Officers of the Central Alabama Labor Federation, AFL-CIO and leaders of local unions in Birmingham and Jefferson County will join with community and religious leaders and elected officials Monday, Dec. 10, at 2 p.m. for a community forum and press conference at CWA Union Hall, 210 Summit Pkwy, in Birmingham.

This press conference, one of hundreds of events being held across America on Monday, International Human Rights Day, is designed to expose the loss by American workers of a fundamental and internationally recognized right, freedom of association and the right to join and form labor unions, according to a press release.

The right to form a union is one of the basic human rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ratified by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. U.S. labor law has recognized the right of American workers to organize since the National Labor Relations Act passed by Congress in 1935.

"But routine and massive violation by employers of the legal rights of workers has essentially nullified the law and workers attempting to exercise those rights are harassed, coerced, intimidated and fired with impunity," union spokesman Stewart Burkhalter said. "The result is that U.S. workers have fewer rights than workers in any other industrialized nation."

Research shows that 60 million Americans say they would join a union tomorrow if given a fair chance. Union workers make on the average 26 percent more than workers without a union and are far more likely to have health and pension benefits, according to government statistics.

Speakers will include Stewart Burkhalter, President of Alabama AFL-CIO; Jim Spearman, Executive Director of the Alabama Democratic Party; Ron Sparks, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries;
Lucy Baxley, former Lieutenant Governor; Senator E.B. McLain and Representative Merika Coleman.

For more information, contact Stewart Burkhalter at (334) 462-5434.