Keune Proposed Solutions. Maarten Keuene, head of social security and labor relations at the University of Amsterdam, has analyzed what has gone wrong with past CSR programs and models in order to discover which approach would be most feasible and efficient in solving these issues. He states that what countries like Bangladesh and the United States are currently doing incorrectly is allowing for voluntary agreements without consequences to serve as a sufficient and acceptable avenue of change. The results of these voluntary codes of conduct and an excessive economic influence over public policy include a failure to properly inspect factories and investigate abuses, as well as a low minimum wage that does not allow for a comfortable life in …show more content…
Naima Farrell, author of the article “Accountability for Outsourced Torts: Expanding Brands’ Duty of Care for Workplace Harms Committed Abroad”, has constructed perhaps the most reasonable and feasible solution to the problems we have been discussing regarding outsourcing and workers’ rights. She states that as is, “Under this system, workers harmed by unsafe or unfair labor practices at the bottom of the global supply chain – who seldom have direct employment relationships with the multinational firms or ‘brands,’ that profit most from their labor – face nearly insurmountable battier to achieving change or obtaining redress at the top.” She argues not to determine which employer (the corporation or the independent contractor) is responsible for the welfare of the employees, but rather that whichever entity fits the description she creates would be liable for possible workers’ rights violations and remediation of workplaces. She proposes an “Expanded Duty-Based Liability Regime” which would hold multinational brands accountable for what happens abroad. This plan would work in connection with the ILO’s “Core Four Rights at Work” that Theodore St. Antoine would like enforced by the American government and international organizations. The scope and inclusion of the Expanded Duty-Based Liability Regime would be based upon the answers to the following …show more content…
Antoine, Estlund believes that better enforcement of regulations and codes of conduct by the government would provide for better results in terms of reducing human and workers’ rights violations in our offshore factories. In her book, she puts forth two suggestions of stipulations that the United States and other outsourcer countries could easily add to voluntary codes of conduct in order to make them more effective. One suggestion is that corporations should be governed by “inside, non-employee representation.” The second suggestion is that independent outside monitors are needed to temper self-government of these corporations when it comes to offshore outsourcing. This outside monitor could include, but is not limited to, the outsourcer’s administrative branch (its agencies) or an international organization such as the ILO (United Nations). Although these suggestions seem to potentially be feasible, it is questionable why Estlund recommends that there is “inside, non-employee representation” at the forefront of the company when our job is to give employees a voice. If employees were placed in positions that attracted publicity and public support, the public could more easily identify the issues that employees are having and the public could help in holding the government accountable for enforcing the particular codes of ethics and conduct. In this case, the corporation would have no choice but to make positive changes because the public’s eye is on the company
In today’s world, increasing big companies open factories in developing countries but many people said it is unethical and the factories are sweatshops. Most of the sweatshops were opened in east Asia and third-world countries and regions. The companies open the sweatshops in order to get more benefits is a kind of very irresponsible behavior. For example, Apple's factories in China are not good and unethical. Audit finds
Globalisation is a growing phenomenon that is the result of various developments in the global environment, each of which merits an individual analysis of its social impacts. For the purpose of this analysis, the focus will be placed upon arguably its most controversial aspect, offshore outsourcing. Offshore outsourcing, or offshoring, is becoming an increasingly common business practice as a result of a combination of the recent technological advancements in the areas of transportation and communication, and the increased competitiveness of the business world. From the perspective of firms, tapping into cheap labor from less developed countries is a very logical business decision to reduce costs and maximize profits. This has not only motivated businesses to engage in offshoring, it has sometimes been critical to their survival in fiercely competitive environments.
Offshoring American jobs have positive and negative consequences to the American community. Some of those consequences of offshoring American jobs include Amer...
