14 - Pursuing International Labor Standards in U.S. Courts and Through Global Codes of Conduct

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The globalization of business management greatly increases the chances that the actions of American corporations will affect the lives of foreign workers toiling outside U.S. borders. Stephen B. Moldof, The Application of U.S. Labor Laws to Activities and Employees Outside the United States, 17 Lab. Law. 417 (2002). Whether operating a foreign subsidiary or as a virtual corporation that has outsourced to contractors a core function such as production, U.S. transnational corporations (TNCs) clearly derive benefits from foreign labor. Consequently, they are increasingly seen as bearing responsibility for working conditions on foreign soil. Undoubtedly, many of the jobs provided by the international activities of U.S. TNCs are equal or superior to those not connected to the global economy. Donald C. Dowling, Jr., The Multi-National's Manifesto on Sweatshops, Trade/Labor Linkage, and Codes of Conduct, 8 Tulsa J. Comp. & Int'l L. 27 (2000). Yet well-publicized cases of U.S. corporate connections to foreign workers laboring in sweatshop conditions are a troubling reminder that low cost goods for American consumers are often the product of the hardships of those who produce them.

Many of the devices available for promoting corporate accountability have been discussed in previous chapters of this book. For example, advocates concerned about substandard working conditions might make use of the labor and employment laws in the country where the workers reside. Although this strategy makes sense if the workers are employed in an industrialized country, labor market regulation by developing nations can be problematic.