The publication of the ITUC Annual Survey this year comes at a time of momentous change across the Arab world as people mobilise for their democratic rights. The denial of fundamental rights at work in these countries and the failure of countries to ensure decent jobs for millions of people, especially the young, are documented in this report. These trends, especially severe in the Arab countries, have been major drivers of the massive demand for reform there, but the denial of rights at work is by no means limited to the Middle East.

Further erosion of the rights to organise unions and to collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
worldwide is a strong feature of this year’s Survey, which covers 143 countries. The crisis in employment, set off by the global economic crisis, continues in every region as those who make policy have largely failed to make the changes needed to create and sustain employment. Governments have simply swallowed free market corporate rhetoric at the expense not only of working families but also of the stability and future of their own national economies. Big banks, big finance and big business have been allowed to dominate government policy, while unemployment, poverty and insecurity continue to grow. The very inequality, which was a driving force in tipping the world into economic crisis, is still growing, and the violation of basic international labour standards international labour standards Principles and norms related to labour matters, primarily codified in the Conventions and the Recommendations of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Include core labour rights such as freedom of association and the right to organise, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike, which are all covered by ILO Conventions 87 and 98.

See ITUC Guide to international trade union rights is itself the primary cause of this inequality.

While these global trends accelerate, trade unions in many countries face the most severe repression by governments and employers. Ninety people were killed in 2010 due to their involvement in legitimate trade union activities, and a further 75 were subjected to death threats. This Survey also documents some 2,500 arrests and 5,000 dismissals of trade unionists. Many more cases went unreported, in particular due to the climate of anti-union fear and intimidation in which many workers carry out their union activities.

Once again this year, the Americas was the deadliest region with the death toll remaining high in Colombia (49) and in Guatemala (10). A further 20 murder attempts were recorded in Colombia and two in Guatemala. Killings were also recorded in Bangladesh, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Pakistan, the Philippines, Swaziland and Uganda. In Iran, a teacher trade unionist was hanged after a “trial” which violated the most basic standards of justice, despite international protests.

In Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, Djibouti, the Russian Federation, Honduras, Iran, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Mexico, the Philippines, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, many trade union organisations continued to operate in a climate of violence and constant threats. The ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights ’s Commission of Inquiry on Zimbabwe confirmed that the Zimbabwean government was responsible for systemic and systematic violations of trade union rights. In Djibouti, the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights expressed its deep concern at the government’s complete lack of will to settle several cases of trade union rights violations.

Even before the popular uprisings in the Arab world, workers taking part in strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike actions and other union activities faced violence and arrest. Again, such intimidation was not limited to Arab countries. The Survey includes cases from Bangladesh, South Korea, Cambodia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, India, Iran, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Qatar, Tunisia and Yemen amongst others. In Iran, the government failed to deliver on its promise to free Mansour Osanloo, leader of the Teheran bus workers union, and imprisoned at least seven others. One person was also sentenced to corporal punishment. In Panama, some 700 people were injured and 101 arrested when the authorities reacted to worker protests at the removal of key legal protections at work.

Complete bans on trade unionism remained in place in several countries, notably Burma, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while severe restrictions on the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and other forms of union activity made effective trade union representation almost impossible. In certain sectors, especially agriculture, the public sector and domestic service, bans or restrictions on union activity deprived workers of representation in a number of countries, as did overly-broad definitions of “essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
”. Single, government-controlled or government-sponsored trade union systems also remained in China, Laos, North Korea, Syria, Vietnam and other countries.

Other notable deficiencies highlighted in the Survey include weak or non-existent enforcement of labour laws, including lack of investment in labour inspection labour inspection An authority responsible for ensuring compliance with labour laws and legal provisions relating to protection of workers through the inspection of workplaces. , appalling treatment of migrant workers in every region, especially in the Gulf countries, and exploitation of the mainly female workforce in the world’s export processing zones.

Some of the world’s most wealthy economies also figure in the report, in particular the USA, where attacks on organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. and collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights already identified in 2009 and previous years have actually intensified in 2010.

Defending and promoting workers’ rights to freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework and collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
constitutes the primary mission of the ITUC. Our actions in direct solidarity with workers whose rights are under attack, as well as in international fora, in particular at the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights , are and will always be the top priority of the ITUC. Our work across the scope of global institutions and international events – at the UN, the G20, the international financial institutions and elsewhere – will continue to put these fundamental rights, which are essential not only to human dignity and social justice but also to ending global poverty and ensuring sustainable development, at the forefront.