Timmerman suggests that “We share little with the people who make our clothes nowadays. We’re divided by oceans, politics, language, culture, and a complex web of economic relationships. It doesn’t affect our daily lives if they are overworked and underpaid as it did during the turn of the twentieth century,” thus demonstrating the inadequacy of outsourcing and the relationships between the corporation, factory workers, and the consumer (180). The dynamic between the corporations, factory workers, factory owners, and middle-men is complicated and tense due to the interactions, communication, and duties differentiating between each group. For the factory workers, they suffer working in hard conditions, though the workers are happy to have a job, they would rather endure the harsh stipulations for the means of production to make money to send to their families than to protest against their factory owners (Timmerman 7).
Large corporations such as Nike, Gap, and Reebok and many others from the United States have moved their factories to undeveloped nations; barely pay their employees enough to live on. Countries such as China, Indonesia, and Haiti have readily abundant cheap labor. There should be labor laws or an obligation of respecting workers to provide decent working conditions, fair wages, and safety standards.
In almost every case, foreign employees have no other option than to agree to unacceptable working conditions in order to try and provide for themselves and their family. Once employed, these foreign workers understand they cannot sufficiently provide for their family but are trapped in these inadequate conditions due to lack of opportunity elsewhere. These background conditions are what attracts the egoist shareholder who is involved in the “race to the bottom” to increase profit margins. Providing a living wage and ensuring health and D’Oria 8 safety is maintained in the workplace, will not jeopardize the company’s bottom line because of how large their profit margins are.
The U.S government should oppose global sweatshops because of the many labor injustices done to those workers such as unfair wages, inequities among workers, the working conditions in those sweatshops, and much more that will be discussed in this essay.
It is okay to lie to someone, if the intention of the lie is to protect that person.
Shah, A. (2006, May 28). Corporations and Worker’s Rights — Global Issues. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/57/corporations-and-workers-rights
...orking environments for their factory employees. Even with international groups and organizations keeping a constant watch on companies who outsource work to impoverished countries, there is often little that can be done to control these companies. Lack of local enforcement and overlooked international law makes it easy for money-hungry companies to get away with morally wrong behavior. By bringing attention to these types of situations and not supporting companies who do not treat their workers fairly, executives will be hit where it hurts them the most, their pockets. When their profits decrease, they will be forced to look for alternatives to manufacture their products.
Indicate how a firm must be responsible for its subcontractors, even though they appear to be acting lawfully in a foreign country.
This case from Apple, a multinational corporation, shows that there are threats that are facing companies like her as they strive to set foot in global markets. The company’s fallout in terms of salaries and fair compensation is one of such threats that are expressly found in Apples case. Companies seeking global markets will need to strategize and foresee such developments to avoid such developments. Due to the diversity of global markets, the threat of failing to comply with laws in these locations is always
There has been increased the outcry by international labor organizations accusing multinational companies of foul play when dealing with their workers. Many multinational companies, in a bid, to reduce operation costs and costs of production, end up suppressing their clueless workers. Some multinational companies have gone to the extent on having their central productions being done in low-income earning companies where they would not have many responsibilities to bear for the workers. Coca-Cola, however, has received widespread criticism for its mistreatment of workers and the way it has...
Cholewinski, R. I. (1997). Migrant Workers in International Human Rights Law: Their Protection in Countries of Employment. Clarendon Press.
First of all globalization has led to exploitation of labor. We can’t ignore the fact that ethical aspects of international business deserve special attention. Corruption and engaging in illegal practice to make greater profit is a source of continuing controversy. Sometimes companies go international and move their production to foreign countries so they could employ workers for long hours, at low wages and in poor working conditions (sweat shops). They are also using child labor, the employment of children to a full time work that can be otherwise done by adults all that so they could get out of their responsibility towards their workers by avoiding paying them national insurance …When these multinational firms go abroad they forget all about principles and about human beings and their rights, according to Kent, J., Kinetz, E. & Whehrfritz, G. (2008/March24). Newsweek. Bottom of the barrel. “The dark side of globalization: a vast work force trapped in conditions that verge on slavery”, David, P. Falling of The Edge, Travels through the Dark Heart of Globalization..Nov 2008. (p62) also agrees with them when he explained his concerns about Chinese and Indians t...