The Importance and Aspects of Labour Rights Through History - Article Example

Labour movements have crushed and built empires throughout the history of humanity. Labourers have been the most deprived as well as the most powerful section of the world population. The industrial revolution was the cradle in which the labour force took birth. The big big factories not only assembled huge machine parts into one piece but also individuals into a consolidated labour force which had a will of its own. While the organized sector of labour achieved many privileges through collective bargaining, the lives of labourers in the unorganised sector remained poverty ridden and without hope. The new advent of global finance movements and global labour movements has now pushed millions of workers into the unorganized sector with no bargaining power. It is this scenario that makes it the immediate need of the hour that we sit back and take into account the issue of labour rights. To discuss labour rights only in the context of international labour laws will be to underestimate the complexities emerging out of global trade, says Bob Alexander Hepple who is a prolific writer on labour issues. He adds that reconciliation of global trade and labour rights will not come from relocating labour law within the sphere of international trade law. (1) “Efforts should be directed at shaping the many new strands of trans-national labour regulations that are emerging so as to spread the benefits of growing trade and investment to the poorest, to protect basic human rights and to contribute to social justice and democracy” (2). This approach has been gaining ground and human rights have become the major point of reference for these debates. 1.B. Hepple, Labour Laws and Global Trade, (1st edn, Hart, Oxford, 2000) 3. 2. ibid. The most accepted and simple definition for human rights is that they are “the rights that one has because one is human.” (3). The term, human rights itself implies equality because these rights pertain to every human being in an equal way. There are two kinds of human rights, one set of laws having clear legal ground provided by different states and the other set which does not exist in the law books but strongly based on the moral nature of humans.(4) When we try to equate the labour rights with human rights, some labour rights will be found to belong to the first category and some to the second but all have strong bonding with the concept of human rights. First and foremost connection between labour and human rights is that ‘right to work’ is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 and endorsed by all nation states of the world. ‘Just and favourable conditions of work’, ‘trade unions’, and ‘right to rest and leisure’ are also part of this list of human rights. (5) The foundation of International Labour Organisation primarily was an outcome of the sympathies evoked by the plight of labourers all over the world.(6) The working conditions were so poor that in the middle of 19th century, many young working class men were declared unfit for military service because of deteriorated physical health. (7) 3. J.Donelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, ( 2nd edn, Cornell University Press, 2003) 7. 4. Ibid, 14. 5. Ibid, 22, 24. 6 J.Servais, International Labour Law, (illustrated edn, Kluwer Law International, Bedfordshire, 2005) 21. 7.Ibid Revolutionary and reformist solutions have been offered in history to assert the rights of these labourers. It was the fear aroused by the former of which Russian labour revolution was a major milestone, that led politicians elsewhere to promise better working conditions to the labourers(8). Thus, it was Marxian practical politics that made the world realize that labourers were also humans and their rights are human rights. The preamble of the constitution of ILO speaks about the link between universal peace and social justice and warns that ‘labour should not be considered merely as a commodity or article of commerce” (9). The conference of International Labour Organisation held in Philadelphia decades back in 1944, was the first attempt to bring human rights to the fold of labour laws. Servais, author of the book, International Labour Law, writes that the declaration of that conference spelled out four principles of which, “the principle of protection of the worker’s person is a fundamental principle” (10). Here, for the first time, a labourer is legally mentioned as a person, a human being, having rights in that capacity. Servais further quotes the ILO declaration stating “all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity. (11). The ten-point programme of action delineated by the declaration also upholds rights of the labourers which come under the purview of human rights. It includes, “adequate protection for life and health and assurance of equality of opportunity and treatment” (12) 8 (6) 24 9 Ibid 10 Ibid 28 11. Ibid 12. Ibid 28-29 It was in 1948 and 1949 that ILO adopted two labour conventions upholding freedom of association and expression drawing inspiration from the human rights declaration which had just come into existence. In the coming years, more legally binding human rights provisions were added to the ILO labour laws regarding forced labour, discrimination and equal remuneration.(13) All these were the results of a growing awareness of human rights and its incorporation into the rights of the labourers. The rights of freedom of assembly and freedom of association, appearing in the ILO labour law texts (14) can be found also in the Human Rights Declaration as well. (15) Studies conducted by ILO in 1950s and 1960s in countries like United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Malaysia, Burma etc. had revealed that governments themselves were violating the freedom of labourers to organize and bargain collectively. ( 16) This is the violation of the human rights of ‘freedom of association’, ‘freedom of assembly’ and even ‘protection against slavery’ (17) listed in the declaration of human rights. If a person is not able to negotiate his earnings from his labour, the situation becomes the same as that of a slave. Similarly, the right to non-discrimination (18) in the human rights declaration directly justifies the demand for equal wages in a labour situation. 13. (6) 30 14. ILO law on Freedom of Association, ‘International Labour Organisation’ http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/InternationalLabourStandards/InformationResources/Publications/lang--en/docName--WCMS_087994/index.htm. accessed on 14 March 2009. 15. (3) 21 16.Ibid 17. (3) 24. 