The ILO finding comes in response to a complaint filed in December 2005 by the
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) and UE Local 150,
the North Carolina Public Service Union. The UE was joined by the FAT, ZENROREN
(the Progressive Labor Federation in Japan) and the SFPQ and CSQ (public sector
unions in Quebec in serving the governor with the complaint. In February 2006,
UE was also joined in its complaint by Public Services International (PSI), a
worldwide federation of trade unions representing more than 20 million public
sector workers in 160 countries.

The ILO ruling is a major victory for
labor and civil rights organizations in North Carolina who have been demanding
full collective bargaining rights for public employees. the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) had charged the U.S. with failure to
uphold its obligations, as a member state of the ILO, to protect the
internationally-recognized rights of public employees in North Carolina to
freedom of association and collective bargaining. North Carolina General Statute
§ 95-98 prohibits collective bargaining and declares any agreement between a
labor union and any city, town, county, or the state to be illegal and null and
void. The union alleged in the complaint that, by failing to take actions to
overturn this law, the U.S. government is violating international law and ILO
rules. The ILO’s decision sustains these charges.

In the Autumn of 2005,
the International Commission for Labor Rights (ICLR) sent an independent
delegation of international labor rights experts from around the world to North
Carolina to document working conditions for public sector workers in the state.
After meeting with workers, visiting work sites, and taking substantial
testimony at hearings attended by hundreds of public sector workers, the ICLR
delegation determined that North Carolina’s prohibition of collective bargaining
had resulted in deplorable working conditions for state and municipal workers
and that, if they were to gain the right to bargain collectively, these workers
could significantly improve their working conditions.  The ICLR report provided
significant support for the ILO complaint filed by UE.  UE's international
allies further supported the filing of the complaint: representatives of unions
from Mexico, Japan and Quebec, Canada accompanied the UE when it served the
governors office and participated in various press events denouncing the
deprivation of workers' rights.

Frustration with the lack of collective
bargaining and effective voice on the job has led to increasing protests by
North Carolina public employees. The most dramatic recent instance was a strike
by Raleigh sanitation workers on September 13-14, 2006. This unprecedented and
unplanned strike by Raleigh City workers clearly demonstrated the need and the
reasons why collective bargaining is necessary for public sector workers. The
workers confronted the City over issues of forced overtime, unpaid overtime
hours, and immensely heavy workloads. Without a formal grievance procedure or
other means of bargaining with management, these workers were left with little
choice but to walk off the job.  They sought out UE 150 and the IWJC, which
provided them with the tools and knowledge they needed to make their position
known in ways that have led to their demands being met. The City responded with
a wage and benefits increase and by making temporary workers permanent workers,
and the mayor publicly called for the state to legalize collective bargaining,
so issues can be resolved through bargaining rather than walkouts.

In
addition to the ILO complaint, UE has recently been involved in other actions
before international bodies, as part of its effort to bring about a change in
state law. In October 2006, the Authentic Workers Front (FAT) filed a petition
signed by 53 labor organizations from Mexico, Canada and the U.S., charging that
North Carolina’s ban on public employee bargaining violates the labor side
agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  More recently, a
request was filed with the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, requesting
that it also look into the violation of rights of public sector workers in North
Carolina under international law.

“We are very excited and gratified that
the ILO has endorsed what our union had been saying for years,” said Angaza
Laughinghouse, a state worker and president of UE Local 150. “This ruling by an
important body of the United Nations adds tremendous weight to the push for
collective bargaining rights for all North Carolina workers. Laughinghouse
called on Governor Mike Easley to provide leadership to bring the state into
harmony with international principles of democracy and human rights for working
people.”

UE’s national Director of Organization Bob Kingsley echoed
those sentiments. “This decision is an international wake-up call to state
lawmakers in North Carolina,” Kingsley said. “The world is watching. It’s time
to change the law and erase the disgraceful human rights deficit in the state
today.”

The ILO decision helped pave the way for the introduction of
legislation to repeal the prohibition on collective bargaining, far sooner that
we had believed would be possible. Looking ahead to the ongoing work over the
next few years, human rights will and should remain an integral and powerful
context for the struggle for collective bargaining. We recognize that we cannot
do this work alone, that for this struggle to be successful, we will have to be
part of a broad international movement, and we look forward to continuing to
work closely with other organizations to build our movement and to help create a
better world.