Workers’ rights around the world in “systemic crisis”, particularly in France

Arrests, violence, digital surveillance… Workers’ rights around the world are deteriorating, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) warned on Monday, including in “grandes democracies» like the United States or France, «sign that the crisis has become systemic».

«Once considered stable, countries like the United States and France are now contributing to a global surge in repression, exposing the systemic attack on democracy and workplace rights“, warns the organization in the thirteenth edition of its CSI Global Rights Index. Thus, ““The United States joins the list of countries to watch as attacks on workers’ freedoms accelerate the erosion of democracy.” In question, ‘restrictions on collective bargaining and the use of force against workers».

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France, bad student

As for France, it knows “its worst ranking, a sign of a prolonged decline in workers’ rights, notably characterized by a crackdown on union activists and restrictions on demonstrationsHAS”. Generally speaking, the number of countries which deny workers access to justice, place them in detention or resort to violence, attacks on freedom of expression or assembly, is increasing around the world, according to this survey.

«The 2026 ITUC Global Rights Index reveals that the workers’ rights crisis is no longer limited to a few fringe cases – it is now at the very heart of democracies“, commented Luc Triangle, general secretary of the ITUC. He thus denounces “a coordinated attack on democracy – a coup by billionaires, supported by political leaders; workers are stripped of their rights and silenced, and economies are manipulated for the benefit of a powerful few».

The rise of the far right in Europe

The ITUC reports “three structural trends»: prominent union leaders «targeted“, victims of arrests, violence or legal proceedings; digital surveillance that allows “control and bring staff into line, silence workers and prevent union mobilizationHAS” ; and governments that “push aside the unions and consult them less and less» when introducing new labor laws or labor law reforms.

The ITUC, which has been carrying out this study since 2014, ranks 151 countries on the basis of 97 indicators based on conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and its case law. Ratings from European and American countries “reached their worst level since the first edition of the index in 2014, a sign that the crisis has become systemicHAS”. Furthermore, “the rise of the far right in Europe increasingly translates into hostility towards unions and their members».