Protecting labour rights in a globalizing world: an introduction

Abstract

Stories and images of collapsed factories, burned down sweatshops, imprisoned migrant workers, abused child workers, violent suppression of peaceful labour protest and many other violations of internationally recognized labour rights continue to spread across the globe. This is nothing new. Nor is the recognition that addressing these issues is not the sovereign and sole responsibility of a state. Many labour rights violations take place in the context of transnational and global economic transactions and since long there is widespread consensus that international action and coordination is necessary to address labour rights violations. International labour regulation, as a result, has a long history. Attempts to internationally coordinate the improvement of labour conditions date back from 1919, when the International Labour Organization (ILO) was established to develop international policies and norms on a range of labourrelated issues. Since its creation in 1919, The International Labour Organization (ILO) has introduced a system of international labour standards aimed at "promoting opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity"

Fundamental Rights in the EU’s External Trade Relations: From Promotion ‘Through’ Trade Agreements to Protection ‘In’ Trade Agreements

“…The way labour has an impact on trade is not only because, perhaps obviously, services and products come to life as a result of some kind of human activity, which inevitably becomes a factor of production in the trade of these goods and services; but particularly because such activity takes place within a legal system setting parameters to it; this will have a bearing upon the costs of labour, in turn affecting the competitive advantage of the country providing those goods and services. 74 Differences in labour standards have been found to explain differences in international trade patterns, fostering concerns about 'races-tothe-bottom.' 75 The intrinsic economic relevance of labour to trade has traditionally justified the inclusion of international labour standards in trade agreements: since the 1970s, developed countries voiced concerns about cheaper labour in developing countries, and called for provisions on core labour standards to be included in the framework of the WTO.…”