Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights

by Jenkins, Rhys; Pearson, Ruth; Seyfang, Gill

• ISBN13: 9781853839313
• ISBN10: 1853839310
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-01
• Publisher: Earthscan / James & James

Summary

The emergence of voluntary corporate codes of conduct since the early 1990s is both a manifestation of, and a response to, the process of globalization. They have been part of a more general shift away from state regulation of transnational corporations towards an emphasis on corporate self-regulation in the areas of labor and environmental standards and human rights. This book provides a critical perspective on the growth and significance of corporate codes with a particular focus on working conditions and labor rights. It brings together work by academics, practitioners and activists.

Table of Contents

Acronyms and abbreviations	v
List of figures, tables and boxes	viii
Contributors	x
Preface	xiii
Richard Howitt MEP
Introduction	1	(12)
Rhys Jenkins
Ruth Pearson
Gill Seyfang
Part One: Codes of Conduct and Global Deregulation
The political economy of codes of conduct	13	(18)
Rhys Jenkins
Labour rights / corporate responsibilities: the role of ILO labour standards	31	(12)
Jill Murray
`I'll tell you what I want...': women workers and codes of conduct	43	(18)
Ruth Pearson
Gill Seyfang
Mapping codes through the value chain: from researcher to detective	61	(18)
Stephanie Barrientos
Part Two: Codes of Conduct -- Perspectives from Stakeholders in the Global Production Chains
Stakeholder perspectives
Beyond codes: lessons from the Pentland experience	79	(11)
Lesley Roberts
The international trade union movement and the new codes of conduct	90	(11)
Dwight W Justice
The emperor's new clothes: what codes mean for workers in the garment industry	101	(12)
Linda Shaw
Angela Hale
Can codes of conduct help home-based workers?	113	(11)
Lucy Brill
Regional perspectives
`Made in China': rules and regulations versus codes of conduct in the toy sector	124	(11)
Alice Kwan
Stephen Frost
The contradictions in codes: the Sri Lankan experience	135	(11)
Kelly Dent
The potential of codes as part of women's organizations' strategies for promoting the rights of women workers: a Central America perspective	146	(14)
Marina Prieto
Angela Hadjipateras
Jane Turner
The fox guarding the chicken coop: garment industry monitoring in Los Angeles	160	(12)
Laura Dubinsky
Practical issues in developing and implementing codes
Working with codes: perspectives from the Clean Clothes Campaign	172	(12)
Nina Ascoly
Ineke Zeldenrust
ETI: a multi-stakeholder approach	184	(12)
Mick Blowfield
Monitoring the monitors: a critique of third-party labour monitoring	196	(13)
Dara O'Rourke
Code monitoring in the informal Fair Trade sector: the experience of Oxfam GB	209	(13)
Rachel Wilshaw
Appendix I Useful web sites	222	(2)
Index	224