Labor Standards Essay ⋆ Business Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Labor standards are multidimensional and vary from country to country depending on national institutions, economic interests, income level, stages of development, openness to trade, and economic, social, political, and cultural conditions. International labor standards refer to those labor principles, norms, conventions, and recommendations that do not depend on national circumstances, and that are intended to be universally applied. These standards cover issues in the areas of employment, work, social security, human rights, and social policy.

International labor standards are generally considered institutional mechanisms for raising the quality of economic growth in developed and developing countries. For that reason, the issue of international labor standards has been given a high profile in regional and multilateral policy discussions and negotiations. In 1996 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a policy brief that defined and limited a set of core labor standards: (1) prohibition of forced labor; (2) freedom of association; (3) the right to organize and bargain collectively; (4) elimination of child labor exploitation; and (5) nondiscrimination in employment. In 1998 the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the Declaration of Universal Principles and Rights at Work, which consists of (1) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; (2) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor; (3) the effective abolition of child labor; and (4) the elimination of discrimination in respect to employment and occupation. International frameworks, such as the global corporate citizenship initiative Global Compact have adopted the four principles of the ILO declaration adopted in 1998. The rationale behind the adoption of the ILO international labor standards by the Global Compact initiative is that responsible practices by the business community, such as assuming at least a minimum of universal norms in working conditions, are essential for promoting social justice, peace, and prosperity.

Since creation of the ILO in 1919 more than 190 Recommendations and over 180 Conventions have been adopted by the International Labour Conference. The ILO classifies international labor standards into 22 subjects: (1) freedom of association, collective bargaining, and industrial relations; (2) forced labor; (3) elimination of child labor and protection of children and young persons; (4) equality of opportunity and treatment; (5) tripartite consultation; (6) labor administration and inspection; (7) employment policy and promotion; (8) vocational guidance and training; (9) employment security; (10) wages; (11) working time; (12) occupational safety and health; (13) social security; (14) maternity protection; (15) social policy; (16) migrant workers; (17) seafarers; (18) fishermen; (19) dockworkers; (20) indigenous and tribal people; (21) specific categories of workers; and (22) final articles conventions.

Concerns regarding labor issues at the international level, especially in exporting countries, have generally two dimensions: humanitarian and economic. At the humanitarian level, the arguments are around the promotion of universal moral working and living conditions and the search for fairer trade circumstances that include the development of social, labor, and political provisions. At the economic level, the arguments are based on the premise that countries that do not guarantee and enforce at least minimum international labor standards may have an illegitimate competitive advantage in their exports and may result in a global “race to the bottom” in labor and social standards.

Historical Background

The relationship among trade, development, and labor standards has long been interrelated. Generally, in more advanced countries labor standards are policy articulated and legally enforced. The issue of trade and international labor standards precedes the creation of the ILO in 1919. Indeed, the objective of the ILO was to undertake shared actions at the international level to improve labor conditions worldwide. This objective is reflected in the preamble to the constitution of the ILO, which begins:

Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice; and whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice, hardship and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled…. Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their own countries.

The pioneer of the idea of international labor legislation and the precursor of the ILO was the French manufacturer Daniel Le Grand (1783–1859). Le Grand repeatedly appealed to several European governments for joint legislation on working life and conditions, which are seen as predecessor of the international labor Conventions of the ILO.

Between 1856 and 1857, the private initiative by industrialists that aimed at the protection of workers known as the International Benevolent Congress adopted the motion in favor of collectively drafting international measures for the regulation of industrial labor, which together with the labor movement were the beginning of the internationalization of labor regulations. In 1889 the Swiss Federal Council called on the support of 13 governments to consider a proposal for a convention to internationally regulate working conditions.

Simultaneously the German government organized an international mine and labor conference, known as the Berlin Conference, that took place for two weeks in March 1890. This conference set the recommendations for the prohibition of child labor, Sunday work, regulation of mine labor, women, and young persons’ labor. Although no international assurances were formalized, this Berlin Conference was the first time that multilateral recommendations were discussed collectively by governments regarding labor issues.

In August 1897 delegates from 14 countries sat together in Zurich in the first International Congress of Labour Protection, and passed among others a resolution for the creation of an international labor office. Between 1897 and 1919, other meetings with similar objectives took place in both Europe and America. In 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference, the trade unions demanded appointment of a tripartite Commission on International Labour Legislation. The International Labour Organization was brought in effect by Part XIII of the Treaty of Versailles, and declared that “universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice.”

The Labour Charter set in the Treaty of Versailles (1919) consisted of nine principles to guide the policy of member states of the ILO regarding labor issues: (1) labor should not be regarded merely as a commodity or an article of commerce; (2) the right of association; (3) the payment of an adequate wage to maintain a reasonable standard of living; (4) an eight-hour day or a 48-hour week; (5) a weekly rest of at least 24 hours; (6) the abolition of child labor; (7) equal pay for equal work; (8) equitable economic treatment of all workers in country; and (9) an inspection system to ensure the enforcement of the laws for workers’ protection.

These nine principles were extended in the Declaration of Philadelphia in 1944, giving particular emphasis to (1) labor is not a commodity; (2) freedom of expression and association are essential to sustained progress; (3) poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere; and (4) the war against want must be carried on with unrelenting vigor within each nation, and by continuous and concerted international effort in which the representatives of workers and employers, enjoying equal status with those governments, join with them in free discussion and democratic decisions with a view to the promotion of the common welfare.

The Declaration of Philadelphia asserts what is central criteria for national and international policies and measures: “all human beings irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in condition of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity.”

Internationalization Of Labor Standards

International organizations, such as the ILO and the OECD, have a critical role in setting international labor standards through social clauses in trade-related agreements. The inclusion of labor standards elements in trade agreements such as the European Union and the United States Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSP) are examples of initiatives at the bilateral level. Moreover, labor standards can also be addressed at the regional level through provisions such as the adoption of the “EU Charter of Fundamental Rights” and the labor “side agreement” of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). At the multilateral level, examples of initiatives include the linking of World Trade Organization (WTO) membership to ILO membership. In this case, a country trading with another with better labor protections is required to meet the standards of its trading partner. Violators of this principle are subject to WTO sanctions.

Some authors agree that social clauses involving labor issues are best addressed in regional trade agreements such as NAFTA, the European Union, and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) rather than multilateral trade agreements due to the current limited influence of labor on multilateral organizations such as the WTO.

Skeptical views on labor standards as mechanisms to ensure quality of economic growth argue that the moral and humanitarian arguments behind the introduction of nontrade issues into trade agendas is a form of national protectionism and labor exploitation. The view is built on the argument that international labor standards prevent competition from imports from low-wage economies. Another argument, which rests credibility in the International Labour Standards approach, is that they rely on principles rather than rights, and therefore implementation and enforcement depend on voluntarism, consequently they are unaccountable and unstructured. In order to overcome this, there are suggestions for anchoring these principles on follow-up and monitoring mechanisms committed to both improve workers conditions and ensure legitimate competitiveness.

Bibliography:

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Nancy H. Chau and Ravi Kanbur, “The Race to the Bottom, from the Bottom,” Economica (v.73/290, 2006);
Vivek H. Dehejia and Yiagadeesen Samy, “Trade and Labour Standards: Theory and New Empirical Evidence,” Journal of International Trade & Economic Development (v.13/2, 2004);
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Matt Zwolinksi, “Sweatshops, Choice and Exploitation,” Business Ethics Quarterly (v.17/4, 2007).

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