Eleven recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and former Polish President Lech Walesa, are calling on the nations of the world to abide by the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights and fully recognize and defend workers' freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.

In a statement, released to commemorate International Human Rights Day Dec. 10, the Nobel Laureates express their grave concern about the state of workers' rights around the globe and urge all nations to vigorously protect and defend workers' inalienable human right to form unions free of discrimination, threats or harassment. The statement, in part, reads: "Protecting the right to form unions?is vital to promoting broadly shared economic prosperity, social justice, and strong democracies." The statement appeared as full-page advertisements in the New York Times, Washington Post and International Herald Tribune.

Former President Walesa, founder of the Solidarnosc trade union movement in Poland, initiated the statement. "It is our common duty to defend the rights of employees, to strengthen the trade unions and act towards proper organization of labor," said Walesa. "Creating good conditions for working people, enlarging the areas where people can work in peace and cooperate in solidarity, gives our civilization a chance to develop and build a safer world for the next generations."

"We are deeply gratified that some of the world's most recognized and esteemed advocates for peace and social justice have joined together to promote workers' rights as a major international human rights issue," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "It is incumbent upon our elected leaders in the U.S. to make a firm, unequivocal commitment to protect workers' rights to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining and set an example for the rest of the world to follow."

The statement's release, in conjunction with a massive AFL-CIO-sponsored mobilization leading up to Dec. 10, touches off a renewed push in the U.S. and worldwide to ensure workers' have a voice on the job and have the freedom to exercise their fundamental human right to form unions. Workers here in the U.S. and abroad will participate in more than 100 actions to highlight the importance of workers' freedom to form unions to the economic and social well-being of communities around the globe.

In addition to President Carter, Archibishop Tutu and President Walesa, other Nobel Laureates who have signed the statement are: His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Tibet), Dr. Jos? Ramos-Horta (East Timor), John Hume (Northern Ireland), International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Betty Williams (Ireland), M?iread Corrigan Maguire (Northern Ireland), Shirin Ebadi (Iran) and Jody Williams (U.S.).

Read the full text of the statement issued by the Nobel laureates.

This article is reprinted from the AFL-CIO website, www.aflcio.org

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