And yet…

International Human Rights Day was observed recently and I must confess that I have mixed feelings about the way that it is celebrated.

…But let’s bring it closer to home. Workers, internationally, are supposed to have a right to what is called freedom of association. This is suppose to mean, at least according to the International Labor Organization and the United Nations, that workers have a right to freely, and without interference from governments or employers, choose whether or not they want to join or form a labor union.

The United States, according to the National Labor Relations Act passed in 1935 is supposed to have a public policy that favors the self-organization of workers and their right to collective bargaining. Despite all of this, workers in the USA have no such right, yet when human rights are discussed by the Bush administration or other paragons of virtue, nothing is ever said about this.

Workers can attempt to join or form a union, get fired by the employer and it will often take years for them to get their jobs back unless there is massive pressure on the employer or government. Yet, this is not called a human rights abuse. In other words, we are permitted to have a law on the books that says that we can form or join unions, but in practice, this right can be denied and the powers at be don’t give a cuss.