This document summarizes a research project investigating labor provisions in preferential trade agreements (PTAs). The project aims to examine the causes and consequences of including labor provisions in PTAs. Specifically, it will analyze how interest groups and government partisanship influence the presence and strength of labor provisions in PTAs. It will also assess the social and economic impacts of labor provisions, and how cooperation on labor issues affects compliance with collective labor rights. The project employs quantitative analysis of a database of over 500 trade agreements coded for 154 labor provision items. Preliminary findings on the impact of cooperation provisions will be complemented by case studies. Results will be disseminated through publications and events to inform policymakers.
This presentation by Bill Kovacic (George Washington University and CMA), was made during the workshop on Gender inclusive competition policy held virtually on 25 February 2021. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/gicp.
This presentation by Marissa Ginn and Johanna Posch (Analysis Group), was made during the workshop on Gender inclusive competition policy held virtually on 25 February 2021. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/gicp.
This presentation by Mpumelelo Tshabalala (Competition Tribunal of South Africa), Betty Mkhatshwa (Gilbert & Tobin) and Sonia Phalatse (Institute for Economic Justice), was made during the workshop on Gender inclusive competition policy held virtually on 25 February 2021. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/gicp.
In order for collective bargaining, unions and business and employers’ organisations to continue to be relevant, it may be urgent to adapt or reinvent the way they currently operate.
Industrial Relations in Europe Conference (IREC) 2018 | Leuven 10-12 September 2018
(https://soc.kuleuven.be/ceso/wo/erlm/irec-conference-schedule)
This presentation by B. Mkatshwa, M. Tshabalala and S. Phala summarises the key findings of their research paper on prioritising gendered public interest considerations submitted to the OECD project on Gender inclusive competition policy. It was delivered during a workshop held virtually on 7 October 2021.
More materials on the topic can be found at http://oe.cd/gicp.
This presentation was uploaded with the authors’ consent.
This presentation by Bill Kovacic (George Washington University and CMA), was made during the workshop on Gender inclusive competition policy held virtually on 25 February 2021. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/gicp.
This presentation by Marissa Ginn and Johanna Posch (Analysis Group), was made during the workshop on Gender inclusive competition policy held virtually on 25 February 2021. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/gicp.
This presentation by Mpumelelo Tshabalala (Competition Tribunal of South Africa), Betty Mkhatshwa (Gilbert & Tobin) and Sonia Phalatse (Institute for Economic Justice), was made during the workshop on Gender inclusive competition policy held virtually on 25 February 2021. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/gicp.
In order for collective bargaining, unions and business and employers’ organisations to continue to be relevant, it may be urgent to adapt or reinvent the way they currently operate.
Industrial Relations in Europe Conference (IREC) 2018 | Leuven 10-12 September 2018
(https://soc.kuleuven.be/ceso/wo/erlm/irec-conference-schedule)
This presentation by B. Mkatshwa, M. Tshabalala and S. Phala summarises the key findings of their research paper on prioritising gendered public interest considerations submitted to the OECD project on Gender inclusive competition policy. It was delivered during a workshop held virtually on 7 October 2021.
More materials on the topic can be found at http://oe.cd/gicp.
This presentation was uploaded with the authors’ consent.
As companies and governments around the world grapple with accommodating changes in the workplace, the workforce and the nature of work itself, we are pleased to be continuing our Future of Work foresight programme. Building on previous global research undertaken over the past few years, we are now looking in depth at six pivotal issues that have been prioritised as areas of major potential change. These are digital skills, soft skills, reinventing roles, the blurring of work, green jobs and digital productivity. Initially taking a European focus, with the support of Amazon, over the next couple of months a series of expert digital workshops are exploring the core shifts ahead and their implications for organisations and wider policy.
This PDF sets the scene for the dialogue both within the workshops and more widely. If you would like to be involved or have comments on the potential changes ahead, do let us know and we can accommodate. As always all discussions are under the Chatham House Rule and so there is no attribution and, as we progress with each area, we will be sharing a synthesis of all new insights and recommendations over the rest of the year.
Is Better Regulation about asking the right questions?tamsin.rose
Looks at the recent trends for Better Regulation in EU policy-making, the use of impact assessment and asks whether this really delivers policies of benefit for society.
