The American Center for International Labor Solidarity (commonly referred to as Solidarity Center) was founded in 1997 by the largest federation of labor unions in the United States, the AFL-CIO. Solidarity Center has offices all over the world and claims to be working with more than 400 labor unions across the globe.¹

The Solidarity Center has received the majority of its funding from United States government grants. The bulk of these grants come from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).²

Founding

The Solidarity Center was founded in 1997 the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations). The nonprofit organization is currently working with more than 400 labor unions in over sixty countries around the world.¹ The Solidarity Center is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(5) labor organization. ³

Before John Sweeney became president of the AFL-CIO in 1995, the federation was more centrist and anti-communist than it is today. Sweeney instigated a reform of the federation when he took leadership; turning it into a more left-wing organization by removing members “who were associated with the old crowd and their Cold War line.”⁴

Funding

According to multiple reports, Solidarity Center receives the majority of its funding from the United States government via grants from organizations such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).²

Solidarity Center received just under $30 million from government grants in 2004, $29 million in 2005, $29.5 million in 2006, $27 million in 2007, $28.5 million in 2008, $28.9 million in 2009, $28.5 million in 2010, $28.6 million in 2011, $31 million in 2012, $32 million in 2013, $31 million in 2014, and $29.6 million in 2015.⁵

Solidarity Center also receives funding from private foundations. According to the organization’s 2016 990 form, it received $300,000 from related organizations compared to the $29.9 million it received from government grants.⁶

Between 1997 and 2005, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided Solidarity Center with a core grant of $9 million annually. The agency then dropped its core funding to $7.5 million annually.²

According to the group’s 2023 tax return, the group had $72,886,909 in income, $73,054,462 in expenses, and $4,389,967 in net assets. The group received $72,159,389 from government agencies. ³

In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded the Solidarity Center $6 million to support unionization efforts in Indonesia and the Philippines. The Solidarity Center planned to use the grant money to promote unionization on infrastructure projects financed by multilateral development banks and ensure the project adheres to the multilateral development banks’ labor standards. ⁷

In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded the Solidarity Center $7 million to support a “just transition” in combating climate change in Brazil and Chile. The Solidarity Center planned on using the money to place pressure on manufacturing and mining sectors of the economy in Brazil and Chile to adopt more “green” policies. ⁸

Political Activities

The Solidarity Center operates in more than 60 countries around the world and has around 26 offices in countries such as Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Croatia, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Venezuela.⁹

Far-left organizations and media entities, including the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ) and the socialist labor union Industrial Workers of the World, have alleged that Solidarity Center was involved with multiple coups, most notably a failed coup against the leftist regime of Hugo Chavez in 2002 in Venezuela.⁹

Solidarity Center likewise supported a small labor union that wanted to oust then-leader of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The organization sent nearly $100,000 to Batay Ouvriye, a labor union which refused to oppose Aristide’s removal from office. ¹⁰

In January 2024, Thai Minister of Labor Phipat Ratchakitprakarn announced that his government would work with the Solidarity Center on “worker rights, gender equality, and occupational health and safety.” ¹¹

In August 2024, the Cambodian Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solidarity Center. ¹²

Anti-Israel Bias

One article on Solidarity Center’s website laments that “Attempts at a Palestinian national dialogue have failed to bring unity between the two political parties, Fatah and Hamas.”¹³ Fatah is essentially the late Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), arguably one of the most renowned terrorist organizations in the world, while Hamas is a terrorist group that aims to destroy Israel.¹⁴

Another article on the website links to a report written by the pro-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU). The report referred to Israel as the “Zionist entity,” a phrase used by Islamists who deny Israel’s right to exist to refer to the country.¹⁵

Solidarity Center also wrote an article condemning Israel’s position on ceasefire during the Israeli “Protective Edge” military campaign against Hamas. In the article, Solidarity Center links to multiple anti-Israel labor groups.¹⁵

International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network

In 2018, the Solidarity Center created the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (ILAW) to allow pro-union lawyers around the world to collaborate and exchange ideas. The goal is to use what works in one country and transfer those ideas and practices to other countries. The group hosts an annual conference on labor and legal issues from all over the world. ¹⁶

In October 2022, ILAW hosted a panel at its annual conference which called for workers to support a “just transition” to combat climate change and claimed that combating climate change could be a way to expand worker rights and social protections. ¹⁷

