WORKERS RIGHTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE SOVIET UNION

The American Federation of Teachers has spoken out often over the years against violations of human rights and denial of worker freedoms wherever they have occurred. We have condemned such actions in South Africa, the Soviet Union, Chile, Uganda and Cuba among others. Recent events in the Soviet Union now warrant our further attention.

The Soviet Union persists in its flagrant violation of the Helsinki Accords by arresting, trying and sentencing those who publicize its human rights abuses. In recent months the USSR has made a mockery of the trial process as known to free societies by denying its victims even the presence of supporters in the courtroom. To those whose only "crimes" included attempting to monitor Soviet compliance with the Helsinki Accords and demonstrating a desire to leave Russia, the Soviets have inflicted harsh sentences of long years in exile and prison. Tragically, efforts to insure human rights in Soviet society have become the occasion for their further denial.

Democratic societies must speak out loudly against these examples of Soviet hypocrisy. The AFL-CIO has led the effort to support those struggling for human rights in the Soviet Union and this vigilance will continue. As teachers whose profession relies on the basic principles of human rights and academic freedom, we are especially concerned that those telling the truth about Soviet reality not be suppressed.

We deplore the sentencing of Vladimir Slepak to five years in exile for simply voicing his desire to leave the Soviet Union. Clearly, his important work as part of the Helsinki Monitoring Group is behind the Soviets' decision to banish him and publicly discredit his defense of human rights.

We abhor the silencing of Yuri Orlov who has been sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of internal exile for attempting to expose Soviet violations of human rights.

We extend our support to Aleksandr I. Ginzburg and Anatoly F. Shcharansky who are now victims of arbitrary injustices because of their courageous stand on human rights.

We recognize that the fate of these individuals does not bode well for those who have dared to organize a legitimate workers union, not controlled by the government. In joining the new Trade Union in Defense of Workers, some 200 brave men and women have directly challenged the authenticity of the existing, so-called unions which, acting as agents of communist repression, control workers and deny them their rights. The world must welcome this courageous effort to demonstrate what a free union really is. In extending support to them:

We call upon the Congress and the Carter Administration to end exchanges that involve government agents who claim to be trade unionists. Recognition of "official" Soviet unions in this way simply further legitimizes government control of Soviet labor organizations.

We urge the International Labor Organization to recognize the Trade Union in Defense of Workers as the bona fie representative of Soviet workers.

Democratic trade unionists and others committed to the survival of efforts like these must continue to speak out. Without our support these voices will be snuffed out and their hopes for human rights abandoned.