18. Ibid Another most important right listed is the right to life. Health risks involved in work places inevitably comes under this human rights section. The case fought in English courts against the trans-national company, Cape plc by South African workers was an eye-opener to the world in this regard (19). The workers were asking for compensation and judicial action against the company as they had contracted asbestos-related diseases while mining asbestos in South Africa for the company. Finally the company had to pay a huge sum to the workers. Since Australia and New Zealand had enacted Minimum Wages Act in the late 19th century (20) up to United Kingdom making a national level legislation in this regard as recent as in 1999(21); in all these instances, we can see that ensuring minimum wages for labourers is also equivalent to acknowledging their right to a life of dignity. The demand for supplementing international trade treaties with a social clause (22) was a by-product of the growing concern for the human rights of the labourers. Particularly, in the context of globalisation and the global trade that expanded with it, it was getting more and more difficult to ensure that the labourers work under humane conditions. The players of international trade were located spreading across the globe and the direct accountability of the employee was getting lost in a world of outsourcing and multi-step, multi-country production scenario. Different countries have different levels of labour rights and labour costs and there have been several violations by multi-national companies reported. 19.C Lubbe v Cape plc (2000) 1WLR 1545 (HL) 20 American Academy of Political and Social Science, The Cost of Living, (Philadelphia, 1930) 21 National Minimum Wages Act 1999 22 (1) 24 The debate on the human rights angle of labour rights in the global scenario has led to individual corporations devising self-disciplinary codes of conduct. For example, Reebok Corporation had introduced “human rights production standards” where protection of human rights of the labourers was also included as a component in production quality (23). Such a move adds a new dimension to the concepts of both human and labour rights and equates them in a very strong way. Economic growth has always been an excuse for poor labour conditions all over the world. But the very notion of human rights is that social justice is embedded into economic growth. Bob Alexander Hepple cites the example of the apartheid government in South Africa, which used to discuss labour issues only with delegates from all-white racist labour unions. (24) This is another classic example where labour rights enter the territory of human rights. Labour laws throughout the world, says Hepple, “ uphold human rights in the workplace, such as the right to equality, to associate in trade unions and to assemble peacefully, to privacy and free speech” (25). The Employees Relations Act 1999 enacted in United Kingdom is an example and provides ample provisions for collective bargaining, national minimum wage and protection from discrimination (26). 23 L A Compa and others, Human Rights, Labour Rights and International Trade, (1st edn, University of Pennsylvania Press, Pennsylvania 2003) 8. 24 (1) 12. 25 ibid 13. 26 Employment Relations Act 1999 s 26 (1,19,22) Labour is not merely an act carried out by a labourer for simply earning money. It is the creative process which made civilization possible. It is also the most powerful element of humanisation in the history of human kind. This is where the human element once again invariably comes in. Globalization of capital and employment has literally diluted the right of association and collective bargaining of the worker. Trade unionism and attempts to defend labour rights are criticised as protectionist measures by a section of the business houses and there is great lobbying going on to prevent new legislations affecting the corporate houses. Unless the labour rights are incorporated into the wider canvas of human rights, the workers will be forced to return to the dark alleys of invisibility and deprivation. Servais concludes his book on international labour law on a hopeful note saying this: Multinationals that subcontract all or some of their production to countries where wages are low are increasingly concerned by the conduct of the companies they choose in respect of their staff. …..these large corporations are worried about their images and the threats of boycotts brandished at the instigation of unions or human rights organisations (27). The labour movement that lose its edge with the decline of Marxian ideology is re-establishing its role by joining hands with human rights movements. The trade unions have realised that working class politics was no more exclusively a class question. Gender, race and the existing world order have a stake in today’s class equations. The working class is entering a new phase of its destiny where its labour rights will be better protected as human rights. 27 (4) 323. Not only at academic levels, but practically also trans-national labour activism is redefining labour issues as human rights issues. The drastic working conditions of Guatemalan textile workers were improved after endless campaigns by labour as well as human rights groups. (28) The consumer based monitoring system is also complementing this movement. In several instances, human rights groups were able to persuade consumers not to buy products of companies which used child labour or neglected the rights of their workers. Allegations of labour violations raised against Nike’s athletic footwear was such a successful campaign.(29) As national governments are becoming more and more dependent on foreign capital, they are constrained by the threat of the flight of capital and often hesitate to enact strict labour laws. (30) This vaccum is being filled by groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The labourers of the world are uniting once again, though under a different flag than communism. The politics of this movement is purely based on humanism and human dignity and the aim is to make the world a better place. 28 G Seidman, Beyond the Boycott, (1st edn, Russel Sage Foundation, w York, 2007) 14. 29. ibid 4. 30. ibid 26. Bibliography 1.B. Hepple, Labour Laws and Global Trade, (1st edn, Hart, Oxford, 2000) 3. 2. ibid. 3. J.Donelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, ( 2nd edn, Cornell University Press, 2003) 7. 4. ibid, 14. 5. ibid, 22, 24. 6 J.Servais, International Labour Law, (illustrated edn, Kluwer Law International, Bedfordshire, 2005) 21. 7.Ibid 8 (6) 24 9 ibid 10 ibid 28 11. ibid 12. ibid 28-29 13. ibid 30 14. ILO law on Freedom of Association, ‘International Labour Organisation’ http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/InternationalLabourStandards/InformationResources/Publications/lang--en/docName--WCMS_087994/index.htm. accessed on 14 March 2009. 15. (3) 21 16.ibid 17. ibid 24. 18. Ibid 19.C Lubbe v Cape plc (2000) 1WLR 1545 (HL) 20 American Academy of Political and Social Science, The Cost of Living, (Philadelphia, 1930) 21 National Minimum Wages Act 1999 22 (1) 24 23 L A Compa and others, Human Rights, Labour Rights and International Trade, (1st edn, University of Pennsylvania Press, Pennsylvania 2003) 8. 24 (1) 12. 25 ibid 13. 26 Employment Relations Act 1999 s 26 (1,19,22) 27 (4) 323. 28 G Seidman, Beyond the Boycott, (1st edn, Russel Sage Foundation, w York, 2007) 14. 29. ibid 4. 30. ibid 26. Read More