Protesters 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, 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 has tied 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.
