Mission Statement
The workplace is the last frontier of human rights in America. While the United States has generally done well in protecting human rights in the political sphere, we have failed to protect these same human rights in the world of work. We have interpreted the human rights provisions of our Constitution to exclude the workplace. Of the seven workplace rights called for by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, none receives adequate protection under United States law. Many of these rights have never been recognized by U.S. law and are completely non-existent for American workers.
The United States stands alone among industrial democracies in this failing. Virtually all other such nations have done far more to protect human rights in the workplace.
This failure not only diminishes the human rights of American workers, but hurts the rights of those in other countries as well. The United States has championed the creation of a global economy. In such a world, individual nations have greatly diminished ability to establish standards for enterprises which operate within their borders, including standards of fairness for employees. But American efforts to insure that participation in international free trade associations is conditioned on the recognition and protection of workplace rights, while genuine and important, have been far too limited.
The United States has chosen to ignore human rights in the workplace in the mistaken belief that protecting human rights conflicts with the needs of a market economy and would undermine industrial productivity and lower our standard of living. The truth is quite the opposite. Protecting human rights at work would improve our economic performance and standard of living. Our failure to do so has made us not only less free, but poorer.
We believe that all people are entitled to the following rights at work:
- Freedom of expression- Workers have the right to express their opinions about any matter, including job related issues, without fear of reprisal, subject to reasonable rules protecting legitimate employer interests such as protection of intellectual property and defamation.
- Freedom of association- Workers are entitled to associate and work collectively on common issues, especially the right to organize labor unions and to strike. They may also freely choose with whom they associate during their non-working hours.
- Privacy- Employer monitoring of employee behavior and communications shall be limited to employees' work. Other activity that occurs at the workplace shall not be monitored. Employers shall provide full disclosure of all monitoring to affected employees, including the information that is collected, the means by which it is collected, and how the information is used. Employers shall not be permitted to monitor or control conduct that takes place away from the employer's premises during non-working hours except in rare cases where an employee's off-duty behavior affects his or her ability to perform the duties of their job.
- Equal Treatment- Workers have the right to be treated equally, free of discrimination based on factors other than their contribution to the enterprise. Where there has been a history of discrimination, appropriate remedies may be required to correct the resulting unfairness.
- Due Process- Workers may only be disciplined or discharged for just cause, after a fair hearing before a neutral decision maker. Workers shall have the right to take disputes involving legal rights to their nation's public courts unless they have made a knowing and voluntary choice to use a different method of dispute resolution. Such an agreement is voluntary only when it is not a condition of employment and when there are no adverse consequences for workers who decline to enter into the agreement.
- Safety and Health- Workers have the right to a safe and healthful workplace. Forced labor shall not be allowed, nor shall children be used as workers in a manner that interferes with their health or education. Employment requirements shall be structured in a manner that allows workers to strike a fair balance between work and family.
- Adequate Compensation- All workers have a right to fair compensation that allows them an existence consistent with human dignity.
These principles are recognized by the International Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. They should be recognized by American law as well. The United States cannot truly call itself a global leader on human rights until this failure has been corrected.
Our mission is to act as an advocate to see these rights recognized and enforced by law. We welcome the opportunity to work with all those who share these beliefs.
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