Global Governance Of Labour Rights

Stories and images of collapsed factories, burned down sweatshops, imprisoned migrant workers, child workers and many other violations of internationally recognized labour rights continue to spread across the globe. This highly topical book examines the different instruments which are intended to protect labour rights on a transnational scale, and asks whether they make a difference. With perspectives from law, management, sociology, political science and political economy, the topics discussed include the protection of international labour rights in a globalizing economy, the EU’s social dimension in its external trade relations, Asian and US perspectives on labour rights in international trade agreements, the role of (trade) unions in global labour governance and the transformative capacity of private labour governance regimes. Academics and advanced students from different disciplines will benefit from the up-to-date empirical material in this study. Policymakers, NGOs and Unions will find the discussions of the instruments used to protect labour rights of great value to their work.

As the world economy is liberalized, and national economies become more intertwined, the national decision making of states is also increasingly interdependent, and it has become vital for non-governmental organizations to create an international agenda. This title is an important study of what makes such organizations successful on an international level. The focus is on trade unions, as a key international group of NGOs. It asks whether a global system can be designed to stimulate countries to observe a set of minimum or core standards. It explores three important questions: how have unions attempted to influence the debate on the inclusion of minumum labour standards in the WTO agreement?; what accounts for their success or lack of success?; and what conclusions, with respect to the effective behaviour of trade unions in the construction of international policy, can be drawn from these experiences? In exploring these questions the text looks at social clause debates within a number of international bodies: the ILO, OECD and the EU, and within two countries: the USA and India.

This open access book explores the role of the ILO (International Labour Organization) in building global social governance from multiple and mutually complementary perspectives. It explores the impact of this UN ́s oldest agency, founded in 1919, on the transforming world of work in a global setting, providing insights into the unique history and functions of the ILO as an organization and the evolution of workers’ rights through international labour standards stemming from its regulatory mechanism. The book examines the persistent dilemma of balancing the benefits of globalization with the protection of workers. It critically assesses the challenges that emerge when international labour standards are implemented and enforced in highly diverse regulatory frameworks in international, regional, national and local contexts. The book also identifies feasible ways to achieve more inclusive labour protection, putting into perspective the tension between the economic and the social in the ILO’s second century of operation. It includes reflections on the work of the ILO World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation by Tarja Halonen, who as President of Finland co-chaired the Commission with Benjamin William Mkapa, President of Tanzania. Written by distinguished experts and scholars in the fields of international labour law and international law, the book provides an insightful and in-depth analysis of the role of the ILO as an international organization devoted to decent work and social justice. It also sheds light on tripartism and its particular role in the work of the ILO, examining the challenges that a profoundly changing working life presents in terms of labour protection and social justice, and examining the transnational dimension of labour law. Lastly, the book includes a postscript by Nobel economics laureate Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz.

Migration, Precarity, & Global Governance explores an understudied, but central, area within contemporary studies of globalisation and precarisation. It relates to the interface between migration, global governance and the role of civil society, with particular focus on the dilemmas and options of trade unions, too often left off the agenda. The volume suggests that the trade union movement is undergoing a fundamental debate about revitalisation, which could play an important role in terms of the economic, political and social integration of migrant workers, with implications for the transformation of contemporary societies in general. The volume adopts an interdisciplinary and comparative approach, emphasizing the complexity of historically grounded social relations. It examines international migration as it is impacted by, and impacts on, globalization, social and political struggles, and the recurring crisis of capitalism. The first part of the book presents five complementary perspectives on the political economy of migration, labour, and citizenship. Part Two offers analyses of the relationship between labour unions and migrant workers. Part Three explores the way trade unions, migrant organisations, and other civil society groupings interact with an incipient global governance regime relating to migration. It also examines issues of state and non-state actors' accountability in relation to human rights claims as well as the impact of the norm of corporate social responsibility.

Presents innovative perspectives on the moral and legal obligations of individuals and institutions toward workers in the global era.

Unions have long been a central force in the democratization of national and global governance, and this timely book examines the role of labor in fighting for a more democratic and equitable world. In a clear and compelling narrative, Dimitris Stevis and Terry Boswell explore the past accomplishments and the formidable challenges still facing global union politics. Outlining the contradictions of globalization and global governance, they assess the implications for global union politics since its inception in the nineteenth century. The authors place this key social movement in a political economy framework as they argue that social movements can be fruitfully compared based on their emphases on egalitarianism and internationalism. Applying these concepts to global union politics across time, the authors consider whether global union politics has become more active and more influential or has failed to rise to the challenge of global capitalism. All readers interested in global organizations, governance, and social movements will find this deeply informed work an essential resource.

Focusing on public administration activities in the field of national labour policy, this timely book provides detailed analyses of labour administration reforms, innovations and challenges in different countries, including detailed case studies from Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the US.

The first in-depth analysis of how global governance impacts on the lives of ordinary people. This new volume includes four detailed case studies on labour, migration, children and development that explore the actual nature of governance policies in the GPE. Jean Grugel and Nicola Piper clearly show how global governance, the creation of global norms and regimes to regulate polities, economic and social actors, suggests and promotes ideals such as stable politics, democracy, human rights and individualism, with a strategy to create a more ordered and ultimately better world. They move away from the traditional focus on élites, states and global institutions to explore and analyze how liberal global governance is really affecting ordinary people and how this is often an obstacle to development, citizenship, voice and inclusion. Paying particular attention to the global South, Asia and Latin America, these expert authors trace the development of liberal global governance. They also clearly examine and study how this regulation has spread from areas such as trade and investment, to development, labour, migration, children and the environment.