Workers Face Growing Restrictions and Abuse Worldwide: Report

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Geneva: The International Trade Union Confederation's 2025 Global Rights Index states that widespread restrictions on collective bargaining, trade unions, and the ability to strike are causing workers' rights to drastically decline globally. The study portrays workers' rights as being in ‘free fall’ across all continents and warns of a growing weakening of democratic labour laws.

According to the study, which assessed 151 countries using 97 criteria based on international labour standards, only seven countries ranked highest for protecting workers' rights. The Americas and Europe received their lowest ratings since the index's launch in 2014, despite the fact that union registration and strike violations remained at record levels.

The investigations found that 75% of countries limited employees' ability to form or join unions, 74% of countries prohibited union registration, and 71 countries had workers locked up or imprisoned. Nearly half of the countries under study had restrictions on free expression and assembly, while forty countries reported workplace violence.

The findings align with the International Labour Organization's negotiations on new global protections for contract and platform workers. Labour unions claim that companies are increasingly labelling workers as independent contractors, letting them to skip obligations such as minimum wages, social security contributions, health insurance, and sick leave.

The ITUC urged stronger international protections, warning about the use of algorithm-based management systems and technology advancements to diminish worker protections or weaken labour rights.