Labour standards under globalization

books:


	• Can Labor Standards Improve Under Globalization? Kimberly Ann Elliott, Richard B. Freeman Peterson Institute, 2003 - 175 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Labour standards under globalization

This is a very useful book on labour standards and the way to improve them using international trade and globalization. Written in a simple and easy way, it also offers a comprehensive review of the recent literature on these topics.
In the first part it is discussed the role of the ILO and its tools to spread labour standards: monitoring policy, technical cooperation and enforcement or sanctions.
Furthermore, a broad overview of the ways to link labour standards to international trade and a more pragmatic approach to connect them is discussed. The general view on this issue is that globalization and labour standards are complementary factors and they could work togheter to spread benefits of globalization in a way coherent with labour rights.
I consider this book a very rich source for researchers and policymakers, intuitive and easy to read.

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Protestors now routinely fill the streets when any large, formal meeting dealing with international economic issues takes place. They express concern about the potential social and environmental costs of globalization and want negotiators to address these issues in trade agreements and international organizations. In addition, to the debate over whether and how to link labor standards to trade has led to an impasse in American trade policy for much of the past decade and the hands of US trade negotiators. Proposals to "let the market do it" or "let the International Labor Organization (ILO) do it" abound but it is less common to find any serious analysis of just how activists can galvanize consumers to demand that corporations raise labor standards in their global operations or how the ILO can become more effective. In this study, Elliott and Freeman move beyond the debate on the relative merits and risks of a social clause in trade agreements and focus on practical approaches for improving labor standards in a more integrated global economy. The authors examine both what is being done in these areas, and what more needs to be done to ensure that steady and tangible progress toward universal respect for core labor standards is made. While concluding that the ILO should have primary responsibility for labor standards, the book also suggests that the WTO should consider how to address egregious and willful violations of core labor standards if they are trade-related.

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