British News Agency

According to the 2025 Global Rights Index, other countries listed alongside Turkey include Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Tunisia.

ITUC Secretary General Luc Triangle said the report covers events up to March 2025, but noted that negative trends have continued since then, including in the United States.

Triangle stated: “We are increasingly electing leaders who, once democratically elected, act against democratic values. In many countries, their first targets are human and labor rights because we are the strongest defenders of democracy and the largest social movement in the world.”

Only seven of the 151 countries reviewed in the index received the highest rating for workers' rights. In 2015, that number was 18.

In 72% of countries surveyed, workers' access to justice was restricted – a record level. 87% violated the right to strike, and 80% violated the right to collective bargaining.

The report names the worst countries for workers as Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Only three countries – Australia, Mexico, and Oman – saw improvements in their rankings since 2024.

Triangle warned that the billionaire backers of these politicians are coming out of the shadows, expanding their wealth and control over key sectors of society, and that their “coup” against global democratic institutions is worsening labor rights.

The confederation is running a democracy campaign opposing the models used by Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and other billionaires and far-right leaders around the world.

Triangle concluded: “The world’s five richest people have more than doubled their wealth in the past five years, while 60% of the global population has become poorer. We are investing around $3 trillion in weapons and face an unjust taxation system. If we want to provide workers with fair wages, more jobs, rights, and social protection – it is a political choice.”