Democracy May Not Always Guarantee Strong Workers’ Rights, But It Helps Fight For Them

By its end, people in more than 60 countries with a combined population of around four billion will have had the chance to cast a vote in national or regional elections, making it by some estimates the biggest ever election year by participant numbers.

Some of this year’s elections have already made an impact. Voters have diminished the powers of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, who both now govern in coalition with other parties. In France, voters forged a Front Republican to thwart the far-right threat posed by Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National. And British voters elected a Labour government led by prime minister Keir Starmer that promises to reinforce workers’ rights after their weakening during 14 years of Conservative rule.

Trade unions are the largest democratic movement in the world and are uniquely placed to define, defend and expand democracy. The ITUC is supporting this through its For Democracy campaign that aims to fortify democratic principles and processes from the ground up; by ensuring they are reinvigorated in three key arenas: in the workplace, in society and at a global level. For Democracy in the workplace, the campaign focuses on specific rights including the right to strike, to organise a union and to bargain collectively. In societies, For Democracy backs unions defending broad fundamental freedoms and progressive policies within communities and nation states, and For Democracy in global institutions supports calls to ensure that workers’ voices are represented at the highest level of political and policy discussions.

The link between democracy and the strength of the rights of workers cannot be overstated. When workers have power in their workplace and can negotiate collectively with their employers, the benefits of that representative empowerment are felt across society. This article explores the strength of this link by demonstrating the strong correlations between the ITUC’s Global Rights Index, which reports on the state of workers’ rights around the world, and 10 indices of democracy. Our analysis reveals that the link is undeniable: where workers are guaranteed fundamental labour rights, democracy is generally stronger and more sustainable. While exceptions exist, they include countries where increasing democratic pressures are moving things in favour of working people.

Measures of democracy

The ITUC compared the results of its 2024 Global Rights Index with 10 indices of democracy from three providers: the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) research project based at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, the Global State of Democracy Indices run by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, also based in Sweden, and US campaign group Freedom House's Freedom in the World data.

All 10 were a good fit with our index with correlation coefficients of 0.69 and above, where zero means no correlation and one signifies a perfect one. The best fit, with a correlation coefficient of 0.8, was with the V-Dem egalitarian democracy index which focuses on inequalities between social groups.[i] All of the countries with the worst 5+ Global Rights Index rating, many of which are wracked by conflicts, have egalitarian democracy scores below 0.15 (the index is scored from zero to one). Index rating 5 has a broader range of V-Dem scores but most remain below 0.15, including China and Gulf states Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. At the other end of the scale, all the countries with the highest Global Rights Index rating of 1 score above 0.7 for egalitarian democracy, with top-rated Denmark achieving 0.877.

What the outliers tell us

As the chart shows, there are some outlier countries with much better or worse Global Rights Index ratings than their V-Dem scores would suggest. The United Kingdom has a strong 0.704 score for egalitarian democracy but a Global Rights Index rating of 4, the same category as Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Mexico. Corroborating this, academic research commissioned by the UK’s Trades Union Congress found that British labour laws are half as protective as those in France and weaker than those in other large European countries.[ii]

However, the UK looks set to demonstrate that a healthy democracy can tackle poor rights at work. In July, the centre-left Labour party won a large parliamentary majority in the country’s general election. In both its election manifesto and its first King’s Speech (the summary programme of government delivered by the British monarch), Labour has said that an employment rights bill due for publication this autumn will ban “exploitative” zero-hours contracts and firing and rehiring on poorer contracts. It will also apply employment rights as soon as someone starts a job and increase the UK’s minimum wage.[iii] The details and impacts of these changes will need assessment over time, but the pivot toward better workers’ rights is clear.

The other major outlier at Global Rights Index level 4 is the United States of America, with a slightly lower V-Dem score of 0.602. Since the 1970s, union membership in the US has certainly been declining and this has been due to two factors. The first was a shift in the economy, from manufacturing to service-oriented industries in which unionisation has traditionally been lower. That decline has been compounded in recent years by the growth of the technology sector and the rise of the gig economy, which has challenged unions to find new ways of appealing to potential members. A second factor that also began to take shape in the 1970s was more politically led. This saw political leaders and lawmakers take increasingly anti-union stances and advocate for more neo-liberal-style, business-friendly policies. This stance has been in no small part informed and supported by significant lobbying efforts from large corporations.

The decline in union membership has had a major impact on the working lives of people in the US and has led to gross pay disparities and in-work poverty. However, the resurgence in union activity and public support for workers unions in recent years offers hopeful sign. Over the past year, a string of pro-union votes in workplaces are helping to improve labour rights from the ground up.

