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Worker Organizations' Vital Role in Democracy

Workers’ freedom to organize and bargain collectively is a cornerstone of democracy. Independent worker organizations enhance transparency by protecting whistleblowers and empowering workers to counter corruption; providing workers a voice in the political system, as well as at the workplace; countering the economic and political power of large corporations; and fostering civic engagement. However, workers’ fundamental human rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining are coming under threat globally, including by authoritarian governments. 

U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, together with representatives of the International Trade Union Confederation, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State and the Solidarity Center invite you to this official Summit for Democracy side event, which will: highlight the role of worker voice and worker rights as fundamental components of democracy; elevate the recommendations made during four listening sessions with labor unions from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe; and spur global action in support of freedom of association and collective bargaining, including through the launch of the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights (M-POWER) Initiative.

Moderator – Thea Mei Lee, Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor

Welcoming Remarks
•    U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh 
•    AFL-CIO President Elizabeth Shuler 

Democracy Under Threat: The Voice of Workers 
o    Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the ITUC 
o    Trade union leaders from the Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe 

Promoting Workplace Democracy: A Conversation Among Labor Officials 
o    Framing Remarks: ILO Director General Guy Ryder 
o    Labor Ministers from Argentina, Germany, Mexico and Norway

Commitments to Empowering Workers: Launching a Global Year of Action
o    U.S. Department of Labor
o    U.S. Agency for International Development 
o    U.S. Department of State 
o    Philanthropic Organization Representatives
o    Trade Union Organizations
o    Solidarity Center

Conclusion/Wrap-Up

High-Level Event Goal
An official Summit of Democracy side event to raise the visibility of worker rights as fundamental components of democracy, and elevate the recommendations made during the listening sessions with trade unions from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe to address the challenges facing unions and workers around the world.

Simultaneous interpretation will take place in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. 

This high-level dialogue and the regional listening sessions are co-sponsored by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of international Labor Affairs; the Department of State’s Office of International Labor Affairs within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; the U.S. Agency for International Development; the International Trade Union Confederation; the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); and the Solidarity Center.