Mustapha Tlili, Director, ITUC Regional Office For Arab Countries, Amman – Jordan

The suddenness of the revolution in Tunisia in December 2010 and the immediate domino effect in Egypt have caused a powerful wind of real change and a yearning for change to blow through the entire Arab world.

In Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Kurdistan the news has been painfully dominated by instances of fierce crackdowns by many of the respective powers-that-be, designed to quell any such aspirations. This suppression has claimed hundreds of civilian lives, left thousands injured and prompted very numerous arrests. Protests have also been stamped out in Algeria, Mauritania, Jordan, Morocco and Palestine. In some countries, like Tunisia and Egypt, such government repression failed to prevent illegitimate, corrupt regimes from caving in to pressure exerted by the general public. In others, like Morocco, large-scale popular uprisings ended up exacting announcements of encouraging reforms.

The profound causes of the popular uprisings in all these countries are identical: the denial of fundamental human rights, unemployment, poverty, inequality, corruption and the despair of an entire young generation deprived of future prospects.

This report highlights the extremely dark picture regarding trade union rights in the Arab region in 2010. Against the backdrop of extremely severe restrictions imposed on the freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework , trade union rights are being very extensively violated there in spite of repeated promises by a series of countries that the situation will improve, and the tangible headway made in 2010 in the countries in question was far too meagre. The excessive frequency of rights violations presented in this report should suffice to convey the explosive nature of the situation that prevailed in 2010.

In Tunisia, the report spotlights the rising tide of social protest that was suppressed by the authorities, especially in the mining region of Gafsa (in the west central part of the country), which was where the first of the riots that eventually dethroned President Ben Ali broke out in December 2010. The government constantly meddled in the affairs of the Tunisian trade union movement until the last few days of the year, when the protests flared up thanks to growing support from the Tunisian General Union of Labor (UGTT).

In Egypt, the wave of revolt that began in 2006 was still going strong in 2010. The report stresses that in spite of sackings and reprisals by employers, police violence and numerous arrests, more and more workers had no hesitation in taking strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action and taking to the streets to protest. The report also underlines the strengthening of Egypt’s independent trade union movement, which having suffered many years of harassment under the old regime would play a key role in the revolution and in countering the influence of the omnipotent official trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. , in which the Mubarak regime directly pulled all the strings.

In Bahrain, the report underscores the recurrent problem of unemployment and inequality, these being the two major causes of unprecedented protests that broke out in mid-February 2011 before being swiftly and brutally snuffed out. Not only have scores of people been killed or disappeared, and hundreds been arrested, there has also been a massive wave of job losses, combined with threatened and actual violence perpetrated against workers and/or trade unionists in retaliation for their participation in strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action or their involvement in the protest movement. The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), which committed itself alongside the legitimate movement calling for more democracy in the country, is now finding itself the target of an extremely worrying campaign of repression.

From Libya to Bahrain and Yemen, migrant workers are once again finding themselves caught up in the whirlwind of popular Arab uprisings. The report already deplores the fact that such workers are too frequently exploited and deprived of their basic rights, especially in the Gulf region.

In Bahrain, the authorities are using migrants for their own ends by arranging for strikers to be replaced by non-striking workers, and by migrant workers in particular. The present crisis is exacerbating the government’s delay in paying a number of sub-contractors, leaving hundreds of migrants even without anything to eat.

The prime target in demonstrations are women, who have most certainly not escaped the clamp-down, and who also wish to seize this opportunity to see their efforts finally translate into greater equality on the labour market and in society as a whole, including within trade union organisations.

Trade unions throughout the region are also suffering from the gaping democratic deficit. In most countries, the single union system that facilitates the respective authorities’ control over labour movement activities is clashing head on with mounting aspirations for domestic democracy, especially among young people. These dissident youngsters are aware that when unions are free and independent they can make a crucial difference in the process of shifting to a situation characterised by respect for fundamental rights, social justice and decent jobs. Just as the weapon of large-scale strikes proved decisive in toppling dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, the historic events in the region during the early part of 2011 clearly show how indispensable free trade unionism is to democratic and social progress. To remedy the causes underlying these legitimate uprisings, trade union rights have to be fully respected, being essential for the construction of genuine democracy, which is indissociable from representative, independent trade unionism.