SADIQ MUN IV

Topic:
Countering threats to labour rights
in the globalized world
Introduction
Labour Rights
Labour rights are a group of legal rights that fall under human rights, related to
labour relations between employers and their employees. These rights are usually
related to worker’s salaries, safe working conditions, ethical and fair treatment of
workers, worker benefits and the right to unionize. Labour rights encompass the
right to work as well as the enjoyment of the rights at work. The fundamental
labours rights are identified in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s)
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at work and are stated in eight
core ILO conventions. International law recognizes four core labour rights:
• freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective
bargaining;
• elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
• effective abolition of child labour;
• elimination of discrimination with respect to employment and occupation.
Moreover, other social and economic labour rights, including minimum wage
standards, occupational health and safety, compensation in cases of occupational
injuries and illness, protection for pregnant women, children and mothers in the
workplace are also included. North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation
(NAALC), supplemental accord to the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), sets forth eleven ‘Labour Principles’ going well beyond ILO’s eight
core standards. Each of these principles applies to all workers including non-
citizens and commits to providing the same legal protection to migrant workers
as the nationals.
History of the Topic
1919 – Creation of International Labour Organization (ILO)
1930 – Forced Labour Convention (CO29, ILO)
1948 – Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(General Assembly resolution 217A)
1949 – Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
(CO98, ILO)
1958 – Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
(C111, ILO)
1965 – Adoption of the International Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination
1966 – Adoption of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and adoption of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
1979 – Adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
1988 – ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and rights at
work
2006 – Establishment of the Global Compact Human Rights
Working Group (HRWG)
UDHR Article 23:
Workers have the right to free choice of employment without any
discrimination, right to just remuneration and the right to form as
well join trade unions to preserve their self-interests.
UDHR Article 24:
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable
limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
 Contributing Factors
Impact of Industrialization and Globalization on Labour Rights
Industrialization refers to the shift of an economy from being primarily
based on agriculture to being mainly based on industries
manufacturing goods and providing services. Globalization is the
process by which businesses develop international influence and start
operating on an international scale.
Globalization of labour means that the workers working in an industry
are now deeply involved with and affected by the macro level
economic and political issues. It has become crucial to understand the
changing economic roles and conditions of people due to globalization.
The World Bank attempts to explain what globalization is and what it
means to the economic order: Globalization is one of the most
charged issues of the day. It is everywhere in public discourse – in TV
sound bites and slogans on placards, in web-sites and learned journals,
in parliaments, corporate boardrooms and labour meeting halls.
Extreme opponents charge it with impoverishing the world’s poor,
enriching the rich and devastating the environment, while fervent
supporters see it as a high-speed elevator to universal peace and
prosperity. What is one to think? Amazingly for so widely used a term,
there does not appear to be any precise, widely-agreed definition.
Indeed, the breadth of the meanings attached to it seems to be
increasing rather than narrowing over time, taking on cultural, political
and other connotations in addition to the economic. However, the
most common or core sense of economic globalization refers to the
observation that in recent years a quickly rising share of countries
activity in the world seems to be taking place between people who live
in different countries (rather than in the same country).
Labour provisions are defined as:
• Any labour standard which establishes minimum working conditions
in terms of worker rights;
• Any norm of the protection provided to workers under national
labour and its enforcement;
• Any framework for cooperation monitoring these issues.
As transnational corporations extend all over the globe looking for
new territories to set up shops, there lies very strong evidence that
these companies are playing a major role in adversely impacting
worker’s rights. With poor working conditions that often do not
comply with safe work environment regulations to long working hours,
ineffective access to health care, developing countries bear the burden
of this problem the most. Globalization creates these deleterious
working conditions that are impacting the physical as well as the
mental well-being of workers. The domestic and international
conditions for successful globalization have been met in relatively very
few countries thus causing unselective, premature and poorly
sequenced globalization, all of which is affecting the people directly
involved – the working class.
 Effects
Forced Labor
ILO Convention 29 defines ‘forced labour’ as ‘all work on service that is
extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for
which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. The
following factors can be used to identity forced labour in practice:
• Actual presence or threat of penalty: including physical or sexual
violence, loss of rights and privileges, financial penalties (such as non-
payment of wages), denunciation to authorities and deportation,
deprivation of food, shelter or other necessities etc.
• Lack of consent to work: including restriction of freedom of
movement, physical confinement in the work location, psychological
compulsion, deception or false promises about types and terms of
work, withholding and non-payment of wages, confiscation of Identity
documents etc.
More than half the people in forced labour are women and girls,
primarily in domestic work and commercial sexual exploitation while
men and boys are primarily forced in economic exploitation in
agriculture, mining and construction.
Poverty is the main economic factor that pushes individuals into
forced labour. Lack of education, illiteracy, gender and migration are
some other factors contributing to the risk and vulnerability of people.
It is also important to look at the socioeconomic factors that make
people vulnerable to forced labour in the private sector. To eradicate
this problem, it is pertinent to work with the government and
strengthen law, policy and enforcement. To reduce vulnerability to
forced labour, it is important to:
• Invest in education and skill training to fortify job opportunities for
vulnerable workers;
• Prevent abuse of workers in households;
• Support organization of workers including the domestic sector and in
industries.
Child Labor
One example of a huge labour rights abuse is exploitation of children
as workers under the worst working conditions. The term ‘child labour’
is defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their
potential and dignity, which is harmful to physical and mental
