Communist nations rank high in workers’ rights violations —report

Freedom House: When we weaken unions, we weaken the entire democratic fabric

MANILA, Philippines—Communist-run nations around the world have been striking down workers’ rights and repressing labor unions, an international human rights watchdog revealed.

The Freedom House recently issued its report, which examines the global state of worker and trade union rights in 2009. It cited serious violations of the rights of workers and trade unions that have occurred in some countries in the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Leaders of independent trade unions in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus are frequently arrested and prosecuted for peaceful protests and dismissed from employment under its Trade Union Law of January 2000.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, does not have trade unions, the report said.

The study assesses the state of workers’ rights in 165 countries, which are then ranked on a five-category scale: Free, Mostly Free, Partly Free, Repressive, and Very Repressive. Their rankings are shown on a color-coded map.

Of the 165 countries, 40 countries were judged to have either Repressive or Very Repressive labor rights environments.

The 14 countries ranked as Very Repressive are:

* Belarus, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (in the former Soviet Union).
* Burma, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam (in Asia).
* Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Syria (in the Middle East).
* Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, and Sudan (in sub-Saharan Africa).
* Cuba (in the Americas)

Among the countries classified as Repressive are China, Egypt, Iran, Singapore, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Forty-one countries were found to have free labor rights environments. Of these, 26 were European Union member-states.

Arch Puddington, director of research at Freedom House and editor of the workers’ rights report was quoted in a media bulletin, “The findings of this study remind us that unions are an essential element of stable democracies, and that when we weaken unions, we weaken the entire democratic fabric.”

The report also found that the absence of genuine unions almost certainly contributes to job-site deaths and injuries. In China, where toothless state-controlled unions prevail, thousands of workers die each year in factory and mining accidents. (Newsbreak)