In Episode 9 of Series 2 of The Rights Track, Evelyn Astor,
Policy Officer at the International Trade Union Confederation in
Brussels, talks about upholding the rights of workers around the
world.
How can these rights be measured in practice as well as in
principle? The ITUC has developed a Global
Rights Index to measure the degree to which worker rights are
being respected.
Evelyn talks about some of the work she’s been doing in South
Asia around minimum wages
Discussion around Global Rights Index, and what a basic minimum
wage or a living wage looks like in practice and what the ITUC
thinks the approach should be and how they campaign for change and
raise international awareness.
Todd mentions and explains the
Vernon Product Cycle and how that plays out and impacts on
wages around the world.
06.50-11.00
Evelyn explains how multinational companies continue to seek
out parts of the world where they can source cheap labour and
effectively bypass worker rights. She mentions a report produced
by the ITUC about the labour rights violations in the supply chains
of the 50 largest multi-national companies.
Todd asks Evelyn about a recent
report from Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme
poverty and human rights who is making a case for a universal basic
income
Evelyn goes on to explain the concept of a Basic Income and
some of the ITUC’s reservations about it and its potential.
Todd mentions Uber as an example of a company that has been
criticised for some of its employment practices
Evelyn agrees that the growing trend of what she describes as
“bogus self employment” is part of the problem, but explains that
there are many other practices around the hiring and firing of
people that are of great concern to the ITUC including Governments
which loosen labour market regulations and collective bargaining to
try to attract businesses to their country.
Evelyn makes the point that the evidence shows that these
approaches don’t necessarily help economic growth either
Evelyn explains why the ITUC at this time is neither endorsing
nor objecting to the idea of a Universal Basic Income - and why she
would like to see further testing and evidence about its positive
value and how it could be implemented effectively
How workers’ rights can help address increasing inequality
The Rights Track podcast gets the hard facts about the human rights challenges facing the world today and aims to get our thinking about human rights on the right track.