development. For child workers, work comes at the expense of their
education. Some children reported being paid less than the minimum
wage. Poverty and lack of access to affordable secondary education,
combined with idle time are some key reasons why children drop out
of school and take up work in many developing countries. Children
from poor families come to work in order to supplement family
incomes. In some cases, families themselves plead to children to work
citing poverty.
Regulations in the labour market
Like any other market, it is important for the labour market to have
regulations to mitigate market failures like imperfect information and
to protect buyers (employers) and sellers (employees). However,
because it is services of people that are being bought and sold,
regulating the labour market can be contentious. Setting labour market
rules is further complicated by the country’s cultural, social and legal
traditions. Rules regarding minimum wage and job security are
important aspects of labour market in all countries, regardless of the
level of development.
Overtime work
This refers to work beyond the regular eight-hour day stipulated in the
Labour Law. Labour Law further specifies that overtime work should be
‘voluntary’ and employers cannot penalize workers who choose not to
work overtime. A vast majority of workers interviewed by Human
Rights Watch stated that they feared retaliation, like non-renewal of
contract or even dismissal, if they refused to work overtime.
Women Workers
Pregnancy related discrimination and sexual harassment in the
workplace are the two main concerns for many women workers.
Labour law guarantees all pregnant workers a maternity leave of three
months irrespective of duration of service. To avoid giving maternity
benefits, manager refuse to renew the short-term contracts of women
if found to be pregnant. Women are denied benefits like maternity
leave and maternity pay. Incidents have also been reported where
women workers have been initially promoted to team leader positions
passing productivity tests, but demoted after they were found to be
pregnant. When these women protest such unfair acts, they are often
fired. Moreover, some companies employ women workers on a casual
daily or hourly basis and so they face additional barriers to unionize or
file complaints about working conditions. It is difficult for the workers,
vast majority of whom are young women, to assert their rights due to
short term contracts that make it easier to fire and control workers,
aggressive tactics against independent unions and poor government
labour inspection and enforcement. Human Rights Watch has
documented labour rights abuses in both export-oriented and
subcontractor factories in these countries. International brands have a
responsibility to promote respect for worker’s rights throughout their
supply chains, including both direct suppliers and subcontractor
factories and they can do this by increasing transparency.
Domestic Workers
Domestic workers make a significant proportion of the global
workforce in the informal employment sector and fall among the most
vulnerable groups of workers. The estimated 67 million domestic
workers worldwide, not including child domestic workers, mostly work
for private households often without clear terms of employment,
excluded from labour legislation. They are often given low wages,
restricted from freedom of movement and are vulnerable to abuses
including physical and mental. Food deprivation and forced
confinement also fall among some of the most serious offences
perpetrated against domestic workers.
Physical, Psychological and Sexual Abuse
Domestic workers, mostly females, working in private households are
often at risk of psychological, physical and sexual abuse. These abuses
are intensified given the worker’s isolation, inability to seek help,
imbalance of power between employer and employee and financial
pressures. Physical violence against domestic workers ranges from
slaps to severe beating using objects like shoes, belts, knocking heads
against walls and burning skin. Verbal threats including harsh insults,
threats and belittlement often accompanies physical abuse. This
reinforces employers’ domination and further makes the workers less
likely to seek redress of abusive employment conditions. Isolation in
the household also places domestic workers at risk of sexual
harassment and assault. Many countries’ laws prohibit sexual
harassment but do not define it. Failure of the law defining sexual
harassment at the workplace, outlining a complaints procedure, or
creating an effective channel for workers to secure a safe working
environment are some of the reasons why these abuses are so
common and why they go under-reported by many females
MIGRANTS WORKERS
These workers are the most risk for exploitation and discrimination.
Language difficulties often prevent them from being aware of their
rights under the law and of specific hazards at work. They are usually
undocumented and so are at a risk for deportation if they seek to
unionize to improve their working and accommodation conditions. The
illegal and abusive treatment of migrant workers is not only one of the
most pressing reputational risks for global corporations but is also a
tenacious and serious human rights abuse.
CASE STUDY
Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup
“For players and fans, a World Cup stadium is a place for dreams, for
some of the workers who spoke to us, it feels like a living nightmare,”
said Amnesty International Secretary General.
In 2010 FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to the Gulf State of Qatar.
Thereon, the country embarked on a journey of massive construction
projects to build stadiums and other necessary infrastructure to host
the tournament 12 years later. Among the many projects started
including the construction of 7 new stadiums, was the extensive
refurbishment of Qatar’s main sporting venues, the Khalifa
International Stadium. Migrant workers, mainly from South Asia,
comprise more than 90% of Qatar’s labour force. Out of the total 2.1
million migrant workers there, 1.8 million are involved in World Cup
projects directly or indirectly. In 2015, Amnesty International identified
more than 100 migrant workers employed on this stadium who were
subjected to several human and labour rights abuses by the companies
for which they worked. Human rights activists call this entire project a
form of ‘modern-day slavery.’
POINTS TO RESEARCH ON THIS CASE:
 Labour Rights Abuses on World Cup sites in Qatar
 FIFA’s response
 Who is to blame?
 What can be done?

Questions a Resolution Must Answer

1. What measures can be taken by member nations to guarantee basic
labour rights to workers?
2. Is the current international legal framework sufficient to safeguard
labour rights in developed and emerging economies? How can we get
more member states to sign and ratify them?
3. Which principles are the most important to ensure health and safety
of workers in all countries?
4. Where should the funds come from to support states in achieving
high labour protection standards?
5. How can the problem of exploitative short-term contracts be dealt
with especially in the case of female workers?
6. What are the necessary steps that should be taken regarding the
plight of migrant workers in Qatar working on 2022 FIFA projects?
7. What policies can be implemented to ensure all children are
protected in the supply chains of large transnational companies?
8. Is it feasible to have a common set of core labour standards with
respect to trading partners?
9. How will short-term solutions differ from long-term approaches?
10. Can this committee take the help of other organizations or UN
bodies? If so, how can these bodies help?