The 2022 ITUC Global Rights Index, the ninth edition of the index, ranks 148 countries by their respect for worker rights. It claims to be a comprehensive review of workers’ rights in law and the only database of its kind.

When it comes to major garment-producing hubs, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Türkiye have been named as “the worst countries for working people”.

Bangladesh is alleged to have “regressive laws, obstacles to union formation and police violence” while Türkiye was named due to “repression of strikes, arrests of trade unionists and systematic union busting”.

Meanwhile, country ratings improved for El Salvador.

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ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said: “We know that workers are on the front line of multiple and extraordinary crises: historic levels of inequality, the climate emergency, a pandemic destroying lives and livelihoods, and conflicts with devastating domestic and global impacts. The 2022 ITUC Global Rights Index exposes how this instability is being exploited with so many governments and employers attacking workers’ rights...."

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The Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporter Association and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had not responded to Just Style’s request for comment at the time of going to press.