Nearly 650 labour union members were murdered in 1988, nearly double the number reported in 1987. A 1991 report shows 264 labour activists were murdered worldwide between January 1990 and March 1991. Of the 264 murdered, 138 were killed in Columbia, 33 in Guatemala, and 18 in El Salvador over the 15-month period.
Three hundred trade unionists around the world were killed in 1997 for defending their rights.