Labor Rights

1
Labor Rights

• PSC 354 Human Rights and Global Affairs
• Meera Alexander, Krista Flynt,
• Melissa Campagnoli, Nicole Zapata,
• Stephanie Shaw

2
Thesis

• Labor rights violations are a continuing problem
  despite past shaming and monitoring efforts by
  TANs. Although these methods are beneficial,
  there needs to be dramatic changes to them, as
  well as the incorporation of new methods such as
  unionization, in order to make real progress on
  this issue.

3
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 23.
• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free
  choice of employment, to just and favorable
  conditions of work and to protection against
  unemployment.
• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the
  right to equal pay for equal work.
• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and
  favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and
  his family an existence worthy of human dignity,
  and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of
  social protection.
• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join
  trade unions for the protection of his interests.

4
International Labor Organization

• The International Labor Organization (ILO) is
  the tripartite UN agency that brings together
  governments, employers and workers of its member
  states in common action to promote decent work
  throughout the world.

5
International Labor Organization

• The four fundamental labor rights -
• Freedom of Association and the Right to
  Collective Bargaining
• The Abolition of Forced Labor
• Equality
• The Elimination of Child Labor

6
International Labor Organization

• Internationally recognized labor rights in the
  sweatfree code
• Maternity Leave
• Protection of Wages
• Hours of Work
• Health and Safety
• Home Work

7
The ILO's Supervisory Bodies and Law
Implementation

• Committee of Experts on the Application of
  Conventions and Recommendations
• Conference Committee on the Application of
  Standards
• Committee on Freedom of Association

8
Three Main Actors

• Governments
• Political elites and governmental institutions
  establish laws to protect the rights of workers.
• TNCs sign codes of conduct allowing for monitors
  to inspect the working conditions and disclose
  information about the location of their factories.

9
Three Main Actors (contd)

• 2. Transnational Advocacy Networks
• Fair Labor Association
• Workers Rights Consortium
• International Organizations ILO and the World
  Bank
• 3. Non-Governmental Organizations

10
Definition of a Sweatshop

• A sweatshop is a workplace where workers are
  subject to extreme exploitation, including the
  absence of a living wage or benefits, poor
  working conditions, and arbitrary discipline,
  such as verbal and physical abuse.

11
Main Issues with Sweatshops

• Poor working conditions
• Low wages
• Monitoring issues
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v1AwrZqUVYJo

12
Whos To Blame 

• Owners of the firms are primarily responsible for
  the exploitation because they directly exploit
  the workers in various ways in order to decrease
  expenses and increase their profits.  
• Manufacturers should also bear part of the
  responsibilities.  Under the current system, the
  contractors bid for the work from the
  manufacturers.

13
Nike Workshop

• Auditors from Nike found cases of "abusive
  treatment", physical and verbal, in more than a
  quarter of its South Asian plants
• Between 25-50 of the factories in the region
  restricted access to toilets and drinking water
  during the workday
• The same percentage deny workers at least one day
  off in seven
• In more than half of Nike's factories employees
  worked more than 60 hours a week
• Up to 25 of workers refusing to do overtime were
  punished
• Wages were below the legal minimum at up to 25
  of factories

gaurdian.co.uk
14
Nike Solutions to Prevent Worker Overtime

• Increase productivity per product style Fewer
  lines
• Expect process discipline Expect people and
  teams
• throughout the system adhere to the process.
• Consolidate materials less volume of diverse
  materials.
• Increase on-time commercialization Hand off
  from the designer to factory must take place
  within our agreed upon time frame so that added
  pressure to deliver to market on time is not
  placed on the factory.
• Increase forecast accuracy for order size and
  consumer demand
• Reduce samples

15
Nike Solutions to Underpaid Workers

• 1) To monitor that workers are paid wages owed
  them for the hours worked, at the rates agreed
  to, with base compensation at a level that
  reflects minimum wage or above and includes a
  number of benefits that are defined by factory,
  collective bargaining processes or country
  legislation. This is documented in our Code of
  Conduct and is a core component of our factory
  grading
• 2 ) To explore and support the building of human
  capital (worker skills) coupled with increasing
  factory productivity as mechanisms that
  positively impact worker compensation levels
  while also assuring a competitive business model
  for factory, country and buyer. This is addressed
  through our targets for the next five years,
  namely to
• Provide tailored human resources management
  training and
• systems to all of our focus contract factories.
• Roll out lean manufacturing across all of our
  focus contract
• factories.
• Introduce freedom of association and collective
  bargaining training to all of our focus contract
  factories

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http//www.tagg.org/pix/nikeadbust.jpg
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Methods thus far and their setbacks

• Market regulation
• State regulation
• The rise of Transnational Advocacy Networks
  (TANs)
• Keck and Sikkink Accountability politics
• Monitoring

18
Transnational Advocacy Networks

• The Boomerang effect
• Codes of Conduct
• Enabling Rights
• Monitoring
• Unionization