Employee Free Choice Act, International Human Rights Day and Eleanor Roosevelt

Today is International Human Rights Day, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
 
One of those inalienable rights is the right to form a union.
 
So it is the perfect day to express support for the Employee Free Choice Act which upholds that right to form a union, the dignity of the worker, and the dignity of work.
 
James Parks at the AFL-CIO blog writes: "In Boston, representatives from a dozen community and labor organizations will gather to kick off a statewide campaign in support of the legislation, which would give workers a simple one-step process to freely choose a union. It also would strengthen penalties against companies that intimidate employees trying to form unions and provide for mediation and arbitration when employers and workers cannot agree on a first contract.
 
"In Miami, workers plan to leaflet at various sites around the city, explaining the links between human rights and workers’ rights."
 
By the way, Eleanor Roosevelt was elected by the delegates to the UN Commission on Human Rights as the chairperson of that body and she worked tirelessly to make the Declaration a reality. 
 

"Eleanor Roosevelt’s personal sense of accomplishment with the finished Declaration was unparalleled in her life.. Her speech before the General Assembly as she submitted the Declaration for review demonstrates the historical significance she placed upon its adoption:

We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This declaration may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere. We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation in 1789 [of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man], the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the U.S., and the adoption of comparable declarations at different times in other countries...

"Eleanor Roosevelt’s concern for humanity made her the driving force behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her leadership of the Commission on Human Rights led to the composition of a Declaration that has endured as a universally accepted standard of achievement for all nations. As our respect for and understanding of the Universal Declaration has grown, so too has our gratitude and admiration for this modest woman who passionately pursued what she imagined would become a cornerstone in the struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms for everyone - everywhere."

 

She would have been at the forefront of demonstrable support for the Employee Free Choice Act.

 

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