A damning new report has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stop its attacks on workers’ rights, hidden in the guise of labour market reforms.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) says that high levels of unemployment and inequality continue to rise across the globe, despite the implementation of IMF policies ensuring the contrary.

More than 200 million people– 40 per cent of them young people – will be unemployed this year.

As a result, the ITUC’S Frontline 2013 report is calling for a new reform agenda.

The report titled  Ideology without economic evidence: IMF attacks on collective bargaining is released on the eve of the IMF Spring meetings in Washington DC.

It reviews the fundamental human right of collective bargaining in countries across the globe including the US, Australia, New Zealand and various European states.

Since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, the IMF, backed by the European Central Bank and the European Commission, – the so-called ‘troika’ – have advocated slashing labour costs by replacing multi-employer collective bargaining systems at industry or national level with enterprise level bargaining or the elimination of collective bargaining altogether.

In countries where small-to-medium enterprises feature heavily, this delivers a fatal blow to economic stability, decent work and social equality.

The ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said that the groundbreaking report provides empirical evidence that these attacks on workers’ rights have little economic benefit, but a devastating impact on families, communities and economies.

“The global economy is no more secure today than it was five years ago. International institutions are failing to regulate greed and prevent the next banking crisis.

“Wealth distribution tools such as collective bargaining are being stripped away. While the evidence shows countries with strong unions, high collective bargaining coverage and synchronised collective bargaining systems have distinct economic advantages,” she said.

“Implementing labour market reforms and weakening protective labour market institutions at a time when the demand for labour is greatly depressed and there is already plenty of unemployment, will only condemn many more workers to join the ranks of the unemployed.”

Burrow, who will be speaking on a panel with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the fourth IMF Fiscal Forum on Wednesday, warns that more austerity only means more inequality.

“Countries with strong collective bargaining systems have performed better in terms of unemployment as they produce a wage distribution that is more compatible with social cohesion and stable economic growth.”

The ITUC’s findings have been echoed elsewhere.

Using IMF data, analysis from Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue and the South Centre found that 119 economies out 181 will experience fiscal contraction this year.

The only solution, says Burrow, is that “attacks on collective bargaining and workers’ rights must stop.”

“Paying workers more in countries which have consistently recorded a surplus in their current account, and ensuring their rights are fully respected would help stimulate global demand and help rebalance the global economy,” she said.