Workers face growing violence for demanding rights

Workers are facing increasing attacks around the world for demanding their rights, an international workers' union said in a report released on June 7. The annual report of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the largest international network of trade unions, says 115 trade unionists were murdered last year for defending workers' rights, while more than 1,600 were subjected to violent assaults and some 9,000 arrested. Nearly 10,000 workers were fired for their trade union involvement, and almost 1,700 detained, the report says. "But these numbers are only the tip of the iceberg," said Janek Kuczkiewicz, director of trade union rights with ICFTU. "Our report represents only a fraction of what is happening; we do not produce an exhaustive list of cases around the world." The information within the report relates only to cases where the ICFTU has received and verified information, he said. The number of 115 killed was slightly less than in 2004 "because of the slightly less dramatic situation in Colombia," Kuczkiewicz said. "But overall there were many more incidents of violent repression of collective action by workers, more intervention in strikes." One of the factors behind the increasing violence against trade unionists in developing countries is the governments' push towards attracting foreign investment. "Many governments are more concerned about attracting foreign capital than in ensuring the rights of workers," Kuczkiewicz said. The report shows the highest level of violence against trade unionists in Latin America. "Latin America remained the most perilous region for trade union activity, with Colombia once again topping the list for killings, intimidation and death threats," the ICFTU report says. "Seventy Colombian unionists paid the ultimate price for standing up for fundamental rights at work." The situation is much worse in Latin America "because there is unfortunately a certain tradition of solving disputes in Latin America through violence," Kuczkiewicz said. Also, the high incidence of violence has to be seen in the context of the internal armed conflict being waged in Colombia for the past 40 years. Other countries under the spotlight for violence and repression against unionists include Iraq, Iran, El Salvador, Djibouti, China, Cambodia, Guatemala, Zimbabwe and Burma, the report says. "Some Arabian Gulf countries continue to ban trade unions altogether, while in several other countries including North Korea, government-controlled 'official trade unions' are the order of the day," the report says. "In Australia, the government rushed through new laws depriving the country's workforce of the most fundamental protections." ICFTU general secretary Guy Ryder said "this year's report reveals deeply disturbing trends, especially for women, migrant workers and those who work in the public sector." Alongside the 70 killings, 260 Colombian trade unionists received death threats, in a climate of continuing impunity for the assassins, and deliberate targeting of trade unions by armed groups, the report says. "The education sector was a particular focus for repression, contributing to a growing phenomenon of violence against women workers." ICFTU, which represents 155 million workers in 236 affiliated organizations in 154 countries and territories, is particularly concerned with large-scale repression, much of it unreported, in large countries such as China and India. "China obviously does not want information on collective workers action to come out," Kuczkiewicz said. "In fact there are many people in jail there simply for talking to journalists about such collective action. And in India too our information represents only a small fraction of what is going on." Repression of workers' rights is a problem not only among developing countries, the report says. "The Bush administration continued its efforts to undermine freedom of association and collective bargaining in the USA, helping to ensure that union-busting remained rife," it says. "One of the most notorious anti-union employers in the US, Wal-Mart, spread its practices into Canada." In developing countries, export processing zones notably in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka were highlighted for anti-union action by employers, often with government complicity. Migrant workers suffered "extreme exploitation" in several Middle East countries, including Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Jordan, the report says. In a number of these countries, unions were still totally outlawed, or subject to heavy legal restrictions. "In the United Arab Emirates, 130 construction workers were violently attacked for going on strike, and some migrant workers remained unpaid for up to 16 months," the ICFTU report says. In Bahrain, hopes that the government would take some positive steps towards bringing the law further into line with international standards were dashed with the promulgation of a new legal disposition which is in fact more restrictive." But the report says "a positive move was made in Qatar, where a new labor code, although deficient in several respects, allowed for the creation of free trade unions." In Europe, the heaviest repression against trade unions was reported in Belarus, where the regime failed to implement any of the recommendations of an International Labor Organization commission of inquiry. Within the European Union, interference in and surveillance of trade unions was reported in Poland, while the German government refused to lift a ban on strikes by civil servants.