Shame! India Ranked Among 10-Worst Countries For Employees: Find Out Why?

In the 7th edition of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index that ranks 144 countries on the degree of respect for workers’ rights, India was ranked among the top 10 worst countries for employees.

The Global Rights Index reveals disintegration of the social contract between the governments and employers and the employees.

Read on to find out more…

India Is A New Addition To The List of 10 Worst Countries for Workers?

The top 10 (not in order) countries not favourable for working people are Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Honduras, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Turkey, Zimbabwe and India.

According to the study, the Middle East and North Africa have been the worst regions for working people for 7 consecutive years  due to the ongoing insecurity and conflict in Palestine, Syria, Yemen and Libya along with the most regressive region for workers’ representation and union rights.

The ITUC report also states that 85% of countries violated the right to strike and 80% of countries violated the right to collectively bargain.

India, Egypt and Honduras are the three new countries that have entered the list of 10 worst countries for workers.

There has been an increase in the number of countries that have delayed the registration of unions. The number of countries has increased from 54 in 2019 to 56 in 2020 where the workers were denied or constrained from exercising freedom of speech.

In 51 countries, workers were exposed to violence and in 72% countries, they had no or restricted access to justice. In fact, workers experienced arbitrary arrests and detention in 61 countries.

What Do Experts Have To Say?

In many countries, the unions have been repressed and the  governments are turning  a cold shoulder to their rights and aren’t engaging in social negotiations. This has exposed workers to illness, death and left countries unable to fight the COVID-19 pandemic productively.

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said, “These threats to workers, our economies and democracy were endemic in workplaces and countries before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives and livelihoods.” 

Burrow said in a statement, “As we look towards the recovery and build resilient economies, the 2020 ITUC Global Rights Index is a benchmark against which we will hold governments and employers to account,” he said in a statement.

He also said, “If the findings of the Rights Index are not shocking enough, we are already seeing some countries take things further. Under the cover of measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, they are advancing their anti-workers’-rights agenda. This has got to stop and be reversed,” said Burrow.

The pandemic resultant lockdown and the workers’ migration the reason behind India’s addition to the list?