In August 2024, ILAW hosted a panel in support of a report the group issued which claimed that discrimination persisted, despite the enactment of international labor agreements which forbid it. The report claimed that discrimination was rampant in the informal economy and in situations involving migrant workers. ILAW Network chair and the Rule of Law director at the Solidarity Center Jeff Vogt said, “Discrimination is fundamental about power asymmetries in a society, which can most effectively be addressed through collective action.” ¹⁸

War in Ukraine

In February 2023, the Solidarity Center released a statement on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine denouncing Russia for launching “an unprovoked and unnecessary war.” The statement went on to praise Ukrainian unions for the role in providing humanitarian assistance to the victims of the fighting. ¹⁹

African Debt

In April 2024, the Solidarity Center applauded calls for nations to forgive debts owed by African governments. The group also called for African governments to crack down on corruption and to raise of taxes on multinational corporations to fund the development of the continent. ²⁰

Trade Agreements

In July 2024, the Solidarity Center facilitated an event held by the AFL-CIO and featuring African labor leaders which called for the strengthening of labor standards in the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). ²¹

Right To Strike

In January 2022, the Solidarity Center applauded the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to recognize the right of workers to strike in a decision related to a labor dispute in Guatemala. ²²

In September 2024, the Solidarity Center assisted the International Trade Union Confederation in submitting written comments to the International Court of Justice in support of recognizing the right of workers to strike. The group claimed that the International Labor Organization recognized the right to strike in one of its conventions and that protecting the right to strike is an important part of democracy. ²³

Migrant Workers

In September 2024, the Solidarity Center applauded the decision of Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov to join the United Nations’ Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Legal Migration (GCM). ²⁴

In October 2024, the Solidarity Center hosted a webinar with the U.S. State Department and other pro-immigration groups and activists on how to better organize and protect the rights of migrant workers. The webinar and an accompanying survey reported that migrant workers in Central Asia were typically low paid, did not receive overtime pay, and did not receive medical and other benefits. The webinar recommended changes in the recruitment policies for attracting migrant workers and for protecting the rights of migrant workers to organize and form unions. ²⁵

In October 2024, the Solidarity Center hosted a conference with Migrant Forum in Asia and Building and Wood Workers’ International on migrant workers and their rights. The conference’s purpose was to hold the Philippine government to account about the treatment of overseas Filipino workers. ²⁶

2034 World Cup

In December 2024, the Solidarity Center joined an Amnesty International-led statement denouncing the decision of FIFA to hold the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia. The group denounced the treatment of Saudi and migrant workers in the country and called upon FIFA and the businesses supporting the World Cup to ensure the fair treatment of workers. ²⁷

App-based Services

In November 2022, the Solidarity Center applauded the formation of the Iloilo Grab Riders Union (IGRU) in Iloilo City, Philippines. Delivery drivers in the Philippines tried to form the United Delivery Riders of the Philippines (RIDERS) as the national union representing drivers. ²⁸

In March 2023, the Solidarity Center hosted a panel on women workers for app-based services. The panel called for more unionized app-based workers, demanded the reclassification of workers as employees, and demanded higher pay and benefits for workers. ²⁹

In September 2024, the Solidarity Center criticized Dutch-based food delivery service iFood for the poor treatment of its drivers in Brazil. The group alleged that iFood paid workers less than minimum wage, made them work in unsafe conditions, and retaliated against workers who tried to form a union by banning them from the app or reducing their deliveries and pay. ³⁰

In January 2025, the Solidarity Center applauded the decision by the Philippine National Labor Relations Commission to reinstate a higher compensation package that the RIDERS-Sentro union won against Foodpanda, a Singaporean-based food delivery service which operates in the Philippines. While the decision only covered drivers working in the Cebu province, the union planned to seek similar judgements in other provinces. ³¹

In January 2025, the Solidarity Center supported a new law in Mexico which reclassified gig workers as employees and gave them access to “social security, accident insurance, pensions, maternity leave, company profits and a Christmas (holiday) bonus.” The law also required app-based companies to publish their algorithmic management practices and forbid the companies from withholding their workers’ wages. ³²

