10 June, 2010101 trade unionists were murdered in 2009 - an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year, documents the ITUC's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights.
GLOBAL: The International Trade Union Confederation's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings - an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year. The Survey, released on June 9, also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers' rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.
Of 101 murdered, 48 were killed in Colombia, 16 in Guatemala, 12 in Honduras, six in Mexico, six in Bangladesh, four in Brazil, three in the Dominican Republic, three in the Philippines, one in India, one in Iraq and one in Nigeria. Twenty-two of the Colombian trade unionists who were killed were senior trade union leaders and five were women, as the onslaught of previous years continued. The rise in violence in Guatemala and Honduras also followed a trend developing in recent years.
This year's report again records an extensive list of violations suffered by trade unionists struggling to defend workers' interests, this time in 140 countries. Many other violations remain unreported, as working women and men are deprived of the means to have their voices heard, or fear to speak out due to the consequences to their jobs or even to their physical safety. Along with the appalling list of killings, the Survey provides detailed documentation of harassment, intimidation and other forms of anti-union persecution.
Union busting and pressure continued to be widely used by employers. In several countries, companies threatened workers with closure or transfer of production sites if they organised or joined a trade union. Often employers simply refused to negotiate with legitimate workers' representatives while the authorities did nothing. Some labour codes were amended to permit more "flexibility" and to unravel social welfare systems, which often impacted the existing industrial relations systems and thus curtailed trade union rights.
The undermining of internationally-recognised labour standards saw more and more workers facing insecurity and vulnerability in employment, with some 50 per cent of the global workforce now in precarious jobs. Many of the worst affected sectors have high concentrations of women workers. Furthermore, the growth of precarious forms of employment were seen across regions and industrial sectors. The difficulties faced by these workers to organise or exercise their trade union rights are directly related to their highly vulnerable position in the labour market.
The ITUC report notes that 2009 was the 60th Anniversary of the ILO Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, which has still not been ratified by countries such as Canada, China, India, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Thus, approximately half of the world's economically active population is not covered by the Convention.
To read the survey in full: http://survey.ituc-csi.org
To read the press release on Africa: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Africa-.html
To read the press release on Asia and Pacific: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Asia-and-Pacific-.html
To read the press release on Europe: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Europe-.html
To read the press release on Middle East: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Middle-East-.html
To read the press release on the Americas: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Americas-.html