This year it was published for the tenth time Annual Report On the Global Situation of Workers’ Rights by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). According to the analysis of the rankings of 149 countries, the global livelihood crisis has been accompanied by a decline in workers’ rights in all regions of the world. This year’s survey shows that in the case of many employee rights, the percentage of states violating them rose to or close to a record high. According to the main findings of the report
- The right to strike has been violated in 87% of countries.
- The right to collective bargaining was violated in 79% of countries.
- In 77% of countries, the right of workers to form or join trade unions is not guaranteed.
- In 73% of countries, trade union registration is prohibited.
- Workers’ access to justice is denied or restricted in 65% of countries.
- In 42% of countries, freedom of expression and assembly of workers advocating for their rights has been restricted.
- Workers have been arrested and detained in 69 countries.
- In 44 countries, law enforcement officers acted violently against workers.
- Trade union members have been killed in 8 countries.
In terms of enforcing employee rights, the following countries make up the ten worst performers in the world this year:
- bangladesh,
- ecuador,
- Egypt,
- belarus,
- filipino,
- guatemala,
- myanmar,
- Tunisia
- swaziland,
- turkey
The report divided the 149 countries examined into six categories according to the extent to which workers’ rights are respected in a given country. A grade of 1 is the best rating, and a grade of 5 or 5+ is the worst. In Category 5 countries, there is no guarantee of compliance with employee rights. The situation is the same as for countries in the 5+ category, it only happened there due to the disintegration of the rule of law.
Who are in the same category as us?
Hungary received a score of 4, which is therefore the third worst.
According to the ITUC definition, the degree of employee rights violation can be classified as systematic in the countries classified in this category. Apart from Hungary, of the 23 EU member states included in the survey, only Greece and Romania appear in this category. It is true that, like Hungary, the United Kingdom and the United States also have a score of 4, while countries such as Angola, Chad and Qatar are also included in this category. The latter country received significant international criticism regarding the large-scale infrastructure investments needed to host the FIFA World Cup last year due to the working conditions of guest workers working on construction sites.
The ITUC also criticized the restrictions on the right to strike in public education
With regard to Hungary, the report highlighted actions taken against trade unions, as well as the restriction of the right to strike and the violation of the right to collective bargaining.
In the lawsuit against trade unions, the ITUC noted that industrial companies abused procedures for working time concessions for union officials and arbitrarily denied leave intended for union activities.
Regarding the right to collective bargaining, the report highlighted that some auto companies have unilaterally introduced regulatory measures without consulting the relevant trade unions. In the railway sector, companies deliberately delayed negotiations. The report notes that refusing or not responding to wage consultation requests from trade unions was also a common practice in the country.
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Moreover, when unions reported violations of collective agreements, companies sometimes threatened workers with unilateral termination of collective agreements. This happened last year, when a company terminated the applicable collective agreement – which contained several provisions relating to layoffs – before announcing the layoffs.
With regard to the right to strike, the report highlighted that the government severely restricted the right to strike in public education in response to growing teacher discontent and past strikes.
Among the other Visegrád countries, Poland had a score of 3, meaning regular violations of workers’ rights, while the Czech Republic and Slovakia were placed in the second best category (frequent violations of workers’ rights). Neighboring Austria is in the best of the 9 country category, where violations of the law occur sporadically. In addition to Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Germany, Norway, Italy and Sweden, it also has a score of 1.
Separate list of companies that violate employee rights
The ITUC report this year also compiled a separate list of companies that violated employee rights last year or were in some way linked to the abuses. The list also includes 14 companies that violated employee rights or were linked to violations in an EU member state. These include companies such as Ryanair, IKEA, Uber or TUI.
Violations committed in EU member states include, for example, firing workers preparing to strike or refusing to negotiate a collective agreement.
the EURactiv In this regard, he points out that the majority of companies that have committed legal violations in EU member states have received EU funds from the European Commission for various purposes, such as research or infrastructure, in the past decade, the total value of which exceeds one billion euros. The portal dealing with EU policy issues notes that only Ryanair has received €962 million since 2014 under the European Network Financing Facility and through the Horizon programme. In June 2022, the airline refused to negotiate with the striking Spanish workers and took disciplinary action against the strikers. IKEA, which receives nearly 30 million euros in EU support through its Horizon 2020 research programme, carried out its firing in a way that violates the law and ignores legal protections for union leaders, according to Polish trade union Szolidarnoszty.
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