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2024: The Year of Gradual Collapse of Labour Rights

“Among all world regions, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) holds the worst record for workers’ rights.

The index data by the International Trade Union Confederation “shows that every country in the MENA region has blocked the formation or membership of independent trade unions. In other words, the legal and administrative systems in these countries are deliberately structured to prevent any form of autonomous labor organization. 95% of countries in the region violate the right to strike, and 89% restrict freedom of assembly and speech. Even when rights exist on paper, the actual space to exercise them is closed off. In 84% of MENA countries, workers have no effective access to justice—meaning that when their rights are violated, there is no real legal or institutional recourse.

“In 2014, Europe had an average score of 1.84, suggesting relatively strong protections. But by 2024, the average has fallen to 2.73—a clear sign that even developed countries are increasingly restricting labor rights.

ITUC links this to real-world developments—from the restriction of strike rights in Europe to the imprisonment of union activists across Asia and the Middle East—showing that labor repression is part of a broader political project: removing collective bargaining from the public sphere and shifting decision-making to closed, unaccountable spaces.”

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