CROSS-BORDER SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND AGREEMENTS: An ...

Cross-border social dialogue and agreements
rights and social dialogue in global production chains is a goal in line with
two strategic objectives of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and corresponds
to an area of concern highlighted by the World Commission on
the Social Dimension of Globalization in its report (WCSDG, 2004, pp.
xiii and 111-112.). 3 So far, IFAs’ contribution to that agenda has been
modest, due to the limited number of agreements concluded, but it is
potentially highly valuable for the institution. In a context where international
labour norms are increasingly becoming privatized (Alston,
2004, p. 457), IFAs also appear as a credible and legitimate regulatory
model. Unlike a large number of voluntary initiatives, nearly all IFAs
refer to the fundamental labour rights proclaimed in the 1998 ILO Declaration
on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work 4 and they frequently
make reference to core ILO Conventions, 5 albeit to a lesser
extent. 6 IFAs moreover involve the relevant actors on both sides of the
employment relationship through the agency of their representatives.
In looking at the role of the ILO in promoting IFA development,
it is essential to bear in mind the need for the organization to strike the
right balance between intervening and preserving the social partners’
autonomy. The ILO should essentially intervene to foster and channel
the capacity of private actors to enter into agreements and to implement
these agreements effectively. To circumscribe the potential role of the ILO
more clearly, one must first be aware of the challenges facing the negotiation
and implementation of IFAs.
Among the difficulties that need to be addressed in order to advance
cross-border social dialogue at enterprise level are: the absence of an international
framework to support transnational collective bargaining; the
imbalance of power between social-partner signatories to IFAs; the
3
Delegates to the 2004 International Labour Conference also felt that decent work in global production
systems was one of six major areas where the ILO was well placed to move the agenda forward. See
ILO (2004a), p. 9, para. 44.
4
The four rights are: freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; the elimination
of forced and compulsory labour; the abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in the
workplace.
5
The core labour conventions are: Convention 29 concerning forced of compulsory labour, Convention
87 concerning freedom of association and protection of the right to organise, Convention 98 concerning
the application of the principles of the right to organise and to bargain collectively, Convention 100
concerning equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, Convention 105 concerning
the abolition of forced labour, Convention 111 concerning discrimination in respect of employment
and occupation, Convention 138 concerning minimum age for admission to employment, and Convention 182
concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.
6
For an overview of the content of IFAs, see Hammer (this volume) and Drouin (2006), p. 703.
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