Courts and unions fail to protect workers in Kazakhstan

Global Voices reports that Kazakhstan saw a wave of labor protests in June 2026, from mines in the country's center to phosphorus plants in the south. The strikes were spontaneous and what officials term illegal — but that's because legal channels have failed workers. Successive amendments to the Labor Code sound protective but remain merely cosmetic, according to independent trade unions and human rights advocates. Courts consistently side with employers; workers fired for joining independent unions have lost every appeal, including at the highest court level. The State Labor Inspectorate can investigate only thirty-eight pre-approved items and must give employers advance notice of inspections. Facing no legal recourse, workers resort to strikes — except Kazakhstan's government recently amended its constitution to erase the right to strike from the text.

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