From domestic workers to factory workers, women are fighting for fair wages and working conditions, equal job opportunities, freedom from sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence, and social protections for all workers. 

Worker rights are a pillar of women’s economic empowerment, and fundamental to the broader social, political and economic rights outlined in the Beijing Platform. 

Come hear how women workers and their unions are organizing around the world to secure women’s fundamental labor rights!

Speakers:

Kalpona Akter, Executive Director, Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity

Cathy Feingold, Director, International Department, American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations

Elizabeth Tang, General Secretary, International Domestic Workers Federation

Accompanying Kalpona Akter will be Mahinur Begum, a former garment worker who survived the Rana Plaza building collapse when she was just 16 years old.

Sponsored by the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Association for Women’s Rights in Development, International Trade Union Confederation, Just Associates and the Solidarity Center.

This panel will be a side event to the Commission on the Status of Women 2015 Meetings at the United Nations.