Thursday, November 20, 2008
[IWS] ITUC: 2008 ANNUAL SURVEY OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS [20 November 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
2008 ANNUAL SURVEY OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS [20 November 2008]
http://survey08.ituc-csi.org/survey.php?mode=pr&IDCont=1&Lang=EN
See Press Release 20 November 2008
http://ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article2539
Trade union rights are universally recognised human rights at work. The two key ILO Conventions 87 and 98 which define and guarantee them have been ratified by 148 and 158 Member States of the ILO, respectively, out of the total of 181 worldwide. They are also codified in a raft of national constitutions and legislation. And yet, as this Survey shows, trade union rights are also subject to massive and often vicious violation. Evidently, ratification is one thing, and application quite another.
This Survey gives an overview of the trade union rights situation in the world in 2007 and of the major violations that took place. In many cases they had fatal consequences. But they also reflect wasted opportunities to promote better labour relations, improve working conditions and productivity and to build or consolidate democratic institutions.
This Survey is also intended as a tool. It illustrates good practice in cases where improvements are recorded. It also contains the full text of ILO core conventions 87 and 98 as well as an overview of ILO decisions on key issues concerning trade union rights, which are often insufficiently known and understood.
The most tragic consequences of anti-union actions are still the alarming numbers of murders, abductions, arrests and imprisonments, as well as acts of discrimination and intimidation against trade unionists, which continued unabated in 2007. The list of worst offending countries in terms of anti-union violence and repression is getting longer rather than shorter. The long-standing notorious cases of Colombia, Burma, Belarus, Sudan, Swaziland and the Philippines have been joined by Zimbabwe, Guinea, Pakistan, Nepal and Honduras, where serious and persistent violations were worse in 2007 than before.
The most horrific record remains the shameful property of Colombia where, in 2007, another 39 trade unionists were murdered in conditions of continued impunity.
In too many countries across the globe, trade unions continue to be banned or their work severely restricted in particular sectors. Public service workers, agricultural workers, health workers, teachers and journalists are amongst the main victims of these situations. Conditions in this regard have worsened in countries like Pakistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Ecuador and Peru. Moreover, the concept of �essential services� is frequently used and abused by governments to deny the rights to strike, to collective bargaining and even to organise, to categories of workers whose basic trade union rights are recognised under the terms of international conventions. This is the case in countries such as Serbia, Turkey, South Africa, Pakistan, Ghana and Kenya.
Trade union pluralism and workers� rights to set up trade unions of their own free choice are still denied in a number of countries, particularly in Asia (e.g. China, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam) and in the Middle East and the Gulf States (e.g. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Yemen).
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
2008 ANNUAL SURVEY OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS [20 November 2008]
http://survey08.ituc-csi.org/survey.php?mode=pr&IDCont=1&Lang=EN
See Press Release 20 November 2008
http://ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article2539
Trade union rights are universally recognised human rights at work. The two key ILO Conventions 87 and 98 which define and guarantee them have been ratified by 148 and 158 Member States of the ILO, respectively, out of the total of 181 worldwide. They are also codified in a raft of national constitutions and legislation. And yet, as this Survey shows, trade union rights are also subject to massive and often vicious violation. Evidently, ratification is one thing, and application quite another.
This Survey gives an overview of the trade union rights situation in the world in 2007 and of the major violations that took place. In many cases they had fatal consequences. But they also reflect wasted opportunities to promote better labour relations, improve working conditions and productivity and to build or consolidate democratic institutions.
This Survey is also intended as a tool. It illustrates good practice in cases where improvements are recorded. It also contains the full text of ILO core conventions 87 and 98 as well as an overview of ILO decisions on key issues concerning trade union rights, which are often insufficiently known and understood.
The most tragic consequences of anti-union actions are still the alarming numbers of murders, abductions, arrests and imprisonments, as well as acts of discrimination and intimidation against trade unionists, which continued unabated in 2007. The list of worst offending countries in terms of anti-union violence and repression is getting longer rather than shorter. The long-standing notorious cases of Colombia, Burma, Belarus, Sudan, Swaziland and the Philippines have been joined by Zimbabwe, Guinea, Pakistan, Nepal and Honduras, where serious and persistent violations were worse in 2007 than before.
The most horrific record remains the shameful property of Colombia where, in 2007, another 39 trade unionists were murdered in conditions of continued impunity.
In too many countries across the globe, trade unions continue to be banned or their work severely restricted in particular sectors. Public service workers, agricultural workers, health workers, teachers and journalists are amongst the main victims of these situations. Conditions in this regard have worsened in countries like Pakistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Ecuador and Peru. Moreover, the concept of �essential services� is frequently used and abused by governments to deny the rights to strike, to collective bargaining and even to organise, to categories of workers whose basic trade union rights are recognised under the terms of international conventions. This is the case in countries such as Serbia, Turkey, South Africa, Pakistan, Ghana and Kenya.
Trade union pluralism and workers� rights to set up trade unions of their own free choice are still denied in a number of countries, particularly in Asia (e.g. China, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam) and in the Middle East and the Gulf States (e.g. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Yemen).
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 8:00 AM
