Core Labour Standards Conditionalities: A Means by Which to Achieve Sustainable Development?

The potential role of corporations through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in sustainable development is significant for workers and trade unions because sustainable development is widely considered to include recognition of the needs and relevance of labour. CSR might thus be considered to provide an open door for a more participatory role for workers and their representatives, and for achieving better and stronger labour standards. However, this chapter argues that CSR is unlikely to bring about sustainability in this way and is in fact more likely to exclude labour participation. It addresses the links that can be made between CSR and labour rights. It highlights the limitations of CSR, explains why its promises are likely to be unfulfilled, and argues that an alternative approach is required. Workers and trade unions need to collaborate with other social movements to establish a countervailing power to that enjoyed by large corporations. A stronger accountability regime is also required that will ensure real responsibility of corporations for their actions.

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Human freedom and human capital*

The Role of Labour Standards in Development ◽

10.5871/bacad/9780197264911.003.0003 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Brian Langille

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Human Capital ◽

Human Freedom ◽

Labour Law ◽

Second Development ◽

Labour Standards ◽

Abstract Level ◽

Clear Thinking ◽

The One

This book examines the role of labour standards in sustainable development and this chapter addresses this issue at a fairly abstract level. It argues that if we could have clear thinking about labour standards and clear thinking about sustainable development, then we would say that there is an intimate connection and profound overlap between labour standards and development. This is because, first, there is an intimate and profound connection between human freedom on the one hand, and human capital on the other. Second, development is the process of the removal of obstacles to real human freedom conceived of as the real capacity to lead lives which we have reason to value. Third, labour law is that part of our law which structures and mobilises the deployment of human capital, that is, which structures and mobilises the ‘exploitation’ (in the best sense of the word) of human capital, which is at the core of human freedom. Thus, if development is about human freedom and labour law is about human capital, then labour law is a key to development.

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A critique of the extraterritorial obligations of the EU in relation to human rights clauses and social norms in EU free trade agreements

Europe and the World A law review ◽

10.14324/111.444.ewlj.2018.09 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Clair Gammage

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Human Rights ◽

Social Norms ◽

Free Trade ◽

Free Trade Agreements ◽

Trade Agreements ◽

Eu Law ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Labour Standards ◽

The Eu

This article examines the nature of the EU’s obligations in relation to human rights and social norms in its free trade agreements (FTAs) with a view to problematising the extent to which such clauses are justiciable and enforceable. While human rights do not fall within the area of exclusive EU competence, it is widely accepted that the EU may be liable for contributing to human rights violations in the context of trade agreements under international law and EU law. Conversely, it will be shown that social norms, including labour standards and principles such as sustainable development and environmental protection, which are increasingly set out in the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of FTAs, raise more complex questions regarding the territorial reach of EU law. It is submitted that EU FTAs are constructed in such a way as to exclude rights with the effect that the extraterritorial obligations of the EU in relation to human rights clauses and social norms are unlikely to be judicially enforceable in practice. However, in spite of the territorial limitations of EU law in relation to human rights clause and social norms, recent developments in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) suggest that the EU is nevertheless under an obligation to ensure its trade agreements with developing countries are conducted in a ‘development-friendly’ manner. To conclude, this article advances the argument that the obligation to engage in ‘development-friendly’ trade may serve to extend the territorial reach of EU further, albeit within the confines of trade and cooperation agreements.

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The Integration of Sustainable Development through Regulatory Linkages between Investment, Labour Standards and Environmental Protection under EU IIAs

10.1163/9789004465886_006 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 225-295

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

Labour Standards

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An introduction to the role of labour standards in development* **

The Role of Labour Standards in Development ◽

10.5871/bacad/9780197264911.003.0001 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Tonia Novitz ◽

David Mangan

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Previous Literature ◽

Labour Markets ◽

Labour Standards

This volume aims to generate debate beyond the scope of previous literature relating to the justificatory basis of labour standards, so as to consider alternative ways of understanding their function. In so doing, it considers what this means for the governance of labour markets, whether at local, national, regional, or international levels. It also challenges mainstream assumptions relating to ‘sustainable development’. This introductory chapter first discusses the links between labour standards and development. An overview of the subsequent chapters is then presented.

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