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Finland falls in rankings – Trade union rights undermined by the government’s actions
Finland was the only Nordic country to drop out of the group of best countries in the world for workers, according to the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC.
The Orpo-Purra government has announced its intention to introduce measures that seek to reduce Finland’s pull factors for immigrants. These policies will naturally weaken the social and unemployment security of all Finns.
The government has been particularly successful in weakening workers’ rights. This year, Finland was the only Nordic country to drop out of the group of best countries in the world for workers. The comparison is published by the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC. The 11th annual ITUC Global Rights Index report was published in June.
The ITUC ranks the world’s countries into five rating groups based on the realisation of labour rights in practice. Previously, Finland has always been in the top rating group.
Otherwise, the group of best countries in the world remained unchanged. In addition to the four Nordic countries, it includes Italy, Ireland, Austria and Germany. In its new rating group, Finland is accompanied by 21 countries, including Ghana, Malawi and Moldova. Finland is the only country among the top two groups to deteriorate in its rating.
Finland is the only country among the top two groups to deteriorate in its rating.
The ITUC collects data about violations of trade union and labour rights around the world. For the report, the data is compared to the 97 rights enshrined in international conventions.
Businesses and governments around the world are infringing on trade union and labour rights at an accelerating pace. The right to strike was violated in nine out of ten and the right to collective bargaining in eight out of ten countries. Trade unionists were arrested or imprisoned in nearly half of the countries.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s extensive devastation in Gaza and tightening occupation in the West Bank have further deteriorated rights in all of the four countries involved.
The ten worst countries in the world for workers are Bangladesh, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, the Philippines, Guatemala, Myanmar, Tunisia, Turkey and Belarus. Twelve countries in which the rule of law has broken down, including Haiti, Libya and Syria, are grouped in a separate category below the five rating groups.
Political strike in Nigeria
Unlike in Finland, prolonged political strikes are legal in Nigeria. In June, two of the country’s central labour organisations started a political strike without a stated end date. Their demand was increasing the minimum wage by more than the 60,000 naira (€37) offered by the government. However, the unions ended the strike quickly to allow negotiations to begin.
Vanguard, a Nigerian newspaper reporting on the strike, writes that violations of workers’ rights are still commonplace in Nigeria. In the recent ITUC Global Rights Index report on labour rights around the world, Nigeria was one of the countries to drop its rating.