DEI Stances

Before the second Trump administration took office, the Solidarity Center had a section on its website “equality and inclusion.” The section led with the sentence, “The Solidarity Center engages with unions and their allies through an analysis and practice of equality, radical inclusion and intersectionality that is explicitly feminist, anti-racist, pro-equality, pro-worker, pro-migrant and class conscious.” The following paragraph went on to state that the Solidarity Center would go on to dismantle these the systems that “oppressive forces” created. ³³

The Solidarity Center commissioned Next Day Animations to create a cartoon called “Intersectionality” which explains the far-left concept which means that some people have multiple forms of “oppression” and identities which must be considered. ³⁴

After the second Trump administration took office, Solidarity Center removed the entire section of “equality and inclusion” from the website. ³⁵ Following the second Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid, the Solidarity Center took down its entire website to “reduce costs.” ³⁶

Affiliations

The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S., founded the Solidarity Center in 1997 and maintains close affiliation with the nonprofit. Although the AFL-CIO originally began as a more centrist labor federation, it became more left-of-center after John Sweeney took leadership in 1995. Since its controversial current president, Richard Trumka, took over, the federation has become closely aligned with the organizational Left and the Democratic Party.³⁷

Leadership

As of November 2022, the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Solidarity Center is AFL-CIO President Elizabeth Shuler. ³⁸ Former AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka was the previous Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Solidarity Center until he passed away on August 5, 2021. ³⁹

Shawna Bader-Blau has worked as Executive Director of the Solidarity Center since October 2011. ⁴⁰

