The Philippines has been tagged as one of the worst countries for workers, according to a report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The country, based on ITUC’s 2014 Global Rights Index, earned a “5” rating, which meant “no guarantee of rights”.

“Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights, workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices,” the ITUC said.

The organization’s other ratings include a 5+ for “no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law”, 4 for “systematic violation of rights”, 3 for “regular violation of rights”, 2 for “repeated violation of rights” and 1 for “irregular violation of rights.

“Based on reports from affiliates, workers in at least 53 countries have either been dismissed or suspended from their jobs for attempting to negotiate better working conditions,” the ITUC said.

“In the vast majority of these cases, the national legislation offered either no protection or did not provided dissuasive sanctions in order to hold abusive employers accountable,” it added.

Asked for comment, Alan A. Tanjusay, spokesman of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said prevailing working conditions in the country “confirm the report”.

He cited, among other things, contractual workers receiving less than the mandated minimum wage, lack of security of tenure and health insurance, the transfer of social services to the private sector from the government, vulnerability to price fluctuations of commodities and high unemployment.

“In fact, we anticipate unemployment will rise to 5 million due to the fact that there are no new infrastructures to attract large and job-creating investments,” Mr. Tanjusay said.

The country’s unemployment rate stood at 7.5% as of January this year.

Edgardo G. Lacson, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, said for his part: “Ugliness, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder”.

“The opinion of one group may not truly represent the sentiment of the entire universe of 41 million workers in the country,” Mr. Lacson said in a text message.

“Workers’ condition in various workplaces is situational, and the claim by the group in question must be supported by empirical data,” he added.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz declined to comment, saying she has yet to read a copy of the report.

The ITUC Global Rights Index covered violations in 139 countries from April 2013 to March 2014.

ITUC is a confederation of national trade union centers with 325 affiliated organizations in 161 countries and territories. It has a membership of over 176 million.

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