Now let’s see a compilation of countries with the worst labor laws, working conditions in the world. Insider Monkey has recently published an interesting article about it. The human rights violations of workers perfectly illustrate social class differences generated by capitalism, where those who are at the bottom of the social pyramid are subjected to abuse and dehumanization. More often than not the stories of workers’ human rights abuses remain untold, which testifies even more to the marginalization experienced by workers.
A special section in 2017 ITUC report provides an overview of what countries have the worst working conditions. Qatar, Egypt, Colombia, Republic of Korea, and Bangladesh are some of the countries that are considered to be the worst for workers in 2017. According to the same report, the Middle East and especially the North Africa is the world’s worst region when it comes to workers’ rights – its ranking in 2017 (4.53) is even worse than in 2016 (4.26). Countries with poor working conditions in this region, as the report indicates, “are beset with conflict and a breakdown of the rule of law so that no guarantee of fundamental labour rights is possible.”
Now without a further ado let’s see what Insider Monkey has investigated for us. We have picked three countries with the worst labor laws, working conditions in the world from their list.
The first one is Bangladesh. According to ITUC reports, there are no guarantees of workers’ rights in Bangladesh. Trade unionists in Bangladesh have no rights whatsoever. The government is quick to punish those who advocate for workers’ rights through strikes. In 2013, the police used water cannons and rubber bullets to prevent protesters from asking an increase in minimum wage. The second country is Swaziland. In 2015 ITUC report Swaziland was considered to be one of the countries with the worst labor laws, working conditions in the world. As noted, trade unions were banned. Those protesting for better protection of workers’ rights are often intimidated by heavily armed police. Furthermore, in 2014 two medical workers were arrested for organizing a strike. At last, but not least, we are mentioning Turkey now. As suggested by ITUC, Turkey is ranked in group 5, meaning that no rights are guaranteed to workers. The report notes that the number of attacks on workers has increased since 2015. While there were protests organized by trade unions, these were marked by violence. Discrimination is very much present in private sector.
For any further useful information, read Insider Monkey’s article about 11 countries with the worst labor laws, working conditions in the world.