ITUC GLOBAL RIGHTS INDEX

Turkey
Turkey ranks in Category 5 in the 2016 Global Rights Index. However, attacks
on workers have intensified since last year, putting the country among the 10
worst in the world. Currently, at least 1,390 public sector workers, members of
the trade union KESK, are under investigation for engaging in peaceful union
activities. Some 284 have been transferred, 403 have been forced to retire, 102
have been detained and arrested and 97 have been charged with “insulting the
President”. More than 100 people died during a terrorist attack targeted at a
mass rally under the banner “Work, Peace and Democracy” organised by trade
unions and professional associations in Ankara on 10 October 2015. Private
sector employers continue to discriminate against workers making collective
demands through their unions. The end of February 2016 saw violent clashes
between the police and dismissed workers, peacefully demonstrating to get
their jobs back and for the right to organise at car manufacturer Renault’s Turkish
plant Oyak in the city of Bursa. Over 60 people lost their jobs, and a further
54 were asked to leave with severance packages when they demanded the
right to elect their representatives.
United Arab Emirates
All workers, including migrant workers, are deprived of their rights to freedom of
association and to bargain collectively. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), migrant
workers constitute around 88.5 per cent of the workforce. Recent reforms have
made improvements to the kafala system, though workers continue to face
abusive working conditions in practice. In March 2016, an ILO tripartite committee
confirmed serious and widespread problems regarding exorbitant recruitment fees
paid by migrants, passport retentions increasing migrant workers’ vulnerability to
abuse and non-payment of wages contributing to the prevalence of forced labour.
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