Turkey among the 10 worst countries for workers' rights
In the ITUC's 2025 report, Turkey was placed in the same group as Nigeria, Bangladesh and Tunisia. The most strikes and collective bargaining rights were violated.
Labour Service
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has published its 2025 Global Rights Index report. In the report, Turkey was listed as one of the 10 worst countries in terms of workers' rights. The 10 worst countries are as follows: Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, Tunisia, and Turkey.
While workers' rights were violated even more in seven countries compared to last year, only three countries showed improvement in terms of rights. The countries where the situation worsened were Argentina, Costa Rica, Georgia, Italy, Mauritania, Nigeria and Panama, while those that improved were Australia, Mexico and Oman.
The report found that 87% of countries violated the right to strike and 80% violated the right to collective bargaining. The percentage of countries where access to justice was restricted reached a record high of 72%. It was noted that this percentage was 65% in 2024.
It was noted that the right to organise was violated in three out of every four countries. The right to strike and collective bargaining emerged as the most frequently violated rights. While 18 countries received the highest score for workers' rights in 2015, only seven countries achieved the top rating this year.
Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled Türkiye işçi hakları konusunda en kötü 10 ülke arasında, published in BirGün newspaper on June 3, 2025.