1. “Who We Are.” Solidarity Center. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/who-we-are/.
2. Fishman, Phil. “Democracy, Union Made.” The American Interest. June 15, 2015. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.the-american-interest.com/2007/09/01/democracy-union-made/.
3. “American Center for International Labor Solidarity, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521984713/202443189349306369/full.
4. Rodberg, Simon. “The CIO without the CIA.” The American Prospect. December 19, 2001. Accessed November 29, 2018. http://prospect.org/article/cio-without-cia.
5. “Solidarity Center.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521984713.
6. “Solidarity Center 2016 990.” Nonprofit Explorer. May 09, 2013. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521984713/201733119349302758/IRS990.
7. “US Department of Labor Awards Grant to Support Safe, Quality Jobs in Indonesia, Philippines.” DOL, November 21, 2023. https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ilab/ilab20231121.
8. “Grant Summary.” USAspending. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_25K75IL000020_1605.
9. Scipes, Kim. “The 2002 Coup in Venezuela: Was the AFL-CIO Involved? -.” Industrial Workers of the World. September 26, 2006. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.iww.org/node/2891.
10. Scipes, Kim. “Worker-to-Worker Solidarity Committee to AFL-CIO: Cut All Ties with NED.” MR Online. January 25, 2018. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://mronline.org/2006/04/29/worker-to-worker-solidarity-committee-to-afl-cio-cut-all-ties-with-ned/.
11. “Thailand Will Work with US Solidarity Center on Labor Rights.” สถานเอกอัครราชทูต ณ กรุงวอชิงตัน, January 30, 2024. https://washingtondc.thaiembassy.org/en/content/thailand-will-work-with-us-solidarity-center-on-la.
12. Mathew, Manoj. “MLVT Renews Ties with Solidarity Center .” Khmer Times, August 8, 2024. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501537392/mlvt-renews-ties-with-solidarity-center/.
13. “Palestine.” Solidarity Center. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/where-we-work/middle-east-north-africa/palestine/.
14. Lockie, Alex. “Hamas, an Anti-Israel Terror Group, Is Enjoying a Huge Propaganda Boost from the Gaza Protests.” Business Insider. May 15, 2018. Accessed November 29, 2018. http://uk.businessinsider.com/hamas-israel-gaza-protests-2018-5?r=US&IR=T.
15. Harrod, Andrew. “Look for Jihad’s Union Label.” Capital Research Center. May 10, 2017. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://capitalresearch.org/article/look-for-jihads-union-label/.
16. Heath, Terrance. “Labor Lawyers Strategize at ILAW’s Third Global Conference.” Solidarity Center, October 28, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/labor-lawyers-strategize-at-ilaws-third-global-conference/.
17. Connell, Tula. “Workers, Unions Must Be Part of Sustainable Transitions.” Solidarity Center, October 8, 2022. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/workers-unions-must-be-part-of-sustainable-transitions/.
18. Connell, Tula. “Ilaw Network Report Seeks Solutions to Ending Discrimination.” Solidarity Center, August 2, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/ilaw-network-report-seeks-solutions-to-ending-discrimination/.
19. Hosinski, John A. “Solidarity Center Statement on One Year of War in Ukraine.” Solidarity Center, February 24, 2023. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/solidarity-center-statement-on-one-year-of-war-in-ukraine/.
20. Butler, Carolyn. “Government-Issued Debt, Illicit Financial Flows Bleed Africa Dry, Say Unions.” Solidarity Center, April 10, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/government-issued-debt-illicit-financial-flows-bleed-africa-dry-say-unions/.
21. Butler, Carolyn. “African, U.S. Unions Champion Worker Rights in Agoa Trade Agreement Renewal.” Solidarity Center, July 26, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/african-u-s-unions-champion-worker-rights-in-agoa-trade-agreement-renewal/.
22. “Americas Human Rights Court Rules Workers Have Right to Strike.” Solidarity Center, January 28, 2022. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/americas-human-rights-court-rules-workers-have-right-to-strike/.
23. “Workers Defend Right to Strike at International Court of Justice.” Solidarity Center, September 19, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/workers-defend-right-to-strike-at-international-court-of-justice/.
24. Butler, Carolyn. “Safe, Fair Migration One Step Closer for Kyrgyzstan’s Workers.” Solidarity Center, September 18, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/safe-fair-migration-one-step-closer-for-kyrgyzstans-workers/.
25. Connell, Tula. “Joining to Achieve Goals Key for Migrant Workers in Central Asia.” Solidarity Center, October 31, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/joining-to-achieve-goals-key-for-migrant-workers-in-central-asia/.
26. Antivola, Miguel. “Philippines: First Multi-Stakeholder Consult on Migration.” Solidarity Center, October 1, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/philippines-first-multi-stakeholder-consult-on-migration/.
27. “Joint Statement: Award of 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia Risks Lives and Exposes FIFA’s Empty Human Rights Commitments.” Solidarity Center, December 12, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/joint-statement-award-of-2034-world-cup-to-saudi-arabia-risks-lives-and-exposes-fifas-empty-human-rights-commitments/.
28. Garcia, Andreanna. “Delivery Drivers Launch Union in the Philippines.” Solidarity Center, November 29, 2022. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/iloilo-city-grab-delivery-riders-launch-union-for-delivery-riders-in-the-philippines/.
29. Connell, Tula. “With Unions, Women App-Based Drivers Steer toward a Fair Future.” Solidarity Center, March 8, 2023. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/with-unions-women-app-based-drivers-steer-toward-a-fair-future/.
30.  Connell, Tula. “Brazil Drivers: Ifood Must Keep Us Safe, Pay Decent Wages.” Solidarity Center, September 4, 2024. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/brazil-drivers-ifood-must-keep-us-safe-pay-decent-wages/.
31. Queliza, Skye. “Philippines: Delivery Riders Win Again, Foodpanda’s Appeal Denied.” Solidarity Center, January 8, 2025. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/riders-in-cebu-win-again-foodpandas-appeal-denied/.
32. Connell, Tula. “Mexico: App-Based Drivers Hail New Platform Law.” Solidarity Center, January 6, 2025. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/mexico-app-based-drivers-hail-new-platform-law-2/.
33.  “Category: Equality & Inclusion.” Solidarity Center. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20241014142941/https://www.solidaritycenter.org/category/what-we-do/equality-inclusion/.
34. “Solidarity Center: Intersectionality.” YouTube. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T27-SONRWbg.
35. “The Solidarity Center – Promoting Worker Rights Worldwide.” Solidarity Center. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250113030939/https://www.solidaritycenter.org/.
36. “The Solidarity Center – Promoting Worker Rights Worldwide.” Solidarity Center. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/.
37. “AFL-CIO.” Influence Watch. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.influencewatch.org/labor-union/afl-cio/.
38. “Board of Trustees.” Solidarity Center. Accessed November 16, 2022. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/who-we-are/board-of-trustees/.
39. “REMEMBERING RICHARD TRUMKA, CHAMPION OF GLOBAL SOLIDARITY.” Solidarity Center, August 6, 2021. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/remembering-richard-trumka-champion-of-global-solidarity/
40. “Leadership.” Solidarity Center. Accessed November 16, 2022. https://www.solidaritycenter.org/who-we-are/leadership/.