Guatemala has been named the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists.
At least 53 union leaders and representatives have been killed in Guatemala since 2007, according to the ‘2013 Countries at Risk : Violations of Trade Union Rights’ report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
In March 2013 alone, three Guatemalan trade unionists were murdered : on 8 March Carlos Hernandez, a member of the Executive Committee of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Salud de Guatemala (SNTSG) was shot dead just days after the conclusion of an ILO technical mission in the country ; Santa Alvarado, also a member of the SNTSG, was kidnapped on 21 March and later found strangled ; and Kira Zulueta Enriquez Mena, General Secretary of the Sindicato de Trabajadores Municipales de Nueva Concepción in the department of Escuintla, was assassinated at the library where she worked on 22 March.
The Guatemalan government is currently working with the ITUC to introduce a comprehensive reform package to improve trade union rights but numerous cases of attempted murder, torture and kidnapping has created a climate of fear in the country.
As a result of anti-union violence and repeated violations of workers’ rights, union density in Guatemala currently lies at 1.6 per cent.
Annual survey
For the last seven years, the ITUC garnered widespread praise for monitoring the ways in which labour rights and labour activists are violated across the world.
Later this year in October, the ITUC Annual Survey will be rebranded as a website where trade union rights violations are constantly updated rather than released as a once-a-year print product.
But the ‘Countries at Risk’ report provides an important snapshot of some of the most pressing issues.
The 82-page report highlights key findings in 87 countries, region-by-region, and identifies seven countries at risk – Bahrain, Myanmar, Fiji, Georgia, Guatemala, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
It also includes detailed information on the physical attacks endured by trade unionists globally.
Unions across the world work to ensure that the legal instruments designed to protect freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are enforced and respected.
But these rights are still routinely violated, and many unionists come under extreme attack for their attempts to defend workers’ rights.
“Hundreds of millions of working people, in developing and industrialised countries, are denied the fundamental rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining,” said the ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow in a statement to coincide with the launch of the report.
“For many, especially those in precarious employment, this denial 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.”
