International labour law
International labour law is the body of rules spanning public and private international law which concern the rights and duties of employees, employers, trade unions and governments in regulating work and the workplace. The International Labour Organization and the World Trade Organization have been the main international bodies involved in reforming labour markets. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have indirectly driven changes in labour policy by demanding structural adjustment conditions for receiving loans or grants. Issues regarding Conflict of laws arise, determined by national courts, when people work in more than one country, and supra-national bodies, particularly in the law of the European Union, have a growing body of rules regarding labour rights.
International labour standards refer to conventions agreed upon by international actors, resulting from a series of value judgments, set forth to protect basic worker rights, enhance workers’ job security, and improve their terms of employment on a global scale. The intent of such standards, then, is to establish a worldwide minimum level of protection from inhumane labour practices through the adoption and implementation of said measures. From a theoretical standpoint, it has been maintained, on ethical grounds, that there are certain basic human rights that are universal to humankind. Thus, it is the aim of international labour standards to ensure the provision of such rights in the workplace, such as against workplace aggression, bullying, discrimination and gender inequality on the other hands for working diversity, workplace democracy and empowerment.
While the existence of international labour standards does not necessarily imply implementation or enforcement mechanisms, most real world cases have utilised formal treaties and agreements stemming from international institutions. The primary international agency charged with developing working standards is the International Labour Organization. Established in 1919, the ILO advocates international standards as essential for the eradication of labour conditions involving "injustice, hardship and privation". According to the ILO, international labour standards contribute to the possibility of lasting peace, help to mitigate potentially adverse effects of international market competition and help the progress of international development.
Implementation, however, is not limited to the ILO nor is it constrained to the legislative model that the ILO represents. Other alternatives include direct trade sanctions, multilateral enforcement, and voluntary standards. In addition to controversies that arise over each of these models, greater issues have also been raised concerning the debate over the need for international labour standards themselves. However, while critics have arisen, the international community has largely come to a consensus in favour of basic protection of the world’s labour force from inhumane practices.
Associated with the development of successful international labour standards is proper monitoring and enforcement of labour standards. Most monitoring occurs through the ILO, but domestic agencies and other NGOs also play a role in the successful monitoring of international labour standards.
History
Since the Industrial Revolution the labour movement has been concerned how economic globalisation would weaken the bargaining power of workers, as their employers could move to hire workers abroad without the protection of the labour standards at home. In the Fourth Annual International Congress in 1869, the following was resolved:Early history
The concept of protecting workers from the perils of labour environments dates all the way back to 14th-century Europe. The first example of the modern labor rights movement, though, came in response to the brutal working conditions that accompanied the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1802, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed what is now known as the English Factory Act. The act sought to regulate the workday of apprentices by restricting work hours to 12 per day. In doing so, the English Factory Act served as a precursor to the models of international labour standards seen today. Minimal regulations similar to those found in English legislation subsequently became increasingly commonplace among 19th century industrialising nations. Early attempts at the provision of labour standards were limited in scope, though. Such conventions focused primarily on improving working conditions in relation to hours of work, women's and children's labour, and the use of hazardous materials. While it was evident that support for workers’ rights was inconsistent across international boundaries, activists originally only employed the use of moral suasion to deal with differences in labour standards. It was not until the latter parts of the 19th century that efforts were made to implement uniform standards on an international scale.Creation of ILO
In 1919, following the end of the First World War, the agenda on international labour standards reached a new level of prominence as a result of the founding of the International Labour Organization. As mandated by Part XIII of the Treaty of Versailles, the ILO was created as a branch of the League of Nations in order to address all conceivable aspects of labour rights. Preliminary efforts focused primarily on the eradication of slavery and all forms of forced labour. The agenda quickly expanded, however, to include the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, non-discrimination in employment, and the elimination of child labour. The ILO’s creation marked the first instance of multiple major international actors coming together in an attempt to reach a consensus on universal workers’ rights. Despite a lack of any formal means of coercion, the ILO then urged its 44 original member countries to adopt and ratify conventions limiting oppressive labour market practices.The early years of the ILO
In the first two years of the ILO’s existence, 22 international labour conventions were adopted. Some of the topics that the first conventions addressed were "hours of work in industry, unemployment, maternity protection, night work for women, minimum age, and night work for young persons in industry." In 1930, the ILO adopted the first future fundamental convention: the Forced Labour Convention, which prohibited all forms of forced labour unless exempted by certain conditions.With the onset of the Great Depression, the United States joined the ILO in 1934 noting that complex labour issues would require an international response. Throughout the history of the League of Nations, the ILO is the only League-affiliated organisation that the United States joined. With the backdrop of World War 2, the ILO broadened its mandate with the Declaration of Philadelphia, signed during the 26th general conference session in 1944. The Declaration of Philadelphia, which is attached to the general constitution of the ILO, foreshadows some of the ILO’s earliest future fundamental conventions including the freedom of expression and association which was adopted in 1948 as Convention 87, Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention.
Globalisation and changing divisions of labour
In the first half of the 20th century, global divisions of labour were shaped largely by the practices of colonialism. Poorer countries exported natural resources to richer countries, which then manufactured and produced specialised goods. As many colonised nations achieved independence, developing nations in the global South took on increasingly protectionist policies in attempts to build up the manufacturing sectors of their economies, thus marking a shift in the global division of labour. However, towards the latter part of the 20th century, a number of factors saw protectionist measures fall. Such factors included rising labour costs in the north, advances in transportation and communication technologies, the liberalisation of trade, and the deregulation of markets. In the midst of a changing international labour landscape, developing nations in the south took on a previously unseen domination of the labour-intensive manufacturing industry.With the deregulation of major markets and significant increases in the volume of international trade, attempts to make manufacturing sectors more attractive to retailers saw extreme downward pressure placed on the quality of working conditions in lower income regions of the world. This gave rise to growing concerns about a global race to the bottom, in which governments take part in the iterative loosening of labour protections in attempts to aid the international competitiveness of export-oriented industries. Fears of this nature consequently produced the notable increases in the discourse on international labour ethics that characterise the contemporary international human rights arena.