Union activists targetted across the globe

144 killed, 800 beaten or tortured in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East

By ITUC (Industrial Worker, December 2007)

An appalling total of 144 trade
unionists were murdered for defending
workers’ rights in 2006, while more than
800 suffered beatings or torture, according
to the Annual Survey of Trade Union
Rights Violations, published by the
168-million member International Trade
Union Confederation. The 379-page
report details nearly 5,000 arrests and
more than 8,000 dismissals of workers
due to their trade union activities. There
were 484 new cases of trade unionists
held in detention by governments also
documented in the report. The report
gives accounts of mass dismissals, beatings,
detentions and threats against
workers and their families used, sometimes
routinely, in countries in each
region of the world.
“Workers seeking to better their lives
through trade union activities are facing
rising levels of repression and intimidation
in an increasing number of countries.
Most shocking of all is the increase
of some 25% in the number killed compared
to the previous year”, said ITUC
General Secretary Guy Ryder.
Colombia kills most unionists
Colombia remained the most perilous
place in the world for union activity,
with 78 killings, almost all of which were
carried out with impunity by paramilitary
death squads linked to government
officials or acting at the behest of employers.
Of 1,165 murders documented
between 1994 and 2006, only 56 perpetrators
have been brought to trial, and a
total of 14 have been sentenced.
A wave of anti-union violence in the
Philippines is also documented in the
Survey, with 33 unionists and workerrights
supporters murdered, in some
cases by killers acting in collusion with
the military and the police.
In China, more than 100 workers are
detained in prisons and forced labour
camps living in appalling conditions.
The Zimbabwean government
continued its violent repression of the
country’s trade union movement. Police
arrested 265 participants in a trade
union protest and then proceeded to
severely beat 15 of them, including top
leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions in detention.
Government hostility
Growing government hostility to
fundamental workers’ rights is a major
cause of violence against trade union
members. In Australia, where the
government’s deceptively-titled “Work-
Choices” legislation stripped workers
of many rights and benefits and has
imposed heavy restrictions on union activity,
with harsh penalties for individual
workers and union officials. The government
launched prosecutions against 107
construction workers, who faced heavy
fines for taking industrial action in support
of a health and safety representative
who was dismissed. In the United States
a National Labour Relations Board
Ruling deprived millions of the right to
organise, extending the definition of the
term “supervisor”. Switzerland tried but
failed to invalidate the authority of the
ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association
with regard to Swiss labour laws.
Multinational companies attack
Multinational companies are another
source of violence against union members.
Repeat offenders included Coca
Cola subsidiaries and suppliers, Wal-
Mart, Goodyear, Nestlé and Bouygues.
Several multinationals took advantage
of an increasingly hostile environment
in Poland to clamp down on workers’
rights and conditions. Suppliers to wellknown
global brand names, especially
in the textiles and agriculture sectors,
used heavy repression to maintain their
control over the workplace.
Women workers
Women workers in particular continued
to face repression, particularly given
the exploitation of the mainly female
workforce in Export Processing Zones
in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with
numerous instances of dismissal and
outright refusal by employers to recognise
even the most fundamental rights of
their employees. In Morocco women textile
workers stood trial for organising a
strike, while in Mauritius women workers
taking part in a sit-in were beaten
by police. Abuse of women domestic
workers, amongst the most exploited of
the world’s 90 million migrant workers,
is also a prominent feature in several
countries, notably in the Gulf States.
“Governments need to face up to
their responsibilities to make sure that
global standards adopted at the International
Labour Organisation are fully
respected everywhere in the world,” said
Ryder, who noted that little had changed
from last year’s survey.
With files from the IW.