Volume 3 / Number 1 / Spring 1999

This page contains the abstracts, as well as links to the complete document on Westlaw.com, for the Articles and Essays of the Spring 1999 Issue, which was dedicated to the annual business law forum.

Introduction

 

Articles

 

Multinational Companies and Wages in Low-Income Countries
Eugene B. Mihaly
Westlaw
This Article discusses the difficulties of establishing international labor standards that adequately acknowledge differences in national economic conditions and expectations. After examining economic development patterns in low-income countries and the role that multinational corporations play in such development, this Article argues that the companies generally have benefited workers in low-income countries.

A Vision of Global Capitalism that Puts Women and People of Color at the Center
Maria L. Ontiveros
Westlaw
This Article describes various ways that the current version of global capitalism denies the rights of women and people of color. The Article analyzes contingent jobs and inhumane labor standards, then proposes a new vision of global capitalism that recognizes workers as people and refuses to tolerate income inequality or the placement of profits above human values.

The American Experience with Labor Standards and Trade Agreements
Christopher L. Erickson and Daniel J.B. Mitchell
Westlaw
There has been ongoing debate concerning whether labor standards should be part of trade liberalization agreements. The United States has supported such standards, but the developing world has mainly opposed them as disguised protectionism. This Article concludes that labor standards can be seen mainly as a device to make trade liberalization more politically acceptable in the United States and other developed countries.

To the Yukon and Beyond: Local Laborers in a Global Labor Market
Katherine Van Wezel Stone
Westlaw
This Article explores the possibilities for effective protection of labor rights in the emerging global labor market. The author finds that existing regulatory approaches do not ensure adequate labor standards for the global workforce and proposes new approaches to global labor regulation that are protective of core labor rights.

The World Trade Organization and the Protection of Workers’ Rights
Robert Howse
Westlaw
This Article examines the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the protection of workers’ rights, particularly in relationship to that of the International Labor Organization (ILO). Because most WTO member countries are, generally speaking, committed to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the WTO could allow the use of trade sanctions against members who violated the ILO Declaration.

NAFTA’s Labor Side Agreement and International Labor Standards
Clyde Summers
Westlaw
After explaining the procedures for enforcing compliance with NAFTA’s North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), this Article examines why the cases brought under the NAALC submission process have failed to enforce standards or protect workers. Although there may be some hope for future willingness to treat NAALC standards as obligations, NAALC has not yet lived up to expectations for protecting labor rights.

The Resolution of Disputes in Transnational Employment: Arbitration and Its Discontents
James B. Boskey
Westlaw
This Article explores the difficulties of regulating transnational employment under national law. After discussing proper contract law in transnational situations, this Article suggests that international arbitrators could apply certain employment arbitration protocols to provide for the fair and efficient resolution of transnational employment disputes.

 

Essay

 

America First? Choosing a Constituency for Scholarship About International Trade
Michael H. Gottesman
Westlaw
This Essay identifies the various constituencies that would be served by the recommendations of the Articles presented in the 1998 Lewis & Clark Law Forum. Unearthing the undisclosed constituencies makes sense of the irreconcilable differences in the view points expressed in the Articles.