ICFTU INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS annual survey of violations ➔of trade union rights Period under review: January to December 2004. ICFTU Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5, bte 1, B-1210 Brussels - Belgium Tel. 32-2-224.02.11 - Fax 32-2-201.58.15 E-mail: [email protected] - website: www.icftu.org ICFTU annual survey OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS 2005 Contents 030 FOREWORD 5 ASIA AND 159 Introduction THE PACIFIC 162 Australia EIGHT ILO CORE LABOUR 165 Azerbaijan STANDARDS 7 167 Bangladesh 171 Brunei STATISTICS 8 171 Burma 176 Cambodia AFRICA 11 Introduction 181 China, People’s Republic of 14 Algeria 190 Fiji 15 Angola 193 Hong Kong SAR (China) 17 Benin 197 India 18 Botswana 201 Indonesia 20 Burkina Faso 206 Japan 21 Burundi 208 Kazakhstan 23 Cameroon 209 Korea,Democratic People’s Republic of 25 Central African Republic 210 Korea,Republic of 26 Chad 217 Kyrgysztan 27 Congo, Democratic Republic of 218 Laos 29 Congo, Republic of 219 Macau SAR (China) 30 Côte d’Ivoire 221 Malaysia 31 Djibouti 224 Maldives 33 Egypt 225 Nepal 35 Equatorial Guinea 227 Pakistan 36 Ethiopia 231 Philippines 37 Gabon 234 Singapore 38 Gambia 236 Sri Lanka 39 Ghana 240 Taiwan 40 Guinea 241 Tajikistan 41 Guinee Bissau 242 Thailand 42 Kenya 247 Turkey 44 Lesotho 251 Vietnam 45 Libya 45 Madagascar EUROPE 253 Introduction 47 Malawi 256 Belarus 48 Mauritania 260 Belgium 50 Mauritius 262 Bosnia and Herzegovina 51 Morocco 264 Bulgaria 53 Mozambique 266 Croatia 55 Namibia 268 Cyprus 56 Nigeria 269 Czech Republic 61 Rwanda 271 Estonia 62 Senegal 273 Georgia 63 South Africa 275 Germany 64 Sudan 276 Hungary 65 Swaziland 279 Lithuania 67 Tanzania 281 Malta 69 Togo 281 Moldova 69 Tunisia 284 Poland 71 Uganda 287 Romania 72 Zambia 289 Russian Federation 75 Zimbabwe 293 Serbia and Montenegro 295 Slovakia AMERICAS 81 Introduction 297 Spain 84 Argentina 298 Switzerland 86 Bahamas 299 Ukraine 87 Belize 302 United Kingdom 88 Bolivia 89 Brazil 92 Canada 95 Chile MIDDLE EAST 307 Introduction 97 Colombia 310 Bahrain 108 Costa Rica 311 Iran 112 Cuba 315 Iraq 114 Dominican Republic 316 Israel 116 Ecuador 319 Jordan 119 El Salvador 320 Kuwait 121 Guatemala 322 Lebanon 126 Guyana 323 Oman 126 Haiti 324 Palestinian Authority 132 Honduras 325 Qatar 133 Jamaica 326 Saudi Arabia 135 Mexico 327 Syria 138 Nicaragua 328 United Arab Emirates 141 Panama 330 Yemen 142 Paraguay 145 Peru APPENDICES 332 ILO conventions 87 & 98 148 Trinidad and Tobago 148 United States of America 154 Venezuela ICFTU annual survey OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS 2005 Foreword 050 In the introduction to its report on “Organising for Social Justice”, published in May 2004, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) states that “Violations of freedom of association rights … persist in different forms, including murder, violence, detention and refusal to allow organisations the legal right to exist and function. People continue to lose their lives and their freedom for attempting to organise and defend collectively their fundamental rights”. This edition of the Survey, covering the year 2004, bears out this finding. A total of 145 people lost their lives because of their trade union activities in 2004, 16 more than in 2003. There was also an increase in the number of death threats and in the cases of physical injury, as can be seen from the tables appended to this report. I have to add the usual word of caution about these statistics however. These are only the reported cases. They do provide a clear indication of trends, but there are doubtless many more cases of rights violations that go unreported by those too frightened to speak out, or simply ignorant of their rights. Of the 137 countries covered in this report, the most serious violations occurred, as always, in Colombia where 99 trade unionists were murdered. Other regular villains to appear in this Survey are Zimbabwe and Nigeria in Africa, Venezuela, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the Americas, Burma, China and the Philippines in the Asian region, Belarus in Europe and many of the countries of the Middle East, notably Iran. Countless lives are blighted by the failure to respect trade union rights. Our thoughts must first go to the families of murdered trade unionists, as well as those sent to prison and their families, but we must not forget those who “only” lost their jobs for standing up for the right to decent pay, or working hours, or safe and healthy conditions. Many of them, particularly in countries with little or no social security, will be condemned to a lifetime of poverty and insecurity. And then there are the silent masses of workers who have no trade union to stand up for their rights, frequently subjected to appalling conditions, including poverty wages, excessive working hours and exposure to serious health risks at the hands of unscrupulous employers. All too many employers deny workers the right to