Dear Friends,
On July 1st the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) will enter an exciting and important new phase when we merge with Global Labor Justice (GLJ) and Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum begins as the Executive Director of the merged organization. We hope you will support the new team by making a general donation. We also hope you will join us for the 2020 Labor Rights Defenders Awards during an online celebration this fall so you can meet the whole GLJ-ILRF team and help us celebrate worker organizers and advocates worldwide.
This merger of two incredibly well-matched organizations is an opportunity to carry forward ILRF’s legacy and provide a larger, stronger base of support for the network of partners and allies around the world. Founded in 1986, ILRF was the first human rights campaign NGO focused fully on workers’ rights globally. Each Executive Director has helped carry this mission forward: continually pushing for stronger labor clauses in trade agreements, advocating for laws to criminalize companies that seek to import forced labor made goods, and campaigning for global brands to sign legally binding agreements with trade unions to ensure workers’ access to remedy.
We have made it a priority to build and support coalitions that advance local worker organizations’ goals and ability to gain power. Thanks to these alliances and the nearly 60,000 supporters in ILRF’s network, we have been able to respond when labor rights advocates have come under threat, helping to get charges dropped and lifting up the veracity of their claims and analysis. This work is more important than ever as workers are being jailed for demanding wages and global brands refuse to pay for work already completed before the COVID-19 shutdown. Labor rights defenders need to be at the center of the recovery and support for their work expanded. In every country, including the U.S., these brave men and women face incredible challenges because they are a triple threat to international and national elites because they dare to demand rule of law; challenge the economic order, and build a political base of members. Please join us in making a donation to support the merger of ILRF and GLJ. Help us build a countervailing force to challenge corporate greed and a stronger bulwark of support for labor rights defenders worldwide.
Over the past few months, Judy and JJ have worked closely together to map out the opportunities for merging GLJ and ILRF together. The merger builds on existing collaboration towards living wages and empowering women workers in key sectors and brings into focus commitments in three key areas:
- Defending Labor Rights — always focusing on building collective worker power and strengthening worker organizations centering on freedom of association and collective bargaining
- Defining New Strategies — foregrounding legal and policy tools integrated with research and campaigns to define a new normal and drive corporate and state accountability in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis
- Building a Broader Movement — bringing together movement partners including women’s rights, human rights, and climate change allies in an aligned effort to transform the global economy towards one that works for working people around the world
This merger follows ILRF’s strong history of growing and evolving to meet the current moment. The merged organization will create a larger, stronger organization able to defend labor rights and advance decent work in close collaboration with allies and partners.
We are excited about this next phase and we hope you will join us in supporting JJ and the newly merged team as they continue and grow this important work defending labor rights, defining the strategies that will transform the economy, and building a broader movement. If you can, please make an extra donation to support the planning and strategizing the team will be doing over the coming six months.
We hope you will stay engaged and even increase your engagement with the new organization. Please reach out to us if you have any questions.
Thank you for all you do for workers’ rights!
In solidarity,
Judy and Ashwini
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