom up and the inside out. Today, global solidarity on behalf of democracy, freedom of association and basic human rights is more important than ever. Across the world, totalitarian rulers combine the power of the state with the power of the market in powerful, new and non-democratic forms. New and old forms of dictatorship cynically use the backlash against the injustices of the global economy to consolidate their hold on power. There is an effort to disconnect corporations from the accountability of democratic governance through a “constitution” for global trade that only guarantees the rights of investors. And, too often, nationalist, fundamentalist and xenophobic reactions to this new economic regime generate disorder, violence and the grisly tactics of modern terror.
Democracy is not easy. It cannot be exported at the end of a bayonet or a missile. Formal guarantees and institutions are vital, but are only a beginning. The words of democracy, expressed in charters and constitutions, must reflect the values and aspirations of the people. Understanding and respect for democratic values are built, person by person, organization by organization, in the fabric of civil society. Trade unions are an essential building block in that process.
The right of workers to organize and bargain collectively is the most fundamental form of democratic participation. The very function of trade unions is to promote the economic well-being of their members through the democratic process. It is for good reason that unions are called “laboratories of democracy.” Unions promote, teach and exercise democratic practice. They give a collective voice to those whose individual voices would be weak. They give workers experience in democratic decision making and understanding of the importance of basic human rights. Not surprisingly, around the world, trade unions are front-line organizations that protect human rights, build informed political participation and promote public accountability.
In the developing world, free trade unions provide the underpinning for economic growth and democracy by contributing to the emergence of a stable, fairly paid, functioning middle class. Without free and effective unions, the economy often serves only to enrich the few and the government serves only to protect their privilege. Meanwhile, the vast majority are trapped in a struggle to survive, alienated from the institutions that govern and claim to represent them.
In countries scarred by ethnic and sectarian division, free and effective trade unions can be important instruments to bridge divisions. In many countries, trade unions are among the few organizations with a membership that encompasses diverse ethnic, religious, tribal and linguistic groups within their borders. Free trade unions help workers recognize and strengthen their common interests, air their common grievances and understand their common stake in working together to pursue common ends.
In countries yoked beneath autocratic or totalitarian rule, free trade unions—like the free press and freedom of speech—are a bulwark of opposition. Not surprisingly, to consolidate power, modern day autocrats often begin by seeking to cut the sinews of civil society—to muzzle the press, to make people fear to associate and to break free trade unions, organizing workers and citizens into institutions that serve power rather than serve to empower their members.
Those of us blessed with the freedoms and the rights provided by a democratic society have a responsibility. The AFL-CIO and all our allies in the International Trade Union Confederation, the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD and the Global Union Federations must support our sisters and brothers still struggling to form free and independent unions. We must continue to expose and discredit oppressive governments and repressive employers. We must strengthen our own democracies and struggle for the rights of workers and citizens in the economy across the globe and across this nation. At the AFL- CIO, this is not only a proud legacy of our past, but our fierce commitment—today and in the future.