Safeguarding the Public Interest, Impartiality, and Fairness in Public Decision-Making: Lessons Learnt from Implementing the OECD Recommendation on Lobbying. More information available at http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/lobbying-safeguarding-public-interest.htm
Background note for Foundation Seminar Series 2016
The impact of digitalisation on work:
Building up national agendas for better implementation of digital changes
Persistent disruptive bouts of strike action in recent years by teachers, civil servants, firefighters, and rail and London Underground workers amongst others, sometimes called with only a small proportion of union members voting in favour of strike action, has provided the backcloth to the publication on 15 July of a Trade Union Bill by the newly elected majority Conservative government. The Bill promises (amongst a variety of other measures) the most sweeping and radical tightening of the rules on industrial action seen since the Thatcher era of the 1980s with a minimum 50 per cent ballot participation threshold alongside a requirement for unions in ‘important public services’ to obtain a minimum 40 per cent majority of all those eligible to vote. It would have a devastating effect on many unions’ ability to take lawful industrial action.
This Salford Business School Research Paper explores the following research questions:
• To what extent are the Conservatives justified in pointing to a ‘democratic deficit’ in which a majority of indifferent union members have surrendered control over whether to strike to a committed minority?
• How can we explain strike ballot participation rates? Why do some union members not vote?
• To what extent does the secret individual postal balloting process affect the level of participation?
• What other factors might potentially influence whether union members vote or not?
• How are the unions likely to fare in the face of the Conservative government’s two new balloting thresholds?
Looking at crowdsourcing and some of its legal implicationsYannig Roth
These are the slides of a presentation Eric & I gave at the “IP Management challenges in open innovation environments” workshop, held in Strasbourg, France, in March 23, 2015.
Public Governance Seminar - What works: Towards Evidence Informed Policy MakingOECD Governance
The objective of this seminar is to examine emerging national models for evidence-informed policy and to explore opportunities for international co-operation in the increasingly global movement to synthesis evidence on What Works in a range of policy interventions.
There is growing international interest in the use of a What Works approach and in building a global evidence-base for policy interventions.
This seminar asks the question: what would be the benefits of international co-operation and what practically could the OECD do to support this international agenda?
For more information see www.oecd.org/gov
As companies and governments around the world grapple with accommodating changes in the workplace, the workforce and the nature of work itself, we are pleased to be continuing our Future of Work foresight programme. Building on previous global research undertaken over the past few years, we are now looking in depth at six pivotal issues that have been prioritised as areas of major potential change. These are digital skills, soft skills, reinventing roles, the blurring of work, green jobs and digital productivity. Initially taking a European focus, with the support of Amazon, over the next couple of months a series of expert digital workshops are exploring the core shifts ahead and their implications for organisations and wider policy.
This PDF sets the scene for the dialogue both within the workshops and more widely. If you would like to be involved or have comments on the potential changes ahead, do let us know and we can accommodate. As always all discussions are under the Chatham House Rule and so there is no attribution and, as we progress with each area, we will be sharing a synthesis of all new insights and recommendations over the rest of the year.
Is Better Regulation about asking the right questions?tamsin.rose
Looks at the recent trends for Better Regulation in EU policy-making, the use of impact assessment and asks whether this really delivers policies of benefit for society.
Safeguarding the Public Interest, Impartiality, and Fairness in Public Decision-Making: Lessons Learnt from Implementing the OECD Recommendation on Lobbying. More information available at http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/lobbying-safeguarding-public-interest.htm
Background note for Foundation Seminar Series 2016
The impact of digitalisation on work:
Building up national agendas for better implementation of digital changes
Persistent disruptive bouts of strike action in recent years by teachers, civil servants, firefighters, and rail and London Underground workers amongst others, sometimes called with only a small proportion of union members voting in favour of strike action, has provided the backcloth to the publication on 15 July of a Trade Union Bill by the newly elected majority Conservative government. The Bill promises (amongst a variety of other measures) the most sweeping and radical tightening of the rules on industrial action seen since the Thatcher era of the 1980s with a minimum 50 per cent ballot participation threshold alongside a requirement for unions in ‘important public services’ to obtain a minimum 40 per cent majority of all those eligible to vote. It would have a devastating effect on many unions’ ability to take lawful industrial action.
This Salford Business School Research Paper explores the following research questions:
• To what extent are the Conservatives justified in pointing to a ‘democratic deficit’ in which a majority of indifferent union members have surrendered control over whether to strike to a committed minority?
