Labour Rights as Human Rights

Are efforts to protect workers' rights compatible with the forces of globalization? How can minimum standards designed to protect labour rights be implemented in a world in which national labour law is more and more at the mercy of international forces beyond its control? The contributors to this volume argue that international agreements and institutions are of central importance if labour rights are to be protected in a globalized economy, exploring some of the options that are open to governments, civil society, and the labour movement in the years ahead.

Notes on Contributors; Philip Alston: 1. Labour Rights as Human Rights: The Not so Happy State of the Art; Simon Deakin: 2. Social Rights in a Globalized Economy; Patrick Macklem: 3. The Right to Bargain Collectively in International Law: Workers' Right, Human Right, International Right?; Francis Maupain: 4. Is the ILO Effective in Upholding Workers' Rights?: Reflections on the Myanmar Experience; Steve Charnovitz: 5. The Labor Dimension of the Emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas; Anne Davies: 6. Should the EU Have the Power to Set Minimum Standards for Collective Labour Rights in the Member States?; Tonia Novitz: 7. The European Union and International Labour Standards: The Dynamics of Dialogue Between the EU and the ILO; Index

Philip Alston is Professor of Law at New York University Law School.