> INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS (ICFTU)
>
> ICFTU Online
>From: "Luc Demaret" <icftu.press at mail.be>
>Global labour report denounces repression
>
>Thousands of people targeted for trade union activities world-wide
>
> Brussels, September 13 2000 (ICFTU OnLine): At least 140 trade unionists
> were assassinated, disappeared, or committed suicide after they were
> threatened, because they had the temerity to stand up for workers' rights
> against the state or unscrupulous employers, according to an annual survey
> published today (September 13) by the Brussels-based International
> Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). The Survey details violations
> of trade union rights in 113 countries during the period from January 1,
> 1999 to December 31, 1999. It says that nearly 3000 people were arrested,
> more then 1,500 were injured, beaten or tortured and at least 5,800 were
> harassed because of their legitimate trade union activities. Another 700
> trade unionists received death threats.
>
> "This year's report gives an opportunity to denounce the prevailing
> hypocrisy which sees government officials parading at international
> gatherings, ostensibly promoting basic workers' rights, while those who
> actually defend those fundamental rights at home are being harassed,
> attacked, threatened, sidelined or silenced - sometimes for ever," said
> Bill Jordan, general secretary of the ICFTU while presenting this year's
> findings.
>
> Abuses compiled in the survey range from murder to subtle legislative
> arrangements that make trade union activities increasingly looking like a
> daunting obstacle race.
>
> Some 12,000 workers were unfairly dismissed or refused reinstatement,
> sometimes with the complicity of the government, because they were active
> members of a trade union. At least 140 strikes or demonstrations were
> repressed by governments, sometimes with the support of the employers using
> strike breakers, while 80 of the 113 countries mentioned in the survey
> restrict the right to strike altogether.
>
> "Ruthless repression in Latin America, attacks and interference in Asia,
> arrests and imprisonment in Africa, severe restrictions and non-payment of
> wage in Eastern Europe and a growing trend to "union busting" activities in
> industrialised countries" are key findings of this year's findings,
> according to Bill Jordan. The ICFTU's annual report forms part of its
> campaign to promote a link between respect for core labour standards and
> international trade arrangements. The survey reports on violations of two
> of the most ratified Conventions of the UN's International Labour
> Organisation (ILO): Conventions 87 on Freedom of Association ratified by
> 130 countries and Convention 98 on the right to organise and collective
> bargaining ratifies by 145 countries.
>
> The ICFTU is the world's largest international trade union organisations
> with affiliated national centres in 145 countries representing more than
> 123 million workers world-wide.
>
> The Americas
>
> The Latin American continent remains the most dangerous place in the world
> for trade unionists. 90 trade unionists lost their lives, twice as many as
> any other continent, and about 70% of those arrested world-wide for
> carrying out trade union activities were from Latin America.
>
> Forming a trade union within an enterprise is virtually impossible in many
> Latin American countries. Workers' rights are ignored in the export
> processing zones (in particular in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala,
> Mexico and Honduras) and strikes are severely repressed: 726 trade
> unionists were injured or beaten for trying to enforce their rights. Those
> defending the workers' cause are constantly harassed by the authorities and
> employers. In at least two Export processing zones, renowned multinationals
> were described as resorting to pregnancy tests before recruiting workers.
>
> In Colombia, 76 trade unionists were assassinated or reported missing.
> These included 23 trade union leaders, 52 grass roots union activists, and
> a union bodyguard. There were 676 death threats, 13 attempted
> assassinations, 22 kidnaps, 28 forced exiles. The authorities used
> unnecessary force to end strikes, 149 people were injured and 418 arrested.
>
> In Argentina, mass demonstrations in several provinces to demand the
> payment of wages were brutally repressed by the police, leaving five dead
> and 25 injured.
>
> The situation for trade unionists in Guatemala remained very dangerous.
> Three of them were assassinated and there were at least 20 death threats
> against trade union leaders. Violence was particularly bad against workers
> in the banana plantations, where transitional corporations tried to destroy
> the trade unions.
>
> In Costa Rica, banana workers trying to form unions risk the sack, and are
> put on black lists. The suppression of labour unions enables employers to
> ignore safety regulations. Sometimes with dramatic results. The use of,
> otherwise forbidden, pesticides h as led to the death of workers. Cases of
> sterility and of women delivering deformed babies were also reported.
>
> In the United States, freedom of association and the right to strike are
> severely restricted. At least one in 10 union supporters campaigning to
> form a union is illegally fired. The instances of extreme exploitation have
> increased in particular of foreign workers recruited through private
> employment agencies. About 40% of public service employees are refused the
> right to strike and to bargain collectively. Workers regularly face
> harassment.
>
> Africa
>
> Trade union repression is rife in Africa. In this continent nearly four
> out of five arrests world-wide took place in Africa. 80% of the world
> total of those given prison sentences for their trade union activities were
> in Africa. Strikes and demonstrations were also harshly repressed. The
> legislation of 23 of the 31 African countries covered contains restrictive
> measures on the right to strike. Trade unionists are frequently harassed in
> Africa. The survey lists 834 cases, in nearly two thirds of African
> countries, a higher average than any other continent.
