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Dear Friend in solidarity,
As 2024 heads to a close, like many of you, I’m taking time to reflect on the past year. One of the highlights for me as the head of the Solidarity Center was spending time with hundreds of badass lawyers from around the world at the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network conference.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ILAW NETWORK AND OUR STRATEGIC LITIGATION FUND
Nearly six years ago, we formed the ILAW Network, which now has over 1,300 members from 96 countries. This initiative follows years of partnership with more than 1,000 unions, worker associations, and community groups, building power worldwide for millions of workers. We recognized a need for coordinated global legal work and were uniquely positioned to form this one-of-a-kind network.
WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD ARE COUNTING ON YOU TO HELP US CONTINUE THIS IMPORTANT WORK.
At the 3rd Global ILAW Network conference in Casablanca, I met some of the brightest lawyers in the world — who often work pro bono to take successful legal strategies and deploy them elsewhere, setting legal precedents that build an ever-stronger foundation for the future expansion of worker rights. It is the largest labor lawyer membership organization of its kind in the world.
The ILAW Network started its Strategic Litigation Fund (SLF) to fill a gap in litigation financing for labor rights cases. In just a few short years, ILAW Network members have used the Strategic Litigation Fund to initiate truly consequential litigation, including:
- In Bangladesh, the network supported workers in challenging the use of false criminal charges to dismiss and silence workers in garment factories.
- In the Americas, lawyers supported efforts in regional human rights courts to protect the rights and interests of workers in the care economy and to center workers in the right to a just transition.
- Based on a successful case in South Africa, ILAW supported constitutional litigation in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and Ethiopia to ensure domestic workers' access to the national workers' compensation fund.
WITH YOUR DONATION TO THE ILAW STRATEGIC LITIGATION FUND, WE CAN HELP EVEN MORE WORKERS WORLDWIDE.
The South Africa case is a great example. Researchers were able to look for similar discriminatory laws concerning domestic workers in nine African countries. Now, ILAW Network lawyers in Eswatini, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe are challenging these laws in court using the strategies and lessons learned from South African lawyers in the Mahlangu case. The ILAW Network is now using this research and advocacy framework to challenge similar legal exclusions in South Asia.
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