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United Nations Headquarters New York, NY October 2, 2007

Expert Group Meeting on Full Employment and Decent Work for All Keynote Address Drusilla K. Brown Tufts University. United Nations Headquarters New York, NY October 2, 2007. Partners Advancing Employment and Decent Work.

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United Nations Headquarters New York, NY October 2, 2007

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  1. Expert Group Meeting on Full Employment and Decent Work for AllKeynote AddressDrusilla K. BrownTufts University United Nations Headquarters New York, NY October 2, 2007

  2. Partners Advancing Employment and Decent Work • Government: Essential Responsibility for Establishing and Enforcing Basic Labor Protections, Macroeconomic Stability/Growth • Worker Organizations: Free, Independent, Worker Controlled • Corporations: The Business Case for Humane Labor Management • Multinational Organizations: Information, Technical Assistance, Services • Consumers: Ethical Trading

  3. Global Supply Chains as Social Capital • Global Supply Chains Double Edge Sword • Extremely Efficient, Streamlined • Operating in the presence of imperfect governments and markets for labor and natural resources. • Capacity to relieve or aggravate governmental and market imperfections.

  4. Corporate Codes Plus • “Ratcheting Labor Standards: Regulation for Continuous Improvement in the Global Workforce,” May 2000. • Charles Sabel, Dara O’Rourke and Archon Fung

  5. “Leading firms in the global economy have mastered the disciplines that foster excellence and innovation among their own workers and suppliers…” • Product Quality • Price • On-Time Delivery

  6. Apply these disciplines to the treatment of labor in vendor factories • Gradually and systematically ratcheting up standards. • Process of continuous improvement in working conditions.

  7. Buyer/NGO-Sponsored Health InterventionBangalore Apparel Factories Geohelminth/Anemia • Seven Treatment Factories • 10,810 Workers • Study: July 2004-March 2005

  8. Multinational BuyersEncourage Factories to Innovate Across Spectrum of Labor Management Practices • Recruiting, Screening, Training • Compensation • Health and Safety • Problem-Solving • Workplace Based Health Care

  9. Pockets of Monopoly/Monopsony Power – Ethical Trading • Young women with little market experience, vulnerable to exploitation: Apparel. • Oligopolized commodity chains: Coffee • Ethical trading increases competition in oligopolized markets that depress wages for industrial and agricultural workers.

  10. Globalization and Rising Income Inequality Even in when all markets functioning efficiently: • Globalization may worsen outcomes for workers. • Globalization contributing to rising inequality, stagnant median wages, growing sense of insecurity.

  11. Essential Role of National, State and Provincial Government • Establish and enforce basic protections for labor including: Free Association/Collective Bargaining Occupational Health and Safety Basic Education and Health Care • Facilitate a social contract that compensates those harmed by market activity • Establish institutions and governmental programs that support workers during market transitions. • Macroeconomic Stability/Growth

  12. Policy SpaceRodrik (2007) – “How to Save Globalization from its Cheerleaders” • Longstanding view that the restrictions imposed by international organizations disciplined national governments. • Today: evidence that this process has gone too far in some arenas. • Example: TRIPS and access to essential medicines.

  13. International Labor Organization/United Nations/World Bank Supporting Role • Experiments: Better Factories Cambodia • Monitoring, Training, Technical Assistance • Promoting Worker-Employer-Government dialog • Helping national governments establish and enforce basic labor protections

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