International Labor Standards

Introduction

International trading and businesses have been around for a while and at some point has been beneficial for everyone involved. There have been times when it has been more beneficial for one more than the other. The International Labour Organization (ILO) was put into place to make sure that everyone had the freedom to join or leave groups of their choosing, employees and managers reach agreements to regulate work conditions, to eliminate forced and compulsory labor, to abolish child labor, and to eliminate discrimination in the workplace. International labor standards affect all of us, even though we live in different countries and on different continents we are all a part of one world. Therefore, if one succeeds we all succeed. It is important that we work together to make sure that all labor standards are feasible to everyone and that they prove more advantages than disadvantages.

Are labor standards feasible?

It depends on who you are asking if you want to know if labor standards are feasible. Some people say labor standards do not improve labor conditions in a country, while others argue that that labor standards seek to acknowledge the effects of poverty rather than its causes. While most understand the need and reason for labor standards, it may be difficult to understand who deems what is important and what is not important. “International labour standards evolve from a growing international concern that action needs to be taken on a particular issue, for example providing working women with maternity protection, or ensuring safe working conditions for agricultural workers. Developing international labour standards at the ILO is a unique legislative process involving representatives of governments, workers and employers from around the world” (www.ilo.org). Labor standards are feasible because they tackle serious issues that need to be addressed all over the world and they come up with different solutions on how to make the wrong, right. One serious issue is the abolition of child labor. While child labor is still an important issue today because there are still countries that allow child labor, back in the 1900’s it was more prevalent everywhere even in the US, children between the ages of 10 and 15 were dropping out of school to work. Now, today in 2014 child labor has drastically drop or nonexistent in some countries. However, it is still an issue because there are still several countries that do not protect their children from child labor. So, the question still remains are labor standards feasible? While they seem to work for some countries in other countries they may not be as important or either they just do not care.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of standards?

There are several advantages of the international labor standards. There are a few advantages I feel are more beneficial to everyone, so I will discuss those particular ones. Globalization affects all of us. It is important that everyone has a fair chance. We should always be prepared.

Advantages

An international legal framework for fair and stable globalization- Achieving the goal of decent work in the globalized economy requires action at the international level. The world community is responding to this challenge in part by developing international legal instruments on trade, finance, environment, human rights and labour. The ILO contributes to this legal framework by elaborating and promoting international labour standards aimed at making sure that economic growth and development go along with the creation of decent work. It is important that everyone has a chance. A level playing field- An international legal framework on social standards ensures a level playing field in the global economy. It helps governments and employers to avoid the temptation