Considering the Multifaceted Nature of "Labor Standards" from the Perspective of Globalization

Yang Tiren

Chinese Economy, 2001, vol. 34, issue 6, 3-11

Abstract: The debate on whether trade and so-called international labor standards ought to be linked up and always considered in tandem with each otherâa controversy triggered by and within the World Trade organization (WTO)âis a relevant one. It is related to the contradiction that economic growth and social progress do not automatically develop at the same pace. At the same time, we have to ask: Will the implementation of so-called international labor standards automatically bring about a situation wherein all the workers will be able to enjoy the fruits of economic growth and development equally? Will it secure social justice for every worker in the world? Things are, of course, far from being so simple. In today's international environment of great diversity and plurality of interests and political concerns among nations, we simply cannot take things at face value and assume that international labor standards are what they were assumed to be at the beginning of the twentieth century when such a concept was proposed for the first time: purely and simply to protect and defend the rights and privileges of all the workers in the world. In reality, the proposal of such international labor standards has become a weapon, wielded by a variety of interest groups. This is precisely the multifacetedness (>i>duomianxing>/i>) of the labor standards that we wish to discuss in this article.

Date: 2001
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