Coming Home to Golf

[Excerpt] For a mainstream sports buff turning 40, golf takes on a new allure. Unexpected, even unwanted at first, a reawakened passion for the game has snuck up on me in the past year. After all, golfers excel with the best traits of those of us who have, been through the mill a bit: nerve, judgment, timing and consistency. When a fan turns 40, subtleness and elegance replace sheer force as the highest order of sporting skills

Another Look at NAFTA

Weak, toothless, worthless and a farce —these were some of the epithets applied to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) labor side accord negotiated by the United States, Mexico, and Canada in 1993. Trade unionists and labor rights supporters were upset, first by the text of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) when it appeared, then by early experiences after it went into effect on January 1, 1994. But those wanting progress on labor rights and standards in international trade should be careful of making some idealized “best” the enemy of the good

After Bangladesh, Labor Unions Can Save Lives

[Excerpt] The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 workers should be a pivot point for the global apparel industry, moving consumers to demand more accountability from brand-name companies that subcontract production to supply-chain factories around the world. Sadly, the history of workplace tragedies in so many of these factories suggests that after consumers in rich countries express horror and call for reforms, the demands for better worker protections die down and the marketplace for cheap apparel abides. But this cycle can finally be broken if demands for change start to focus on workers’ right to form trade unions

[Review of the Book \u3ci\u3eAdvancing Theory in Labour Law and Industrial Relations in a Global Context\u3c/i\u3e]

[Excerpt] The ideas and insights in Advancing Theory are an important contribution to the on-the-ground social justice movement challenging corporate rule in the global economy. It can even help rescue labor law and industrial relations as intellectual disciplines and career trajectories for a new generation of students and practitioners excited about thinking globally and acting locally

Breaking Ranks: On Military Spending, Unions Hear a Different Drummer

[Excerpt] What remains to be seen is whether the labor movement\u27s study of military spending will uncover the unions\u27 material self-interest in reducing it, and in conveying that interest to the membership. For besides its general damage to the economy, which is now recognized even by many conservatives, the big, endless military buildup also threatens to inflict fatal damage on the trade union movement and its individual unions—not just indirectly but directly and concretely, in the form of fewer members, fewer contracts, fewer organizing victories, and less political power for working people. In effect, the Reagan Administration\u27s plan to boost military spending in the 1980s is also a program for the structural dismantling of the trade union movement

NGO-Labor Union Tensions on the Ground

[Excerpt] There are serious tensions between NGOs and trade unions, two major advocates of workers’ rights, that underlie any discussion of workplace codes of conduct. The tensions stem from questions of legitimacy that bedevil both communities. Trade unionists see themselves as representing stable organizations with dues-paying members. They have a ready answer to the question “Whom do you represent?” The situation for NGOs is far more complex. No single organization speaks authoritatively for the NGO community. Unlike union leaders, NGO activists are not elected. Some NGOs are membership organizations funded by contributions from individuals. Payments are often sporadic and crisis-driven, in contrast to regular union dues. Other NGOs depend on government grants, wealthy individuals, foundations, and even corporate donations. Dependence on such sources tends to limit NGO activities to those that do not exceed the risks that the funders are willing to take, whereas unions are constrained only by the democratically determined wishes of their members

[Review of the Book \u3ci\u3eThe Promise and Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labor Standards in the Global Economy\u3c/i\u3e]

[Excerpt] In The Promise and Limits of Private Power, Richard Locke analyzes and evaluates private sector corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on working conditions in global supply chain factories. The book synthesizes findings from a multi-year project that has already generated several important articles on various aspects of supply chain labor dynamics. The book is structured around a strong central theme. Corporate codes of conduct and other private, voluntary steps indeed can have some positive effects on working conditions in supply chain factories, but results are mixed. They are not sufficient for sustained improvements. Public regulation through effectively enforced legal standards must be part of the equation. In sum, private voluntary regulation can best succeed when \u27layered\u27 on and interacting with public (state) regulation

NAFTA’s Labour Side Agreement and International Labour Solidarity

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its supplemental labour pact, the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC), reflect the uneven advances of labour rights advocacy in connection with international trade. NAFTA provides extensive rights and protections for multinational firms and investors in such areas as intellectual property rights and investment guarantees. The NAALC only partially addresses labour rights and labour conditions. But within its limits, it has shown itself to be a viable tool for crossborder solidarity among key actors in the trade union, human rights and allied movements. The NAALC’s principles and complaint mechanisms create new space for advocates to build coalitions and take concrete action to articulate challenges to the status quo and advance workers’ interests. Cooperation, consultation, and collaboration among social actors have brought a qualitative change to transnational labour rights networks in North America

Human Rights and Workers’ Rights in the United States

[Excerpt] Over the past 50 years, a comprehensive body of international law has affirmed human rights to which all workers are entitled, including the right to form unions and bargain collectively. Although the U.S. government has committed itself to protecting these rights, many American employers fail to live up to these international human rights standards for workers. American workers routinely confront a shameful pattern of threats, harassment, spying, firings and other reprisals against worker activists and a labor law system that is failing to deter such violations

On Guadeloupe, A Fine Blending Of Contrasts

[Excerpt] Contrasts like that mark the French island in the Lesser Antilles chain. Grande-Terre is flat, hot and bright. Its long, straight beaches are a natural extension of low-lying terrain, full of light green sugarcane fields and grassy marsh. Basse-Terre is a forest green, made somber as the sun rotates the shadows of its high central mountains past the villages below. Only the narrow belt highway around Basse-Terre separates its curving beaches from steep foothills. At every turn in the road, a tiny stream carries the runoff from the mountains, where there are waterfalls and deep pools and springs. Here, instead of the high, classic rainbows of Grande-Terre, the coincidence of sun and rain makes for a thick, stunted rainbow seemingly imbedded in a hillside, like a pre-Columbian slab worshiped by an ancient tribe