Brussels, 10 June 2015 (ITUC OnLine): The Gulf States are
among the world’s worst countries for workers’ rights, while workers under
European austerity measures endured the starkest deterioration of standards,
according to the 2015 Global Rights Index.
The ITUC rights index ranks 141 countries against 97
internationally recognised indicators to assess where workers’ rights are best
protected, in law and in practice.
“Workers in the Gulf States where the draconian ‘kafala’
system is widespread endure many of the violations which make the Middle East
and North Africa the world’s worst region for fundamental rights at work,” said
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
“But in a worrying trend, European workers have witnessed
the starkest deterioration of their rights in the last 12 months due to
widespread government-imposed austerity measures taking effect.”
The International Trade Union Confederation has been
collecting data on the abuse of trade union rights around the world for more
than 30 years. This is the second year the ITUC has presented its findings
through the Global Rights Index, offering a snapshot for government and
business to see how their laws and supply chains have deteriorated or improved
in the last 12 months.
The ten worst countries for working people are Belarus,
China, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland and
United Arab Emirates.
Other countries ranked lower but had worsening conditions
this year in a clear negative trend for workers. These nations were Burundi,
Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Iran, Georgia, Russia, United Kingdom and Spain.
“Workers in Colombia and Guatemala have been murdered for
trying to negotiate better working conditions, while in Qatar and Saudi Arabia
migrants continue to endure forced labour and labour law exclusions which
amount to modern slavery.
“In 73 of 141 countries, workers faced dismissals,
suspensions, pay cuts and demotions for attempting to negotiate better working
conditions, while in 84 countries employers adopted illegal strategies to deny
or delay bargaining with representative trade unions.
“While a handful of countries have attained perfect
scores compared to last year, there’s been an increase across the board in the
number of countries where conditions have worsened, including nations such as
Cameroon, Hungary, Spain and South Africa,” Ms Burrow said.
The reports key findings include:
• Out of
a total of 141 countries, the number where workers faced arbitrary arrest and
detention increased from 35 to 44 ,
and included countries such as Spain and Brazil.
and included countries such as Spain and Brazil.
• In
almost 60 per cent of countries,certain types of workers are excluded from
their fundamental labour rights.
• Unionists
were murdered in 11 countries, one up from last year, including 22 deaths in
Colombia alone.
• Seventy
per cent of countries have workers with no right to strike.
• Two
thirds of countries deny workers collective bargaining rights.
• More
than half of countries in the survey deny workers access to the rule of law.
In the past year, unions have reported violent crackdowns
on peaceful protests in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Ukraine; in Qatar
around 100 migrant workers striking against poverty wages were arrested last
November, while in March this year a Filipino union organiser became the 18th
case of extra-judicial killing since 2010.
“International labour standards prescribe access to
fundamental rights for all workers,” Ms Burrow said. “Yet as corporate power
and inequality grows internationally, these results show governments and
employers in almost every country around the world must improve their treatment
of workers and arrest the increase in workplace violations.”
The 2015 ITUC Global Rights Index rates countries from
one to five according to 97 indicators, with an overall score placing countries
in one to five rankings.
1. Irregular
violations of rights: 16 countries including Finland & Uruguay
2. Repeated
violations of rights: 26 countries including Japan & Ireland
3. Regular
violations of rights: 36 countries including Israel & Australia
4. Systematic
violations of rights: 27 countries including Poland & USA
5. No
guarantee of rights: 27 countries including Belarus, China & Nigeria
5+ No
guarantee of rights due to breakdown of the rule of law: nine countries
including Syria, Central African Republic & Palestine
ENDS
Read the report – ITUC Global Rights Index: The worst
places in the world for workers: http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/survey_global_rights_index_2015_en.pdf
Download the ITUC Global Rights Index map: http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ituc-violationmap-2015-en_final.pdf
Download the ITUC Global Rights Index infographics: http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-global-rights-index-2015