Malaysia is one of the worst places in the world for workers’ rights, study finds

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has just released its 2014 rankings of the worst places in the world for workers, and Malaysia’s position in the list doesn’t look pretty. 

Based on the ITUC Global Rights Index, the list ranks 139 countries against 97 internationally recognised indicators to “assess where workers’ rights are best protected, in law and in practice”. 

Countries are given a score of 1 to 5 on the index – 1 being the best score possible, and 5 being the worst. Malaysia is one of 24 nations to receive a score of 5. 

During the list’s presentation at the ITUC World Congress in Berlin on Monday, ITUC general secretary Sharan Shaw said, “Countries such as Denmark and Uruguay led the way through their strong labour laws, but perhaps surprisingly, the likes of Greece, the United States and Hong Kong, lagged behind.

“A country’s level of development proved to be a poor indicator of whether it respected basic rights to bargain collectively, strike for decent conditions, or simply join a union at all.”

The ITUC study revealed a few key findings, among them:

In the past year, governments of at least 35 countries have arrested or imprisoned workers as a tactic to resist demands for democratic rights, decent wages, safer working conditions and secure jobs.

In at least 9 countries murder and disappearance of workers were commonly used to intimidate workers.

Workers in at least 53 countries have been dismissed or suspended for attempting to negotiate better working conditions.

Laws and practices in at least 87 countries exclude certain type of workers from the right to strike.

Regionally, Malaysia is joined in the 5-point club by the Philippines and Laos; Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia were given a score of 4 (on par with that given to the United States); Singapore has a score of 3, the highest score given to a Southeast Asian country on the list.

The 5-point score isn’t the absolute worst a country can achieve on the ITUC ranking, however: countries in which the rule of law have completely broken down, such as Syria, Somalia, Ukraine and Libya, received an even worse score of 5+. 

You can download the full report, ITUC Global Rights Index: The worst places in the world for workers, here.