The right to strike under attack

The study highlights how one pillar of Decent Work is under attack. Rights at Work encompasses the right to collective bargaining which in turn protects the right to strike.

As this FES study shows, 117 of 119 countries surveyed violate the right to strike. Of those, 89 countries have introduced new violations in the last 5 years. This attack which simultaneously takes place at the national and international level, weakens further workers’ and their unions’ strength to tackle rising inequality and other economic and social problems.

It confirms a global trend of state authoritarianism and the ‘securitizing’ of politics and society that put fundamental democratic rights of freedom of speech and assembly at stake in many countries.