This award is given annually in recognition of dedication to and effectiveness in highlighting the widespread denial of fundamental human rights at work and in society.
2016 Award Recipient: Maina Kiai, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
Maina Kiai’s 2016 report to the U.N. General Assembly examining the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace makes clear the failure of many industrialized and developing countries to protect and respect human rights at work. Kiai’s reports have shed light on governments’ increasing encroachment on the exercise of assembly and association, among other key human rights.
Kiai’s work as special rapporteur makes clear that only a rights-based approach to the challenges of poverty, inequality and injustice will lead to lasting solutions. Tireless in his tenure, which began May 1, 2011, Kiai has made clear that the lack of access to fundamental human rights affects our democracies and workplaces all around the world.
2015 Award Recipient: Trade Union Confederation of Swaziland (TUCOSWA)
Despite legal and physical attacks on Swaziland workers and their allies, TUCOSWA has remained resolute in its support for workers' rights, its defense of its right to exist, and its support of human rights activists who have been illegally harassed and imprisoned. TUCOSWA continues to lead efforts to make Swaziland a more inclusive, just and democratic country.
While the ban on political parties is enforced as a ban on all political speech, TUCOSWA steadfastly refuses to stop voicing its support for a more open political system based on parliamentary democracy. Through persistent efforts and support from unions in Southern Africa and worldwide, TUCOSWA won its recognition battle in May 2015, but continues to face hurdles in the way of making legal standing a reality. TUCOSWA has faced down many efforts to splinter its unity, remaining united and refusing to back down from its core beliefs. Despite regular police presence, unions continue to meet and assemble publicly. Swaziland’s trade unions continue to advocate and support fellow civic leaders and human rights activists who are regularly harassed and/or jailed, including the recently released labor lawyer Thulani Maseko and journalist Bheki Makhubu, as well as political dissidents Maxwell Dlamini and Mario Masuku.
2014 Award Recipient: Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI)
The AFL-CIO would like to present the 2014 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to Building and Wood Workers’ International for its efforts to address egregious workers’ rights violations in the construction industry, in both the high-profile sporting events that receive global attention and in local construction projects. BWI is at the forefront of implementing innovative campaigns that expose the abuse of migrant workers in the construction industry and prove that with collective efforts international sporting events can be built on respect for human rights for all.
The BWI and its affiliates are at the forefront of the campaign to bring justice to construction workers worldwide. BWI puts global pressure on employers to ensure that all workers’ rights are guaranteed, especially during high-profile sporting events. In close coordination with the global labor movement, BWI exposes the egregious violations of migrant workers in a sector of the economy where workers are often trafficked and exploited under forced labor.
BWI’s affiliates organize campaigns and establish agreements between unions in origin and destination countries, and ensure equal pay for equal work, regardless of workers’ country of origin, among other efforts. Last October, BWI, along with Brazilian unions, the International Labor Organization and other members of civil society, helped launch the Pact for Decent Work in the 2014 World Cup. Signatories agreed to prevent the use of forced and child labor and human trafficking, to ensure respect for labor rights under the ILO Conventions ratified by Brazil and to create initiatives to make work involved with the event become permanent employment.