• How can we explain strike ballot participation rates? Why do some union members not vote?
• To what extent does the secret individual postal balloting process affect the level of participation?
• What other factors might potentially influence whether union members vote or not?
• How are the unions likely to fare in the face of the Conservative government’s two new balloting thresholds?
Looking at crowdsourcing and some of its legal implicationsYannig Roth
These are the slides of a presentation Eric & I gave at the “IP Management challenges in open innovation environments” workshop, held in Strasbourg, France, in March 23, 2015.
Public Governance Seminar - What works: Towards Evidence Informed Policy MakingOECD Governance
The objective of this seminar is to examine emerging national models for evidence-informed policy and to explore opportunities for international co-operation in the increasingly global movement to synthesis evidence on What Works in a range of policy interventions.
There is growing international interest in the use of a What Works approach and in building a global evidence-base for policy interventions.
This seminar asks the question: what would be the benefits of international co-operation and what practically could the OECD do to support this international agenda?
For more information see www.oecd.org/gov
Public Governance Seminar - What works: Towards Evidence Informed Policy Making
Poster Projet Raess_V2_24.11.15
1. A Social Clause through the Back
Door?
Labor Provisions in Preferential
Trade Agreements
Research Question
and Objectives
International developments in the social dimension of glo-
balization have long gone unnoticed because progress
towards the social regulation of global capitalism has been
either insignificant or slow. In the past ten years, however,
there has been a spectacular growth of preferential trade
agreements (PTAs) with references to labor provisions,
a remarkable development given the failed attempt to
include a social clause to trade at the multilateral level in
the 1990s.
This project investigates the causes and consequences of
labor provisions in PTAs.
• What are the domestic determinants of variation in the
design of PTAs with respect to labor provisions? To what
extent do interest groups and government partisanship
affect the presence and stringency of labor provisions in
PTAs?
• What is the social and economic impact of labor provi-
sions in PTAs? How do labor-related cooperation provi-
sions influence compliance with collective labor rights?
Are PTAs with labor provisions more or less trade-creat-
ing (and employment enhancing) than PTAs without?
Methodology
First and foremost, the project employs quantitative research methods to systematically examine the origins and
effects of labor provisions in trade agreements with a particular focus on collective labor rights. It uses the DESTA
database (www.designoftradeagreements.org), the most comprehensive in terms of the number of trade agreements
covered, focusing on the period 1990-2012. And it draws on the brand new TUR indicators (i.e., trade union rights;
http://tur.la.psu.edu) to assess effectiveness. A small number of case studies are also proposed to complement the
quantitative analysis.
Damian Raess
Project Coordinator
University of Reading and University of Geneva
d.raess@reading.ac.uk / damian.raess@unige.ch
Dora Sari
University of Geneva
dora.sari@unige.ch
David Kucera
International Labour Organization
kucera@ilo.org
Andreas Dür
University of Salzburg
andreas.duer@sbg.ac.at
Research Keywords
and Disciplines Involved
Labor Rights International Law
Interest Groups
Political Science
Globalization Economics
International Relations
Human Rights Employment
Current State of Work
The initial phases of the project focused on developing
a comprehensive coding scheme of labor provisions in
PTAs and manually coding the agreements. The team
ended up coding about 500 trade agreements against
a total of 154 items structured around four overarching
categories (substance; obligation; enforceability;
cooperation). This allows for a critical mapping of the
evolution of the design of labor provisions in trade
agreements since 1990. A preliminary analysis of the
impact of labor-related cooperation provisions on
compliance with collective labor rights around the
world was undertaken.
The quantitative data analysis is in full swing and it will
help us identify interesting cases for a more detailed,
qualitative analysis to be carried out in the coming
months. An interdisciplinary symposium with a wide
range of stakeholders will be held in the Fall of 2016 in
Geneva to discuss the research findings which will feed
into the work of the ILO and the international/European
trade union movement as well as other relevant nation-
al and international organizations. In terms of output,
the project will seek to publish three scientific articles
and an edited volume as well as a policy brief to help
disseminate the research findings and policy implica-
tions among decision makers.
Dignity factory workers producing shirts for overseas clients, in Accra, Ghana on October 13, 2015.
Photo Credit: Dominic Chavez/World Bank
Worker of PT Jaya Asiatic Shipyard
Photo Credit: Mirza A, @ILO