News

Workers’ rights have weakened further in most regions of the world and are being worsened by severe crackdowns on freedom of speech and assembly, according to the 2016 ITUC Global Rights Index.

Restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly increased by 22% globally, the report found, with 50 out of 141 countries surveyed recording restrictions.

The ITUC Global Rights Index ranks 141 countries against 97 internationally-recognised indicators to assess where workers’ rights are best protected, in law and in practice.

UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “The ITUC’s findings reflect what our unions are contending with every day in most countries around the world – a closing of the democratic space and a stifling of the ability to speak out in the face of intimidation.”

“By removing freedom of speech and clamping down on workers’ rights we can only expect to see further inequality, economic stagnation and unrest.”

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said, “The speed at which attacks on rights are being forced through, even in democracies with the Finnish government’s proposals and the new trade union law in the United Kingdom, shows an alarming trend for working people and their families.”

“Repression of workers’ rights goes hand in hand with increased government control over freedom of expression, assembly and other fundamental civil liberties, with too many governments seeking to consolidate their own power and frequently doing the bidding of big business, which often sees fundamental rights as incompatible with its quest for profit at any expense.”

The Middle East and North Africa were again the worst region for working people, with the kafala system in the Gulf still enslaving millions of workers, the report said. Rights in Europe, traditionally the best-performing region in the Index, continue to deteriorate.  Despite the obvious failure of austerity policies, many European governments are continuing to undermine workers’ rights.

The ten worst countries for working people are Belarus, China, Colombia, Cambodia, Guatemala, India, Iran, Qatar, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.

Cambodia, India, Iran and Turkey joined the ranking of the ten worst countries for working people for the first time in 2016. The Cambodian government approved a new Trade Union Law further limiting workers’ ability to negotiate over their working conditions and pay, while police in India regularly use disproportionate violence against workers holding protests with many detained for simply exercising their rights guaranteed in national laws. Iran uses heavy prison sentences against workers for peaceful activities, and Turkey is targeting public servants engaging in legitimate and peaceful union activities, with at least 1,390 public sector workers under investigation.  The Turkish government has also become synonymous with attacks on freedom of speech, with ten foreign journalists banned since last October and Turkish journalists facing severe repression including trial and imprisonment on bogus grounds including “national security”.

The reports key findings include:

•         82 countries exclude workers from labour law.

•         Over two-thirds of countries have workers who have no right to strike.

•         More than half of all countries deny some or all workers collective bargaining.

•         Out of 141 countries, the number which deny or constrain free speech and freedom of assembly increased from 41 to 50 with Algeria, Cameroon, the United States and Pakistan joining the list.

•         Out of 141 countries, the number in which workers are exposed to physical violence and threats increased by 44 per cent (from 36 to 52) and include Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia and the Ukraine.

•         Unionists were murdered in 10 countries, including Chile, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Turkey.