WASHINGTON - Some 213 trade unionists worldwide were assassinated or "disappeared" during the year 2002, down only slightly from the previous year, according to an annual survey released Tuesday by the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Union (ICFTU).

The ICFTU called the findings "a stain of anti-union repression that is spreading across the map of the world."

The 249-page 'Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights' details abuses in 133 countries during 2002.

"The report points to the devastating effects of crude, free-market globalization on workers' rights and shows how the world map of trade union rights violations is expanding in size," ICFTU said Tuesday.

The violations ranged from new laws restricting legitimate trade union activity, to intimidation, wrongful detention, torture and murder of trade unionists.

"The report details how tens of thousands of workers waited in vain for their wages to be paid, and describes a hemorrhage of jobs from formal, protected employment into a growing informal economy as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank-inspired policies continued to eat into the social fabric of developing countries."

ICFTU reported that "around the world, in particular in Africa, more and more workers had a daily struggle for survival, leaving them little chance to defend their most fundamental rights."

Restrictions and deficiencies in law deprived millions of workers in export-processing zones (EPZ) and in agriculture of their rights, according to the report. Conditions in EPZs were generally "extremely exploitative," with women workers suffering most, it said.

The report lists cases involving attacks and beatings of almost 1,000 union activists, 2,562 detentions, 89 prison sentences, the sacking of 30,300 trade unionists and harassment of some 20,000 others.

Some 206 killings took place in Latin America alone, with Colombia continuing to be the world's most dangerous place for trade unionists. No less than 184 union activists were killed in the South American country during 2002, compared to the killing or "disappearance" of 201 trade unionists in 2001.

Trade union rights were also violated in Africa, in part due to the weakness of states in upholding rights of association, according to the report.

Zimbabwe is the African country that caused most concern in 2002. The power of President Robert Mugabe was brought to bear particularly strongly on the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Dozens of trade unionists were arrested, and some severely beaten by police. Former union leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has run unsuccessfully against against Mugabe for the presidency, has been charged twice with treason, most recently as a result of a mass stayaway organized by the opposition last week.

The report's findings on Asia and the Pacific also show very few changes with regard to respect of trade union rights in 2002. Despite some positive developments, the report found that violations have increased.

In Burma, for instance, labor and human rights activist U Saw Mya Than was killed in cold blood by soldiers, the report said. Other authoritarian regimes in the region, including China, also escalated efforts to crack down against on worker organizing and strikes.

Serious abuses were also reported across Europe, in spite of its democratic image and status as an industrialized region. Particularly in the transition countries, the impact of policies imposed by the international financial institutions has had a "devastating effect" on social safety nets, according to the report.

Belarus is by far the most worrying country with regard to basic union rights, the report said. President Alexander Lukashenko used the power of the state to install his own chief of staff to head the national union confederation in an effort to take total control of the union movement.

In the Middle East, the overall trade union landscape remained bleak, though the report notes some important improvements in Bahrain and, to a lesser extent, Saudi Arabia. The former's recognition of trade union freedom last September was the most notable change in the region, the ICFTU said, along granting permission to Saudi and foreign workers to establish workers' committees at workplaces employing over 100 people.

However, in other countries, such as Syria, only a single union is permitted and is kept under the strict control of the ruling party. Other countries in the region impose constraints on trade union activity as well. In Libya, for instance, the Labor Ministry controls all aspects of union elections, from the date they are held to the ratification of their results.

Once again the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominated events in the Middle East, as Palestinian workers suffered as a result of forced closures by the Israeli Defense Forces.

In the United States, the ICFTU complained that 40 percent of all workers in the public sector are denied basic collective-bargaining rights. It said that private U.S. companies also remain generally hostile to unionization and often harass organizers and trade unionists.

Worldwide, the situation remained particularly alarming for migrant workers who suffer from violations of their basic rights in every region. Foreign female domestic workers are often treated as virtual slaves in many countries, while migrant workers are the most likely to be subject to discrimination and abuse by both private employers and local governments due to their often uncertain legal status.

The report called for new mechanisms to promote and protect worker's rights globally. "These must include changes to the rules and procedures of the international bodies responsible for finance, investment and trade," the report states. The ICFTU has pushed for significantly greater attention to be paid to labor rights by the World Bank, the IMF, and the World Trade Organization.

The annually published reports by ICFTU aim to show how fundamental rights protected by Conventions of the UN's International Labour Organization are defied in countries around the world, depriving millions of working people of their rights to trade union representation, and thus to fair wages and decent working conditions.

© 2003 OneWorld.net

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