International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC): Turkey is one of the 10 worst countries for workers
According to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) Global Rights Index covering 148 countries, Turkey is one of the 10 worst countries for workers in 2022. Evaluation is based on workers’ rights.
Other than Turkey, the worst countries for workers in the index are: Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Myanmar, the Philippines, Esvatini and Guatemala. According to the report, the reason why Turkey is among the 10 worst countries is: strike bans, the arrest of trade unionists and systematic union hostility.
The International Trade Union Confederation’s traditional annual report captures the state of workers’ rights in 148 countries. The report is prepared by looking at the practices regarding workers’ rights and working life. Turkey, which was one of the 10 worst countries last year, has not changed in 2022. The index divides countries into 5+1 groups: 1,2,3,4,5 and 5+. In terms of workers’ rights, the best group is 1. The worst group is number 5. 5+ indicates countries where workers’ rights cannot be guaranteed due to the absence of the rule of law principle.
Turkey is in Group 5. Group 5 means “no guarantee of workers’ rights”. In the 5th group, besides Turkey, there are countries such as Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and China. The index identifies the 10 worst countries among them. systematic violation of group 4 rights; Group 3 shows regular violations of rights, Group 2 shows repeated violations and Group 1 shows occasional violations.
Best countries for workers’ rights: Germany also on the list
There are 9 countries in the 1st group of the index. These are the countries with the best workers’ rights. All of them are European countries. Germany is one of them. Other countries are as follows: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. In the ITUC report, while emphasizing the rising inflation and economic situation in the world, it warned that “Labor rights are collapsing”. ITUC Secretary General Sharan Burrow described the worldwide economic situation as ‘multiple and extraordinary crises’ and said, “Workers are at the forefront of these crises.”
Prohibitions and pressures continue in Turkey
The report discussed each of the 10 worst countries on a separate page. In the section on Turkey, the report drew attention to “strike bans”, “trade union arrests” and “systematic union hostility”. The findings in the report are as follows:
“Workers’ rights and freedoms continued to be violated in Turkey in 2022 as well. Police intervention in the protests and pressures and arrests against trade unionists drew attention. On May 1, 2021, 212 people were detained.” According to the report, employers systematically continued anti-union practices and fired workers who tried to organize.