organise, and while few countries now ban trade unions in law, many governments still fail to protect trade union rights in practice. Trade unionists are targeted, by employers and governments, because they are seen as a threat, either to political power or, increasingly, to economic competition. The murder of Chea Vichea, Cambodia’s most prominent trade union leader, provides a tragic illustration of this. The United States had agreed to increase its quotas for Cambodian textiles in 1999 in return for positive evidence that the country was complying with international labour standards. Textiles are Cambodia’s biggest export earner and the US its biggest market. The US demands were made as a direct result of union pressure. However, the quota system came to an end in 2004. Chea Vichea was murdered just weeks ICFTU annual survey OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS 2005 060 after the granting of the last quota, while another union leader, Ros Sovannareth, was killed four months later. Fierce and unregulated competition in the global market is continuing to undermine the respect for trade union rights elsewhere, as can be seen from the continued problems in the export processing zones, notably in the Ouanaminthe zone in Haiti. The increasingly dominant presence of China on the global market is hence a cause for concern. Freedom of association is still denied to the country’s vast workforce, by a government which only recognises the official union that once again proved completely ineffective in protecting workers’ rights. Two people received lengthy prison sentences for advocating independent trade unions on the internet, workers’ protests were dealt with violently by the police, with many participants facing police detention, and the health of two prominent trade union leaders imprisoned in March 2002, Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yungliang, badly deteriorated after they were denied medical treatment. These attacks on trade unionists are based on false assumptions. As underlined in the ILO’s report, far from being a threat, research and analysis have demonstrated that respect for basic trade union rights, namely freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, plays an important role in sound economic development. So our message to the employers and governments cited in this report is this: stop persecuting trade unionists and start treating them as the valuable partners they will prove to be. Guy Ryder General Secretary ICFTU annual survey OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS 2005 070 The eight core labour standards of the ILO (International Labour Organisation) It is indicated in the text whether a country has ratified the following conventions : • N° 29 Forced Labour (1930) • N° 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) • N° 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) • N° 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) • N° 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) • N° 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) • N° 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) • N° 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999) ICFTU annual survey OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS 2005 080 Violations by Continent 1200 Africa 1000 Deaths 4 800 Death threats 2 600 Torture/beatings/injuries 57 400 Arrests 159 200 Detention/imprisonment 37 Dismissals 979 0 1200 Americas 1000 Deaths 114 800 Death threats 458 600 Torture/beatings/injuries 120 400 Arrests 204 Detention/imprisonment 0 200 Dismissals 976 0 3000 Asia Pacific 2500 Deaths 16 2000 Death threats 2 1500 Torture/beatings/injuries 427 1000 Arrests 1653 Detention/imprisonment 25 500 Dismissals 2539 0 70 Europe 60 Deaths 0 50 Death threats 1 40 Torture/beatings/injuries 5 30 Arrests 1 20 Detention/imprisonment 0 10 Dismissals 63 0 150 Middle East 120 Deaths 11 Death threats 0 90 Torture/beatings/injuries 95 60 Arrests 122 Detention/imprisonment 0 30 Dismissals 1 0 Summary of global figures 5000 World Number of Countries 4000 Deaths 145 Africa 43 Death threats 463 3000 Americas 26 Torture/beatings/injuries 704 2000 Asia and the Pacific 30 Arrests 2017 Europe 23 Detention/imprisonment 184 1000 Middle East 14 Dismissals 4558 0 Total 136 ICFTU annual survey OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS 2005 090 By type of violation Arrests Africa 159 Americas 204 Asia Pacific 1653 Europe 1 Middle East 122 Death Africa 4 Americas 114 Asia Pacific 16 Europe 0 Middle East 11 Death Threats Africa 2 Americas 458 Asia Pacific 2 Europe 1 Middle East 0 Detention/imprisonment Africa 37 Americas 0 Asia Pacific 25 Europe 0 Middle East 0 Dismissals Africa 979 Americas 976 Asia Pacific 2539 Europe 63 Middle East 1 Tor ture/beatings/injuries Africa 57 Americas 120 Asia Pacific 427 Europe 5 Middle East 95 ICFTU annual survey OF VIOLATIONS OF TRADE UNION RIGHTS 2005 Africa is still the poorest, least developed continent on the planet.