Attacks on trade union rights are increasing worldwide. In many countries, governments do not sufficiently fulfil their duty to protect human rights and thus trade union rights. Quite the contrary, the applicable laws and legislative changes often undermine the right to assembly and association. 

The attacks on trade union rights go hand in hand with decreasing scope of action for civil society in general. Over the past ten years, this trend has been discussed under the term »shrinking spaces« in the development policy discourse. 

This brochure will therefore deal with the state of trade union rights worldwide. What do we mean by trade union rights, how are they an¬chored in the international human rights protection system, and how are they enforced?