At the upcoming DPCA meeting in Washington DC, 15-16 October 2011, DA members around the world will discuss and vote on 13 resolutions drafted by country committees around the world. DACH is proud to have presented our resolution on collective bargaining rights passed at DACH Annual General Meeting in March 2011. Below is the updated text of the draft resolution Maya and Ammad will present for vote by DA's global body. We'll keep you posted on the outcome!
To review all the draft resolutions, click here.
Resolution on protecting the fundamental right to collective bargaining for public service employees
Proposed by Maya Samara (Switzerland), based on the text adopted by Democrats Abroad Switzerland at its Annual General Meeting on 27 March 2011.
WHEREAS Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining are Fundamental Rights according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1998 International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work;
WHEREAS collective bargaining by and with public sector unions has functioned effectively in Wisconsin since 1959 (and in many other states where it is currently under threat) and has consistently served as an efficient tool for establishing and regulating terms and conditions of work;
WHEREAS considerable efforts have been made by public sector unions in Wisconsin and elsewhere to use collective bargaining as a means of addressing the budgetary crises facing their respective State and local governments;
WHEREAS public sector unions have been willing to make sacrifices in order to help their State and local governments meet the challenge of the budgetary shortfalls not of their making;
WHEREAS the ideologically driven efforts of numerous state Governors and state legislatures, the American Legislative Exchange Council and other special interest groups funded by the Koch Brothers, together with the Republican Party have created a budgetary crisis by slashing taxes on the rich while blaming the men and women who make our government work for budgetary shortfalls, with the ultimate goal of withdrawing a fundamental right and advancing a neo-liberal agenda aimed at privatization of public services;
WHEREAS the impact of the recall elections in Wisconsin, where, despite being out-spent by outside conservative groups (who do not report their spending publicly), efforts by the Republican party to impose, at considerable cost to the state, invalid primary elections, and
Republican efforts using intimidation and misinformation to suppress voter turnout, the committed citizens of Wisconsin sent a clear signal of support for public service employees to the State capitol, to Washington, D.C. and to the world,;
BE IT RESOLVED that Democrats Abroad
• applaud the commitment and resolve of trade unionists, students and concerned citizens who have been peacefully protesting,
• express its solidarity with public service employees in Wisconsin and in a growing number of other States where workers' rights are under threat,
• support the 14 Wisconsin Democratic Legislators who took direct, principled action, and
• commend the grassroots effort to recall 8 Wisconsin Republican Legislators who had aligned themselves with an ideologically driven effort to violate fundamental human rights rather than respecting the trust placed in them by the Wisconsin voters;
AND LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that Democrats Abroad support all efforts to mobilize ongoing support for public service employees, to expose the right-wing supporters of laws to restrain the fundamental right to collective bargaining, to persuade Governor Walker to take steps to reverse the ill-conceived and dangerous legislation passed by the Wisconsin State Assembly, and to persuade Governors of all states where this right is under threat to respect the rights of public service employees.
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