Several countries in Southeast Asia are among the world’s worst to work in, with workers suffering from regular rights violations, according to a new labor rights index. The International Trade Union Confederation’s Global Rights Index assesses where workers’ rights are best protected by evaluating 97 indicators, including the ability of workers to join unions, organize strikes and access legal protections. It then ranks them on a scale of 1 (best) to 5 (worst). Among the 139 countries surveyed, Southeast Asian countries came in at the bottom half of the index, with Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos and the Philippines scoring a 5. The trade union alliance said in its report that workers in those countries have no “guarantee of rights.” Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, fared better with a rating of 4, an indication of “systematic violations,” with governments or companies engaged “in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers, putting fundamental rights under continuous threat.”…