Solidarity Center Files Lawsuit to Challenge Termination of Global Labor Rights Programs

/EIN News/ -- WASHINGTON, April 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Solidarity Center, Global March Against Child Labour, and the American Institutes for Research (AIR), represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, filed a lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s unlawful termination of congressionally authorized international labor rights programs.

The lawsuit challenges the Department’s halt on funding for programs administered by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). These longstanding, bipartisan programs are the backbone of U.S. efforts to uphold labor standards in global trade, combat child and forced labor and protect American and global workers and businesses from unfair competition.

“Programs like those run by our clients, which promote stronger labor standards and better working conditions worldwide, are both critical from a human rights standpoint and necessary to ensure that American companies and workers, as well as workers around the world, aren’t undercut in the global marketplace,” said Stephanie Garlock, lead counsel at Public Citizen. “Congress required the Department of Labor to fund these crucial programs. The Secretary of Labor has no authority to refuse to do so.”

The plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent further harm and restore funding lawfully appropriated by Congress.

The Solidarity Center, a U.S.-based nonprofit labor organization, had support for all 11 of its ILAB-funded projects terminated – totaling nearly $80 million. These programs, implemented in more than 15 countries, have supported workers organizing for better wages, enforcing safety standards and holding trade partners accountable under agreements like the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The termination of Global March Against Child Labour's single largest grant will impact around 40,000-50,000 children in Uganda, Peru and Nepal as its implementing partners' program developing child-labor-free municipalities cooperating with national governments has halted. The result will be tens of thousands of children out of school and a stoppage of preventive community work within supply chains like coffee production — even though these supply chains are crucial for U.S. companies' imports.

“This case is about more than funding – it’s about protecting workers and enforcing the law,” said Shawna Bader-Blau, Executive Director of the Solidarity Center. “When governments or companies exploit workers to cut costs, it drags down wages and standards everywhere – including in the U.S. These programs are vital to ensuring fair trade and dignity on the job, from Honduras to Ohio.”

“Cutting ILAB programs dismantles one of the main tools we have to fight worker exploitation in the global economy,” Bader-Blau added. “From the clothes we wear to the food we eat, most of what we buy is produced across complex supply chains that stretch around the world. ILAB programs help make sure those workers aren’t being abused – and that businesses that don’t play by the rules don’t get an advantage by exploiting workers overseas. We owe it to workers in America and around the world, to responsible businesses and to our trade partners to do better.”

Media Contacts: Solidarity Center: media@solidaritycenter.org or Emily Leach, Public Citizen: eleach@citizen.org

About the Solidarity Center

The Solidarity Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works with unions and worker organizations around the world to promote and protect labor rights. It supports frontline efforts to improve wages, working conditions and workplace safety, combat exploitation and advance the rule of law in the global economy. Learn more: www.solidaritycenter.org/stopping-the-race-to-the-bottom/

About Public Citizen Litigation Group

Public Citizen Litigation Group is the litigating arm of the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen Foundation. Founded in 1972, the Litigation Group has a long track record of holding federal agencies accountable and enforcing the rule of law in defense of the public good. Learn more: www.citizen.org/litigation.