An appalling total of 144 trade unionists were murdered for defending workers’ rights in 2006, while more than 800 suffered beatings or torture, according to the Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations, published by the 168-million member International Trade Union Confederation. The 379-page report details nearly 5,000 arrests and more than 8,000 dismissals of workers due to their trade union activities...Colombia remained the most perilous place in the world for union activity, with 78 killings...A wave of anti-union violence in the Philippines is also documented in the Survey, with 33 unionists and worker-rights supporters murdered...The report gives accounts of mass dismissals, beatings, detentions and threats against workers and their families used, sometimes routinely, in countries in each region of the world. [includes references to practices by Coca Cola, Wal-Mart, Goodyear, Nestlé, Bouygues; and link to full report]