 | | |
|
In this issue:
WAGE GAPS BETWEEN G7 AND EMERGING MARKETS (1975-2001) ILLUSTRATE A KEY TRAIT OF DARWINIAN CAPITALISM
An Extremely Unfair System Given the fact that the purchasing power of equivalent manufacturing workers in most emerging economies is dramatically lower than that of their counterparts in the U.S., the resulting wage gaps are important evidence illustrating the huge disparity and unfairness of the global market system. Both domestic governments in the South and their partners in the North enforce an extremely cheap labour system. Indeed, the first reason why global corporations set-up manufacturing operations in the South, is because they are able to exploit workers by paying hunger wages vis-à-vis what they pay in the North for equivalent work, which in both cases is utilized to produce products and services that are marketed in global markets at global prices. The exploitation of enforced cheap labour costs, to be sure, is the major contributor to the increase of productivity and shareholder value among multinational corporations. Thus, these wage gaps expose a system of conscious and strategic exploitation of workers in the South. In this way, we contend that there is no other reason for materially compensating southern workers, for equal work rendered, at a dramatically lower standard of living than their northern counterparts, but for the pursuit of increased shareholder value in the North's global corporations and the monetary benefit of the South's domestic oligarchies. Although PPPs are only a cost of living assessment and not an exact measure, they eliminate the argument of lower costs of living for the enormous differences in wages.
Some of the highlights in these charts are:
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: ENVISIONING ITS SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Summary of contents:
THE UN SUB-COMMISSION ON THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS HAS DRAFTED NORMS THAT SIGNAL A POSSIBLE ADVENT OF COMPULSORY CSR, BUT CONTINUES TO LEGITIMIZE A STRUCTURE THAT GENERATES SHEER INEQUALITY BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH
The Norms are based on the principle that albeit States have the primary responsibility on the protection of human rights, multinational corporations and other business enterprises, as organs of society, -including officers and persons working for them- are also responsible for promoting and securing human rights as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Norms acknowledge various multilateral sets of principles, guidelines, standards and recommendations, such as the UN Global Compact, the OECD Guidelines for MNCs, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning MNCs as wells as the ILO Labour Conventions and Recommendations. The UN proclaims these new Norms and urges the world community to make every effort to disseminate them and respect them. Although the Norms are a far stronger vehicle for achieving minimally acceptable standards of CSR -and some would argue that they are a step in the direction of compulsory business practices- than the mere set of principles of the global compact, it is up to States to enforce them. Furthermore, even if they are all made legally binding, there remains the same degree of ambiguity that is prevalent in key areas of social responsibility. In the area of greatest concern for TLWNSI, the right to a living wage, which is critical for good corporate citizenship and sustainability despite its gross oblivion by most stakeholders, the Norms maintain the same criterion currently used by the ILO and other frameworks. This makes the concept of fair compensation clearly ambiguous. The greatest hurdle, for the incorporation of the concept of living wages into a legal framework, is that these Norms continue to base their wage criteria on the notion of national conditions. In our opinion, what these Norms must address is the dramatic exploitation of Southern workers that multinationals practice on a daily basis as endorsed in the criteria of prevailing national conditions, for the wages that they pay are dramatically lower than the local cost of living and, thus, workers live in complete misery by either a local or northern standard. The question that must be addressed and resolved in favour of true social justice and human rights observance is why most stakeholders continue to use a criterion legitimizing the use of norms (in purchasing power parities/cost of living terms) where workers in the South receive a far lower standard than their counterparts in the North? That is, why are workers in the South not entitled to the principle of equal remuneration for equal work (in PPP terms)? If southern workers continue to endure a system where they are denied a dignified life and the Human Rights framework ignores the problem, then what is the point of these Norms? The Norms are an expression of growing concern for an ethos that is, above all, a generator of the greatest inequality and misery that North and South have endured in contemporary times. Nonetheless, they fail to tackle, once again, the key element generating such inequality: the globalization of markets, prices and consumers but not of labour endowments.
Download the full TLWNSI commentary on pdf Download the full Norms draft commentary with UN Commentary on the Norms on pdf
CANCUN TRADE SUMMIT. EXCEPT FOR NEWFOUND UNITY AMONG THIRD WORLD NATIONS THERE WERE NO SURPRISES: THE WTO'S FIFTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE COLLAPSED OVER THE NORTH'S AGRICULTURAL PROTECTIONISM
Read the full TLWNSI commentary here.
RESOURCE CENTRE This issue features the following resources:
BUSINESS RULES: WHO PAYS THE PRICE? How corporate influence in the World Trade Organization (WTO) impacts people and the environment
While this report reveals only the tip of the iceberg, it leaves no doubt about the moral bankruptcy of the WTO system. Behind Through a series of case studies, this publication highlights the powerful influence of corporations on the World Trade Organization (WTO) process. Big business has unparalleled access to trade negotiators, and this has resulted in a set of trade rules and agreements that directly benefit transnational commercial enterprises - often at the expense of local communities and small businesses, as well as future generations and the environment. The transnationals featured in this publication include Pfizer, Suez, Halliburton, Monsanto and Exxon Mobil. The corporate lobby groups include the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the European Services Forum (ESF), the US Coalition of Service Industries (USCSI), the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). For a detailed review of the report, download the pdf file here.
1.TLWNSI Issue Brief: CSR Still an Infant Discipline
CSR TOOL: GRI 2002 GUIDELINES. A COMMON FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN REPORTING
Thank you so much for your support. If you have any questions or comments, Please e-mail us:
If you are not a member of our eCommunity yet, please click here to sign up for TJSGA's eCommunity to receive our quarterly newsletter. If you do not wish to continue receiving our quarterly newsletter, just e-mail us writing in the subject "unsubscribe" nosuscrip@jussemper.org.
| |
| | |
manufacturing wages. PPPs reflect the currency units required in a given currency to buy the same goods and services that can be purchased in the base country with one currency unit. The PPPs are, in effect, an estimate of the cost of living in each economy.
be little intention to legislate corporate behaviour?
the rhetoric about 'rules based trade', 'liberalization' and the 'Doha Development Round', the reality is that the WTO's trade and investment rules are consistently being shaped around the interests of transnational corporations, consolidating their global expansion and removing any remaining obstacles.
| Home |  | Newsletters | | Newsletter Autumn 2003 |
- © The Jus Semper Global Alliance
