Labor & Employment Law

Survey: 101 Union Members Killed in 2009

By James Parks

Some 101 trade unionists were murdered last year, a dramatic 30 percent increase over the previous year, according to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC’s) Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights. The survey, released today, also reveals increased attacks on basic workers’ rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis worsens.

Colombia?where nearly half (48) of the murders took place?continues to be the most dangerous place to belong to a union. Another 16 unionists were killed in Guatemala, 12 in Honduras, six in Mexico, six in Bangladesh, four in Brazil, three in the Dominican Republic, three in the Philippines and one each in India, Iraq and Nigeria. Click here to read the full survey.

Said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder:

Colombia was yet again the country where standing up for fundamental rights of workers is more likely than anywhere else to mean a death sentence, despite the Colombian government’s public relations campaign to the contrary. The worsening situation in Guatemala, Honduras and several other countries is also cause for extreme concern.

This year’s report also shows a growing trend of violations against trade unionists struggling to defend workers’ rights, including harassment, death threats, intimidation and false imprisonment.

Because unions around the world are often on the front lines fighting for democracy, anti-democratic forces target union members, the survey says. This was especially evident in Honduras during the post-coup violence and in Guinea during a protest demonstration against the ruling junta, which turned into a terrible massacre in September.

Employers also continued to widely use union-busting and pressure tactics to thwart workers’ desire to join a union.

The survey notes that more than 60 years after its passage, the International Labor Organization’s (ILO’s) Convention on the freedom to organize and to bargain collectively still has not been ratified by countries such as Canada, China, India, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. That means that about half of the world’s workers are not covered by the convention.

Ryder adds:

This year’s ITUC survey shows that the majority of the world’s workers still lack effective protection of their rights to organize trade unions and bargain collectively. This is a major factor in the long-term increase in economic inequality within and between countries. Inadequate incomes for much of the world’s workforce helped cause the global economic crisis, and is making it much harder to put the economy on a path of sustainable growth.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on June 09, 2010 (boomark / email).