2025
2025
2025-11-05
The “Labor Desk” confederation of labour unions, established in Azerbaijan in 2022, has drawn the attention of the Azerbaijani authorities. The organization supports workers through protest actions and provides legal assistance.
In April 2025, Labor Desk issued an international solidarity appeal, demanding that the Azerbaijani authorities release several individuals arrested on political grounds, specifically, the Confederation’s president Afiaddin Mammadov, and members Ayhan Israfilov, Elvin Mustafaev, and Mohiaddin Orucov. The organization stated that the Azerbaijani tyrannical regime suppresses labor organizations through arrests, targeting those who oppose the exploitation and self-organization of workers.
Since August 2023, after the Confederation expressed support for Azerbaijani delivery workers and taxi drivers who protested against legislative changes worsening their working conditions, its president and members have been regularly arrested on fabricated charges of drug use and hooliganism. According to their supporters, one of the authorities’ aims in introducing these changes was to revoke the license of the delivery company Wolt under false pretexts in order to create a state-controlled company and ensure its entry into the market.
Protests in Azerbaijan are rare. The last major rally took place in January 2019 at the Mehsul Stadium, demanding the release of political prisoners. Since the war against Artsakh, political movements have hardly been organized in the country, while issues of a social or environmental nature are occasionally raised but are immediately silenced or suppressed through arrests and intimidation.
Those who fight for labor rights in Azerbaijan are in no better situation than political prisoners. Activists opposing labor exploitation cannot get support from existing labor unions, as these are affiliated with the Aliyev regime. Such unions, especially their umbrella organization, the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (AHIK), maintain close ties with the government, praising “high level of protection” of workers’ rights in Azerbaijan and issuing anti-Armenian statements through their own channels.
Since 1993, when Heydar Aliyev’ rule began, this trade union federation has served the political and economic interests of the authorities. The organization kept acting the same way in later years. It is no coincidence that, instead of the Yeni Azerbaijan Party, it was AHIK that nominated Ilham Aliyev’s candidacy in the 2008, 2013, and 2018 presidential elections. The aim was to present Aliyev as a candidate of the working class. However, the fact that in later elections he was nominated by his own party indicates that “Aliyev no longer needed the workers.”
The Azerbaijani authorities granted AHIK broad powers to use its monopolistic position to unite all trade unions and control newly established ones, while framing these actions as necessary for the “protection of workers’ rights.”
In 2023, the Facebook page “İşçinin Səsi” (“The Worker’s Voice”), which had published data on workplace fatalities, was shut down. Before its closure, representatives of the initiative gave interview, noting that in Azerbaijan, the head of a trade union is either directly the employer or someone trusted by them. According to members of The Worker’s Voice, Labor unions in the country are mostly symbolic and do little to protect workers’ rights, serving instead as a tool for the authorities to control the working class.
According to members of The Worker’s Voice, employees are reminded of the existence of trade unions only when 2% is deducted from their salaries. The same issue has been raised by employees in various sectors, including teachers. It became known that teachers had been paying fees to labor unions for years, yet were unable to obtain vouchers for vacations or visits to health resorts. Expressing discontent with AHIK, teachers said that the organization does not respond to their phone calls or online requests, and that no accountability exists regarding the use of collected funds. It is also noteworthy that although union membership is legally voluntary, in practice it is mandatory, since deductions in favor of the union are made from teachers’ salaries without their consent.
Representatives of The Worker’s Voice also stated that military service in Azerbaijan is among the most corrupt sectors, and that the armed forces, as a major employer, also violate the rights of serviecemen. For example, it was noted that those sent to serve in the border areas with Armenia are usually from the poorest segments of the population, who cannot afford to pay bribes. It was also emphasized that during the 2020 war against Artsakh, the majority of conscripts were young men from the working and peasant classes.
Although the Azerbaijani authorities preserve the formal appearance of labor unions by regularly holding international seminars and conferences about their work, these events are often superficial and mostly serve as platforms for anti-Armenian rhetoric and discussions about Artsakh. Azerbaijani officials use these contentless platforms to present the issue of the 1990s “refugees” and the course of the conflict as justifications for their own failures at work.
In addition, major events on workers’ rights and labor union issues are often organized by presidential decrees. Ilham Aliyev typically uses these occasions both to instruct AHIK and other structures and to make superficial formal statements about the supposed need to improve labor rights through legislative changes.
Despite such efforts, Azerbaijan often faces criticism. In its latest report on Azerbaijan, the European Committee of Social Rights emphasized that the country’s conduct does not comply with its obligations and the provisions of international documents ratified by Azerbaijan. In particular, it was noted that the minimum wage in Azerbaijan does not ensure a decent standard of living, that gender discrimination exists in the payment process, and that there are no clear legislative guarantees ensuring equal pay for equal work between men and women.
The international organization also identified numerous other problems, such as the violation of reasonable notice periods before termination, unjustified deductions from salaries, and restrictions on the right to form trade unions, strike, and participate in decisions concerning working conditions.
Even when Azerbaijani authorities admit their mistakes, it is clearly for show, as in the case of Ayhan Israfilov, who was imprisoned for defending couriers’ rights. Although Baku acknowledged an error in the legal measures taken against him, Israfilov’s family hopes not for acquittal but merely for amnesty.
In fact, since the 1990s, the Aliyev regime has used trade unions as tools for keeping the working class under control and for solving political and propagandistic issues. The Azerbaijani authorities have effectively forced all trade unions to join the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (AHIK), while silencing by all possible means those who hold different views on labor rights, organize protests, or speak out about existing problems.