Globalization And The Future Of Labour Law

How are national and international labour laws responding to the challenge of globalization as it re-shapes the workplaces of the world? This collection of essays by leading legal scholars and lawyers from Europe and the Americas was first published in 2006. It addresses the implications of globalization for the legal regulation of the workplace. It examines the role of international labour standards and the contribution of the International Labour Organization, and assesses the success of the European experiment with continental employment standards. It explores the prospects for hemispheric co-operation on labour standards in the Americas, and deals with the impact of international labour standards on the rights of women and migrant workers. As the nature and organization of work around the world is being decisively transformed, new regional and international institutions are emerging that may provide the platform for new labour standards, and for protecting existing ones.

Throughout the industrial world, the discipline of labor law has fallen into deep philosophical and policy crisis, at the same time as new theoretical approaches make it a field of considerable intellectual ferment. Modern labor law evolved in a symbiotic relationship with a postwar institutional and policy agenda, the social, economic and political underpinnings of which have gradually eroded in the context of accelerating international economic integration and wage-competition. These essays--which are the product of a transnational comparative dialog among academics and practitioners in labor law and related legal fields, including social security, immigration, trade, and development--identify, analyze, and respond to some of the conceptual and policy challenges posed by globalization.

The International Labour Organization was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice. As the oldest organisation in the UN system, approaching its 100th anniversary in 2019, the ILO faces unprecedented strains and challenges. Since before the financial crisis, the global economy has tested the limits of a regulatory regime which was conceived in 1919. The organisation's founders only entrusted it with balancing social progress with the constraints of an interconnected open economy, but gambled almost entirely on tools of persuasion to ensure that this would happen. Whether that gamble is still capable of paying-off is the subject of this book, by a former ILO insider with an unrivalled knowledge of its work. The book forms part of a broader inquiry into the relevance of founding institutional principles to today's context, and strives to show that the bet made on persuasion may yet pay off. In part, the text argues that there may be little alternative anyway, showing that the pathways to more binding solutions are fraught with difficulty. It also shows the ILO's considerable future potential for promoting effective, universal regulations by extending its tools of persuasion in as yet insufficiently explored directions. Starting with an examination of how the organisation's institutional context differs from 93 years ago, the author goes on to evaluate the prospects of numerous proposals put forward today, including the trade/labour linkage, but going beyond this. As a case study in how strategic choices can be made under legal, social and institutional constraints, the book should be valuable not only to those with an interest in the ILO, but to anyone who studies international organisation, labour law, law and society or political economy.

"Do core labour standards exist in today's global economy? If so, what are they? And most important how effective are they?" "In this book two labour law scholars answer these questions in a definitive manner. In detail they demonstrate that, although insufficiently legally binding instruments governing employment and labour exist beyond the national level, a significant body of international soft law has developed that does in fact carry great weight. Blanpain and Colucci identity four major sources of this soft law - the UN Global Compact of 1999, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles, the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - and show how the principles these instruments enunciate act as a countervailing power to the international economic decision-making of multinational corporations." "The authors cite relevant cases and highlight emerging trends in this important area of labour law. Annexes reprint all four of the instruments. The Globalization of Labour Standards will be welcomed by all sectors of the labour and employment law community as a fully realized analysis of what is currently available to those who would like to ensure economic and social progress in a world dominated by multinational corporations."--BOOK JACKET.

The book offers a comprehensive perspective on the highly topical issue of protecting and promoting labour standards in international economic law and the globalized economy. For the purpose of an in-depth analysis of both the specific and the fundamental aspects in this regard, it combines views from specialized academics of the legal and political sciences as well as experienced practitioners. The contributions to this book do not only reveal recurring obstacles but also point at best practices and potential for synergies, providing important guidance for future research and practice in international economic and labour law and policy.

This important new study shifts the focus of scholarly and policy debates on the role of labour law in an era of globalization away from the countries and labour law systems of the North to those of the global South. Placing its analysis within the context of the current scholarly debates on the challenges and future of labour law, the book critically reviews the relevant literature and reflects upon the way in which workers' protection tends to be conceptualized, as well as on the adequacy of the legal categories and tools used to further it, with special attention given to the effectiveness of labour legislation in promoting gender equality. The book argues that, in addition to problems in the application of labour law, there is a mismatch between the realities of the developing world and the social, economic and political underpinnings of labour law. This dates back to its development in post-colonial African and South Asian countries and, to a lesser extent, in Latin American ones. The divergence persists, while new manifestations have appeared due to globalization, leaving a significant number of workers outside the scope of labour law and in need of protection. Against this background, the book explores regulatory and policy response at different governance levels to enhance the scope and application of labour regulation in Latin America, South Asia and southern Africa. Book jacket.

As global power relations increasingly favour international capital, it becomes crucial for labour and employment lawyers to center their field in a supranational context. As long as wages, social security, and taxes remain national matters, states compete at this level in order to attract foreign investment. This does not bode well for employees or the self-employed. Most ameliorative measures come in the form of unenforceable and‘soft lawand’ guidelines and recommendations. The conference recorded in this vitally important book confronts this losing battle of local responses to global challenges. The book reprints the papers submitted to that conference by twenty-three outstanding scholars from fourteen countries. Among the many critical issues they expose and discuss are the following: and• the proliferation of varieties of non-standard employment; and• protection of migrant workersand’ rights by regional organizations; and• global and regional trends in the human resources function; and• work training and education policy; and• effectiveness of equality and non-discrimination standards; and• involvement of employees in workplace decisionmaking; and and• the need for an equitable social safety net. In the course of the discussion the authors examine cases from many countries, including not only EU Member States (both West and East) and the U.S., but also Japan, Chile, South Africa, and Indonesia. With a focus on the nexus of multinational enterprises and international standards, the book provides both a sharp image of where labour law stands in todayand’s worldand—revealing serious social problems in a clearer light than is usually encounteredand—and a very valuable guide to directions to pursue and potential solutions, offered by some of the most engaged and committed minds in the field. It is an indispensable resource for legal workers in this and‘eye of the stormand’ of globalization.

The future of labour relations and labour law, affected by globalisation and internationalisation processes is a matter which receives much attention, not only in the scientific legal community, but also wider public. For this reason, there is an increasing number of studies and research in this field, especially in the context of erosion of national prerogatives and decentralisation of cross-border economic activities. Neo-liberal globalisation, transnational corporations and the issue of labour and social standards have opened a variety of problems on global, European and national levels. The European Union endeavours in the recent years to deal with market challenges, posed particularly in the labour market, by positive, as well as negative harmonisation.​