(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Jessica Letchford on June 11, 2009.)
BRUSSELS — More than 200 trade unionists worldwide were killed, assaulted or threatened in 2008 for trying to defend workers rights, an international trade union group said Wednesday.
The International Trade Union Confederation said 76 people were killed, mostly in Latin America: 49 in Colombia, nine in Guatemala, four in Venezuela, three in Honduras and one in Panama.
The annual death toll has declined – from 91 in 2007, and 144 in 2006 – but the ITUC report said many governments violate workers rights and in several cases “were themselves responsible for heavy repression of these rights.”
It reported 7,500 cases of dismissal of workers involved in trade union activity in 68 countries, including 20 in Africa alone. “These cases are, however, only the tip of the iceberg,” the report said.
“The country with the worst record of dismissals was Turkey, where more than 2,000” cases were documented, it said. Next came Indonesia, Malawi, Pakistan, Tanzania and Argentina.
The ITUC said that Colombia was again the deadliest country for rights activists, with 49 killed in the South American nation last year, up from 39 in 2007 but down from 78 in 2006.
The ITUC comprises 312 national labor unions from 157 countries.
Its 2008 annual report said several dozen nations used death threats or assaults against unionists. Nine countries – China, Iran, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Burma, Cuba, South Korea, Indonesia and Turkey – imprisoned people for legitimate union activity, it said.
The report said the recession has led some governments to crack down on workers demanding higher wages to cope with the recession and high food prices.
ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder said in a statement that repressing workers and denying them basic rights “wreaks havoc on their lives, as they work extremely long hours in hazardous or unhealthy situations with incomes so low that they are unable to support themselves and their households properly.”
The ITUC survey reported abuses in 143 countries and said workers’ rights did improve in several countries in 2008.
Newly elected leaders in Australia and the United States have promised to increase worker protection. Burkina Faso, Kenya and Mozambique passed new legislation allowing trade unions to organize. The Maldives ratified a new constitution that guarantees freedom of association and the right to strike.