US legal protections for workers, including those that govern union recognition, tend to be enforced slowly and with few consequences for employers who flout them. However, the National Labor Relations Board which oversees private sector workplace elections on union recognition has adopted more union-friendly policies under President Joe Biden. In July, the board said that it had received more than 2,600 petitions to hold recognition elections since October 2023, more than in the previous 12 months. Furthermore, 79% were successful compared with 76% the previous year and around two-thirds a few years before. This has stabilised union membership, although at a low level of 11% of American workers.[iv]

Such elections include some high-profile successes, including the United Auto Workers (UAW) union winning recognition at Volkswagen’s factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee with 73% of the vote, the first vehicle plant in the southern US to vote to unionise since the 1940s and the first-ever foreign-owned plant to do so.[v] Last year the UAW also won agreements with the US’s big three vehicle makers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis that included commitments to apply existing national agreements to new electric vehicle and battery workplaces including GM’s Ultium Cells.[vi]

Some countries with much weaker democracies do better on the Global Rights Index than the UK and US. In July, Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame was re-elected with more than 99% of the vote after several potential candidates were unable to contest the election.[vii] Unsurprisingly then, V-Dem’s egalitarian democracy score for Rwanda is a low 0.183 but the country has a more positive level 3 rating in the Global Rights Index, which reflects key legal protections for workers, including the right to form unions and the right to collective bargaining. Moreover, employment contracts are required by law after 90 days of employment and the contract must include clear reference to working hours, salary, benefits and overtime remuneration, as well as dispute settlement procedures and the obligations of both the employee and the employer. The index rating also reflects the fact that Rwandan workers are also protected by sickness and maternity benefits and anti-discrimination laws. However, although workers’ fundamental rights are protected by law, broader societal dynamics, influenced by the country’s recent history, negatively affect their practice. For example, union activists in the country have voiced concerns that the space for union action within the framework of the strict application of the law, professional dialogue, and the labour conflict management system is sometimes reduced.

Singapore, which is due to elect a new government by November 2025, is another outlier. It has a level 2 Global Rights Index rating, the same as strong democracies including France and Japan, but scores just 0.357 for egalitarian democracy with even lower scores on other V-Dem measures. The city state has been dominated for decades by the People’s Action Party and although elections themselves are largely free of irregularities this party has other unfair advantages including a pro-government media, restrictions on free speech and high financial barriers within the electoral system, according to Freedom House.[viii]

However, Singapore offers its citizens relatively high levels of freedom in the workplace. It prohibits anti-union discrimination and recognises freedom of association in the constitution, although this is strictly regulated. The right to strike is recognised in the country’s Labour Law, although, along with other restrictions, it is prohibited for public sector, hospital, port and airline employees and self-employed workers.[ix] 

Working people drive democracies and build communities

Strong levels of democracy do not guarantee workers’ rights, as shown by the poor ratings in the Global Rights Index of both the UK and US and the declining (if still better-than-most) average rating of European countries over the last decade. Democracy provides tools that can improve workers’ rights, but it still requires campaigners to pick up and use these tools.

When they do, they tend to succeed, with the majority of countries seeing more democracy linked to better rights for workers. The reason for this is simple: most voters are working people, with 60% of working age people either in or seeking employment according to the International Labour Organization.[x] Furthermore, working people and retired workers are valued members of family and community networks with dependents and those with whom they share reciprocal responsibilities. In democratic countries with universal suffrage, people have clear reasons to support strong workers’ rights because doing so means supporting themselves or those they rely on.

In this pivotal year for democracy, the ITUC’s For Democracy campaign is backing unions worldwide in their efforts to strengthening democracy in workplaces, in societies and in global institutions. Doing so sends a clear message to employers, governments and international organisations that they must put our interests above special interests.

[i] From ‘The V-Dem dataset’, V-Dem, March 2024. https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

[ii] Tim Sharp, 'UK needs massive workers’ rights boost to match global norm', Trades Union Congress (UK), 2 August 2024. https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/uk-needs-massive-workers-rights-boost-match-global-norm

[iii] Prime Minister’s Office, 'Ten things to know from the King's Speech', GOV.UK (UK government official website), 17 July 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ten-things-to-know-from-the-kings-speech

[iv] Daniel Wiessner, 'US union organizing, and unions' election win rate, is surging, NLRB says', 17 July 2024: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-union-organizing-unions-election-win-rate-is-surging-nlrb-says-2024-07-17/

[v] Tom Krisher and Kristen Hall, 'Tennessee Volkswagen employees overwhelmingly vote to join United Auto Workers union', Associated Press, 20 April 2024. https://apnews.com/article/volkswagen-union-vote-united-auto-workers-chattanooga-51544590d8a06efddfa2f6ac7db00fbe

[vi] 'Ultium members vote 98% to ratify contract that sets new standard for EV industry', United Autoworkers, 17 June 2024. https://uaw-newsroom.prgloo.com/press-release/video-ultium-members-vote-98-percent-to-ratify-contract-that-sets-new-standard-for-ev-industry

[vii] 'Rwanda’s Kagame wins fourth term with 99.18% of the vote, provisional results show', France 24, 18 July 2024. https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240718-rwanda-s-kagame-wins-fourth-term-with-99-18-of-the-vote-provisional-results-show

[viii] ‘Singapore’, Freedom in the World 2024, Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/country/singapore/freedom-world/2024

[ix] ‘Singapore’, ITUC. https://survey.ituc-csi.org/Singapore.html

[x] p27, ‘World employment and social outlook trends 2024’, International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/publications/flagship-reports/world-employment-and-social-outlook-trends-2024 

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