Workers' Rights in the Global Economy

In the global economy, multinational corporations move capital and jobs half-way around the world with the click of a mouse.

These companies—many of them American—seek out the lowest possible  labor costs and weakest worker protections. Even if the jobs are not  moved, corporate executives use the threat of moving to coerce  concessions from their U.S. workers.

Some undemocratic governments, desperate for investment, facilitate  the movement of jobs by competing in the global marketplace, denying  their citizens the right to form a union and protection from workplace  abuse—including below—survival wages, physical attacks and even murder  to crush unions and workers’ rights.

In the public sector, the global rush to shift from publicly to  privately managed public services is being used to boost profits and  break unions, driving down workers’ living standards and denying  families access to essential services like healthcare, education and  water.

In a world economy increasingly connected by international trade and  investment, the need for enforceable rules in the global economy to  protect workers’ rights—and to prevent a devastating drive to the bottom  in labor standards—is critical. 

• Workers' Rights, Violence and Impunity in Colombia.
• AFL-CIO Executive Council on democratizing the global economy.
• The AFL-CIO's ongoing campaign to post the basic rights of workers in every workplace.
• AFL-CIO Executive Council on Colombia.
• AFL-CIO protests detention of Burma activist.
• Global Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work from the International Labour Organization.
• Department of Labor, Civil Rights Center which manages the total Department of Labor EEO program to assure equal  opportunity for all DOL employees and applicants for employment.

Links to public and nonprofit websites addressing issues related to the global economy.