American Center for International Labor Solidarity
ACILS
|
| Full name |
American Center for International Labor Solidarity |
| Native name |
Solidarity Center |
| Founded |
1997 |
| Country |
United States |
| Head union |
Nancy Mills, Interim Executive Director |
| Affiliation |
AFL-CIO |
| Key people |
John J. Sweeney, Board of Trustees Chair |
| Office location |
888 16th Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20006; global field offices |
| Website |
solidaritycenter.org |
The American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), better known as the Solidarity Center, is a non-profit organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO labor federation that serves as a conduit for US foreign aid.
Its stated mission is to help build a global labor movement by strengthening the economic and political power of workers around the world through effective, independent, and democratic unions.
History
The AFL-CIO established ACILS in 1997. The Solidarity Center was created through the consolidation of four labor institutes: the American Institute for Free Labor Development, the Asian-American Free Labor Institute, the African-American Labor Center, and the Free Trade Union Institute. The pre-existing institutes were merged by John Sweeney when he was President of the AFL–CIO.
The AFL-CIO had worked internationally for many decades. With some funding from the OSS and CIA, it had worked to stop Communist movements in Western Europe after World War II.[1][2] In Guyana, labor unions and the CIA supported a general strike that stopped the PPP government from creating another PPP/state-controlled labor union.[3][4]
Role Played in American Foreign Policy
Programs
The Solidarity Center classifies its funding into the following program types[5]:
- Worker & Human Rights
- Organizing & Bargaining
The Solidarity Center assisted in Haiti's FTZ (Free Trade Zone). When textile manufacturer Grupo M, the Dominican Republic’s largest employer, applied to the International Finance Corporation (the World Bank’s private sector lending arm) for a $20 million loan to open a factory on the Haiti-Dominican border, the Solidarity Center, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the Dominican Federation of Free Trade Zone Workers (FEDOTRAZONAS) worked together to condition the loan on respect for worker rights.
- Global Economy
- Gender & Equality
- Safety & Health
- Migration & Human Trafficking
Funding
Over 96% of its funding comes from the United States federal government, mostly through the National Endowment for Democracy.[6] The NED distributes grants to four institutes, two associated with economic interests and two with political interests. The Solidary Center is associated with labor and the Center for International Private Enterprise is associated with the Chamber of Commerce. There are two institutes associated with the major U.S. political parties, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.[7][8] The open allocation of funding to these institutes has been intended to provide greater transparency to U.S. citizens, as appropriate for a democracy, than did the pre-1980s practice of providing covert funding through the CIA.[9]
The Solidarity Center receives funding from labor unions and solicits individual donations on its website.[10]
Field Offices
In addition to the international headquarters, the Solidarity Center maintains the following field offices[11]:
- Middle East and North Africa
References
- ^ Rodberg, Simon (Summer 2001). The ClO without the CIA:Inside the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center. The American Prospect. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/CIO_without_CIA.html. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
- ^ Lodge, George C. (1962). Spearheads of Democracy: Labor in the Developing Countries Harper & Row for the Council on Foreign Relations: New York. ASIN B0006AY0AU
- ^ Carew, Anthony (February 1998). The American Labor Movement in Fizzland: The Free Trade Union Committee and the CIA - Central Intelligence Agency. Labor History.
- ^ Waters, Robert (2005-03-15). The World's Longest General Strike: The AFL-CIO, the CIA, and British Guiana. Diplomatic History.
- ^ "Our Programs". ACILS. http://www.solidaritycenter.org/content.asp?pl=405&contentid=405. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
- ^ Solidarity Center 2009 Annual Report: Consolidated Statements of Activities, Years Ended December 31, 2008 and 2007. ACILS. 2009. http://www.solidaritycenter.org/files/pubs_annual_report_2009.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-20. For 2008, the Solidarity Center received $28,475,408 in direct federal grants and $1,080,361 in federal matching funds out of a total income of $30,564,015. This makes 96.70% of all funding federal. For 2007, federal grants made up 96.60% of all funding based on the finanical disclosures from page 31.
- ^ NED How We Work: Applying a multisectoral approach. National Endowment for Democracy. http://www.ned.org/about/how-we-work. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- ^ Chossudovsky, Michel (2008-04-13). China and America: The Tibet Human Rights PsyOp. Centre for Research on Globalization. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8673. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
- ^ Weinstein, Allen (1991-09-22). No Strings Attached? (Reprinted). Washington Post. http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/continued/3697/no_strings_attached/. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- ^ Contribute to the Solidarity Center Education Fund. ACILS. http://www.solidaritycenter.org/content.asp?pl=409&sl=409&contentid=432. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- ^ "Solidarity Center Offices". ACILS. http://www.solidaritycenter.org/content.asp?pl=409&sl=430&contentid=430. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
Further reading
- Bollen, Kenneth; Paxton, Pamela; Morishima, Rumi (June 2005). "Assessing international evaluations: An example from USAID’s Democracy and Governance Programs" (pdf). American Journal of Evaluation 26 (2): 189–203. doi:10.1177/1098214005275640. Evaluation performed on behalf of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), at the request of and with funding from the Strategic and Operational Research Agenda (SORA) of USAID (Office of Democracy and Governance in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance), according to the National Research Council (2008, p. 28). http://www.irss.unc.edu/odum/content/pdf/Bollen_Paxton_Morishima2005AJE.pdf.
- National Research Council, Committee on Evaluation of USAID Democracy Assistance Programs (2008). Goldstone, Jack A. ed (html). Improving democracy assistance: Building knowledge through evaluations and research. pp. xvi+336. ISBN 0-309-11736-4, ISBN-13 978-0-309-11736-4. Individuals can download the complete report (pdf format) for private use.. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12164.html.
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