In honor of International Human Rights Day, UVM's Student Labor Action Project is hosting a Workers' Rights Board Hearing on Saturday, December 10th at 1PM at Mann Hall Auditorium, Trinity Campus, 208 Colchester Avenue in Burlington.
Chaired by U.S. Congressman Bernie Sanders, the Workers' Rights Board will hear testimony from workers across the state about:
The Right to Organize & U.S. Labor Rights
The Right to Livable Wages & Good Jobs
The Right to Healthcare
International Human Rights Day commemorates the anniversary of the ratification of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which established the right of people in every nation to come together into unions and bargain contracts collectively.
The U.S. government had recognized those rights 13 years earlier with the National Labor Relations Act. Today, however, many workers say those rights exist only on paper. Workers may have the legal right to form unions to negotiate for better benefits, pay and safety standards, but they are routinely undermined by employers across the country who block their efforts with threats, coercion, and intimidation.
This event is being hosted by UVM's Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) and coordinated by the Vermont Workers' Center - Jobs with Justice & the Vermont State Labor Council AFL- CIO.
Other sponsors include: American Federation of Government Employees Local 948 (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1343 (AFSCME), Alliance @ IBM – CWA Local 1701, Alliance of Retired Americans (ARA), Carpenters Local 1996, Champlain Valley Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, Communication Workers of America Local 1400 (CWA), High Road Vermont, Ironworkers Local 474, Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 522 (LIUNA), National Writers Union, Office and Professional Employees International (OPEIU) Local 6, Students For Peace & Global Justice (SFPGJ), Student Labor Action Project at UVM (SLAP), United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), United Professions of Vermont – American Federation of Teachers, United Steelworkers of America Local 4 (USWA), United Steelworkers of America Local 5518 (USWA), Fletcher Allen nurses union, United Professions of Vermont/AFT Local 5221, Vermont Building & Construction Trades Council AFL-CIO, Vermont Citizens Campaign for Health (VCCH), Vermont Health Care for All, Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, Vermont - National Education Association (VNEA), Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA), Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO, Vermont Workers’ Center – Jobs With Justice, Washington-Orange County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO.