http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071001/FOREIGN/110010035/1003GENEVA — A new survey of global labor rights violations details a sharp increase in the number of labor leaders — and workers — brutally slain, tortured, arrested or dismissed from their jobs for seeking to defend core standards, including fair pay, working and safety conditions, and the right to form independent unions.
"Workers seeking to better their lives through trade union activities are facing rising levels of repression and intimidation in an increasing number of countries. Most shocking of all is the increase of some 25 percent in the number killed compared to the previous year," said Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which produced the report.
The survey says dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, including Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Vietnam and North Korea, maintain harsh repression of independent trade unions.
FULL story at link.