International framework agreements: new paths to workers' participation in multinationals' governance?

Isabelle Schömann, André Sobzack, Eckhard Voss and Peter Wilke
Additional contact information
Isabelle Schömann: ETUI-REHS
André Sobzack: Audencia School of Management
Eckhard Voss: Wilke, Maack and Partner, Hamburg
Peter Wilke: Wilke, Maack and Partner, Hamburg

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 2008, vol. 14, issue 1, 111-126

Abstract: This article describes the results of a major study on the impact of codes of conduct and international framework agreements (IFAs) on social regulation at company level. The limits of labour legislation at the national, as well as the international, level provide a strong motivation for both multinationals and trade unions to negotiate and sign IFAs. IFAs offer a way to regulate the social consequences of globalisation and to secure adherence to labour and social standards. They thus form part of the growing political debate on the international working and production standards of private actors. Examination of the negotiation process, the motivations of the parties, and the content of the agreements and implementation measures provides valuable insights into the impact of IFAs on multinationals' behaviour in respect of social dialogue and core labour standards. Finally, the article highlights the influence of such agreements on public policy-making and the limits of private self-regulation at European and international level, addressing the growing and controversial debate on the need for supranational structures to regulate labour standards and industrial relations.

Keywords: international framework agreement; global framework agreement; code of conduct; corporate social responsibility; fundamental social rights; core labour standards; transnational collective bargaining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/102425890801400110 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:treure:v:14:y:2008:i:1:p:111-126

DOI: 10.1177/102425890801400110

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().