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A new survey on workers’ rights around the world suggests that the Commonwealth is performing better than other country blocs, yet more can be done to improve workers’ rights at a time of increased geopolitical shifts.

According to the , workers are suffering globally from attacks on the independent organisations that protect them as well as restrictions on key freedoms such as assembly, association and expression. The index was launched on 2 June at the opening of the (ILO).

Commonwealth countries show slight improvement over 2024

The latest survey shows that while workers’ rights were under stress, Commonwealth countries  did slightly better this year compared to last year as compared to non-Commonwealth countries (.

Based on reports from 151 ILO member states, including 35 Commonwealth countries, the ITUC survey reports a growing trend for governments to promote and feed off attacks on trade unions. The position in the 35 Commonwealth countries is far from perfect, but shows signs of bucking this trend.

The survey assesses countries' performance against 96 international regulations and standards, scoring each country from 1 to 5. Additionally, 12 countries received a score of 5+ having been assessed as having no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. No Commonwealth countries received this score.

Overall, the Commonwealth averages a score of 3.54, falling between regular and systematic violations of rights. Just a sixth of Commonwealth countries covered by the survey are in category 5 (compared with a quarter of non-Commonwealth countries).

Top performers and areas of progress

The best performing Commonwealth countries, according to the ITUC survey, were Australia, Barbados, Ghana, Malawi, New Zealand and Singapore. And three of the four countries identified by the ITUC as having unions “pushing back” are in the Commonwealth: Canada, Ghana and Mauritius.

����̽��’s admittedly marginal improvement since 2024 (up from 3.56) is mostly down to Australia’s recent , the UK’s before parliament, and the renewal of democracy in Gabon, where trade unionist is the new Minister of Labour, Full Employment and Social Dialogue.

However, according to the report, several Commonwealth countries continue to face challenges due to the inadequacy of workers' rights – notably Bangladesh, Eswatini, Nigeria, India, Malaysia and Pakistan.

A tool for measuring and partnering for progress

The survey gives Commonwealth governments a measure of how well – or badly – working people’s rights are doing, and trade unions in each Commonwealth country, as well as the ILO, are ready to work in partnership with them to improve their performance.

����̽�� Trade Union Group which operates under the umbrella of the ITUC and represents 70 million trade unionists in 46 Commonwealth countries is urging Commonwealth governments to tackle these issues, re-establishing Commonwealth Labour and Employment Ministers Meetings, which fell into abeyance in the 1990s.

But for now, the Commonwealth is performing better on workers’ rights than other regions and blocs around the world. This regular survey will allow further progress to be measured and implemented.