Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) stands in solidarity with union activists in Uzbekistan organizing the country’s first independent, democratically elected union and joins the Cotton Campaign’s calls on the Uzbek government to end the intimidation of union activists from local officials. Workers from the Indorama cotton plantations founded “Xalq Birligi” (Peoples’ Unity) in response to low wages and deteriorating working conditions in the transnational company, Indorama.

“The ability of this women-led union to survive and grow is a test for the Biden Administration’s willingness to make good on its commitment to prioritize labor rights and specifically freedom of association in its foreign policy,” said GLJ- ILRF’s Forced Labor Director Allison Gill. “The U.S. government, as well as the European Union, UK and other regional allies, must be proactive and swift to ensure noninterference as workers in Uzbekistan freely exercise their right to organize and to make this a priority for EU, UK, and other U.S. allies.”