>
> An overriding feature in Africa is government interference in trade unions
> internal affairs. In Libya, Sudan, and in Equatorial Guinea the ban on
> independent trade unions remained. In the Central African Republic, the
> government continued to target the USTC and its leader, Thophile
> Sonny-Cole, was beaten up and prevented from attending international
> conferences.
>
> In Ethiopia, two leaders of the teachers' union ETA died in prison because
> of poor conditions, while another received a 15-year prison sentence, as
> part of continual harassment of the ETA. The national union centre the CETU
> remained under government control. The authorities in Djibouti imposed
> their own candidates at the top of the UGTD and the UDT, and froze their
> assets, claiming that the genuine organisations were illegal.
>
> In Morocco, 23 trade unionists were sent prison after striking over labour
> law violations, 21 of whom had been tortured by police in detention.
>
> In Swaziland, trade unions continued to be repressed, and the SFTU and its
> leaders were regularly harassed. The police detained the entire national
> executive committee of the Swazi Teachers Union, accusing them of
> "un-Swazi" behaviour because they had carried a coffin during a march.
>
> Zimbabwe was another country where respect for trade union rights
> deteriorated dramatically, and three leaders of the ZCTU were attacked
> following a strike. Strikes were declared illegal, and those taking party
> severely harassed.
>
> Asia and the Pacific
>
> At least 37 trade unionists lost their lives during strikes and many others
> were wounded in 1999. All the countries in the survey have legislation
> limiting the fundamental right to organise. In some countries such as
> Bangladesh and Pakistan workers have no trade union rights in the export
> processing zones, while in other countries such as Thailand, Fiji, India
> and Sri Lanka trade unions are not allowed in practice. Strikes and
> demonstrations are fiercely repressed. 19 of the 25 countries in the region
> have anti-strike legislation. In 40% of countries, trade unionists were
> beaten or injured as a result of their trade union activities. The
> authorities frequently intervened in trade union affairs, as according to
> the survey, nearly half of all cases of interference took place in Asia.
>
> In North Korea and Burma, the authorities have banned the formation of
> independent trade unions..
>
> China represses any attempt to form independent trade unions. Many trade
> unionists remained behind bars or were sent to prison without trial. At
> least 164 independent labour activists were sent to "rehabilitation through
> labour" camps. Hundreds of Chine se workers were injured during clashes
> with the police as they were protesting against the closures of factory
> which have resulted in millions of people losing their jobs.
>
> In Indonesia, although the trade union situation has improved the fall of
> President Suharto, the police and military still brutally intervene in most
> strikes.
>
> In South Korea, 230 people were arrested, more than 150 were injured and
> over 650 were harassed in anti-union repression.
>
> The recent history of Australian trade unionism has been one of continual
> assaults on trade unions at national and state level through the
> introduction of repressive legislation to deprive unions of their rights.
>
> There was no improvement in Pakistan's poor trade union rights record, and
> in 1999 the government added to the already severe restrictions. A wide
> range of workers cannot belong to unions, and in the country's export
> processing zones workers cannot form unions, bargain or go on strike.
>
> In Turkey the police have a record of continually repressing
>demonstrations.
>
> Middle East
>
> Trade unions are virtually non-existent in the Middle East, according to
> the ICFTU's trade union rights' survey. In all the cases examined by the
> ICFTU, legal barriers prevent workers from organising or from holding
> strikes. In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab
> Emirates, foreign workers, who make up at least two thirds of the labour
> force have virtually no rights and are not covered by any of the existing
> collective agreements. The situation is slightly better in Kuwait, where
> workers who have been in the country for five years are allowed to join
>unions.
>
> In Israel, the government used the law to ban strikes in the public sector,
> and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip who work in Israel
> cannot join Israeli trade unions nor can they organise their own unions in
> Israel.
>
> Europe
>
> Seven people in Europe lost their lives owing to their trade union
> activities, while another two committed suicide to draw the authorities'
> attention to the conditions they faced. In one quarter of the countries
> examined, trade unionists were injured or beaten. In nearly half of Eastern
> Europe, the government interfered in the trade unions' internal affairs.
> This interference amounted to about one third of the world total.
>
> In Belarus, President Lukashenko has established total state control over
> trade unions, making it impossible to start independent trade unions, or
> for unions to carry out legitimate activities. Trade unionists have been
> arrested for taking part in demonstrations or threatened with the sack if
> they do not leave the union.
>
> In Russia, four trade unionists were assassinated. Throughout the year the
> authorities refused to listen to the strikers' demands, often over the non-
> payment of wages.
>
> In Malta, the entire leadership of the General Workers Union as well as
> striking workers were charged with criminal offences, during the six-month
> industrial dispute, and 80 trade unionists were injured and 41 arrested.
>
> Restrictions on trade union rights persisted in Western Europe. In the
> United Kingdom companies used anti-union legislation still on the statute
> books to interfere in union affairs. 300 strikers were fired during a
> dispute with Lufthansa sky chefs, the world's largest catering company.
>
> Belgium is mentioned for court decisions which undermine the right to
> strike, and Germany and Switzerland ban the right to strike for certain
> categories of civil servant.
>
> For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
> 224 0202 or +32 476 62 10 18.
>