THE ANTI-SWEATSHOP MOVEMENT and CORPORATE Codes of Conduct

Abstract

The struggle for human and worker rights, the subject of many of the sessions at the annual IRRA meetings, finds concrete definition in efforts of labor and human rights activists to pressure corporations to adopt codes committing the organization to abide by international labor rights principles. In particular, the exposure by worker and human rights advocates of unacceptable working conditions in the decentralized, competitive, apparel and footware industries has produced concrete results in the effort to abolish sweatshops.The road towards the abolition of sweatshops has not been a smooth one. The anti-sweatshop movement has been unable to achieve consensus on the best strategy to improve labor and working conditions in factories around the globe. Many activists are convinced that international regulations imposed and enforced by trade sanctions will ultimately be needed to achieve significant improvements. However, due largely to opposition from business and the governments of many developing countries, the World Trade Organization has been unable to date to reach agreement on the incorporation of a social clause backed by trade sanctions in the corpus of glo- bal trading rules. In addition to the effort to change the rules of trade, non-governmental organizations in the U.S. and abroad have also pressured multinational corporations voluntarily to adopt codes of conduct relating to social and environmental issues and have pushed for the establishment of credible organizations to develop and monitor minimum international conditions.