International Relations Globalization of Labor

Slide Index 1. Vocabulary 2. UN Migrant Workers Convention 3. Common Human Rights Violations 4. Government Obligations 5. U.S Position on Hum. Rights Council

United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families Article 1 This convention is applicable unless stated by this convention to all migrant workers and members of their families without prejudice to sex, race, color, language, religion or conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth or other status. The Convention applies to the entire migration process of migrant workers and members of their families. The migration period which makes up the preparation for migration, departure, travel and the entire time of stay and paid activity in the State of employment as well as return to the State of origin or the State of habitual residence.

Vocabulary Article 2 Worker on an Offshore worker Installation Worker Migrant worker Worker on an Offshore Installation Frontier Worker Seafarer Seasonal Worker

Vocabulary Article 2 Itinerant Worker Worker Self-employed Worker Project-tied Worker Self-employed Worker Specified- Employment Worker

Article 4 In this Convention, ''members of the family" refers to persons married to migrant workers or having with them a relationship that, according to law, is like marriage. Their dependent children and other dependent persons who are recognized as members of the family by applicable legislation or applicable agreements between two or more of the States concerned.

Article 5 For the purposes of the present Convention, migrant workers and members of their families: (a) Are considered as documented or in a regular situation if they are authorized to enter, to stay and to engage in a remunerated activity in the State of employment pursuant to the law of that State and to international agreements to which that State is a party; (b) Are considered as non-documented or in an irregular situation if they do not comply with the conditions provided for in subparagraph (a) of the present article.

Vocabulary Article 2 Article 6 State of Origin State of employment Transit

PART II : NON-DISCRIMINATION WITH RESPECT TO RIGHTS Article 7 States Parties undertake, in accordance with the international instruments concerning human rights, to respect and to ensure to all migrant workers and members of their families within their territory or subject to their jurisdiction the rights provided for in the present Convention without distinction of any kind such as to sex, race, color, language, religion or conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth or other status. Governments are responsible for protecting the rights of migrant workers. Governments are not protecting the rights of migrant workers. Evidence: In the Jordan case lines 104-121: Charles Kernaghan Director of the National Labor Committee( U.S Domestic Actor) , John Miller State Department’s Special Ambassador for human trafficking( International Actor) , and Jordan’s Labor Minister, Bassem Salem (Jordan's Government Actor) representatives of the labor issue all understand, define, and agree on the degree of involuntary servitude that migrant workers are forced to endure. Evidence that everyone is aware of this “global secret” and that nobody is adhering to Article 7 of the Migrant Workers Convention.

Article 8 Migrant workers and members of their families should be free to leave any State, including their State of origin. This right shall not be subject to any restrictions except those that are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present part of the Convention. Migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right at any time to enter and remain in their State of origin. Evidence: Migrant workers passport confiscation by employers is the norm for migrant workers. Such actions violate this article of the Convention. “passports confiscated by their employers”

The right to life of migrant workers and Article 9 The right to life of migrant workers and members of their families shall be protected by law. Rights of migrant workers are not being protected by governments neither domestically nor internationally. Evidence of such violations will be provided through out this case unit.

No migrant worker or member of his or Article 10 No migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Evidence: Labor and sweatshop conditions denoted in the Jordan case are evidence of violation of this article. “people sitting at benches with no backs on them, just bent over, sewing” “The workers are very intimidated. As soon as you walk by, they put their heads down and they're obviously intimidated with their boss standing over them. They're afraid to say anything” “Twenty-five people went up to the owner and asked for their wages, and they got threatened with guns, and a few people got hit, and they were threatened about being sent back too.” “mentally disoriented from starting early and working late into the night, seven days a week, with only a few days off a month”

No migrant worker or member of his or her Article 11 No migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be held in slavery or servitude. family shall be required to perform forced or obligatory labor. Evidence: “indentured servitude” “many others gain from what amounts to slave labor” “The target for the day is 600 pairs. To meet their production goal, these workers would have to stay at the factory until morning” “After touring the factories, an NLC delegation complained of conditions that are tantamount to human slavery” “Here, one worker describes what he says happened after he went for months without being paid.” “The minimum wage in Jordan is $135 U.S. dollars a month, but few workers say they receive that, even though they're compelled to sign pay stubs indicating they were fairly paid.” “The workers say they're trapped in a cycle of debt and have nowhere to turn in Jordan. With their passports confiscated by their employers and wages held at will, they feel they have no choice but to keep working to pay off the extensive loans they took to pay a recruiter to find their factory jobs” “I looked up the State Department definition of human trafficking and involuntary servitude and everything that the guest workers here are enduring matched those definitions 100 percent.” “The practices that are alleged, if they are true - and nobody's denied them - if they are true, this constitutes slavery.” “They've been abandoned. They're like garbage in the global economy for these companies.” “So they can traffic in them, thousands of miles, and drop them into Jordan and beat them and cheat them of their wages and everything and this just goes on; this is the normal course of activity.”

Article 12 Migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of their choice and freedom either individually or in community with others and in public or private to manifest their religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. Example: Prosecution of Jews based solely on religious beliefs in Germany during World War II.

Article 16 Migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right to liberty and security of person. Migrant workers and members of their families shall be entitled to effective protection by the State against violence, physical injury, threats and intimidation, whether by public officials or by private individuals, groups or institutions. Migrant workers and members of their families shall not be subjected individually or collectively to arbitrary arrest or detention; they shall not be deprived of their liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law. Applies to part two of the Article 16 “Twenty-five people went up to the owner and asked for their wages, and they got threatened with guns, and a few people got hit, and they were threatened about being sent back too.” Applies to part three of Article 16 “passports confiscated by their employers and wages held at will, they feel they have no choice but to keep working to pay off the extensive loans”

Article 25 Migrant workers shall be treated like the nationals of the State of employment in respect of remuneration and: (a) Other conditions of work, that is to say, overtime, hours of work, weekly rest, holidays with pay, safety, health, termination of the employment relationship and any other conditions of work which, according to national law and practice, are covered by these terms; (b) Other terms of employment, that is to say, minimum age of employment, restriction on home work and any other matters which, according to national law and practice, are considered a term of employment. “he went for months without being paid” “The factory smells of fresh paint and cleaning agents, but electric wires dangle loosely from the ceiling. There are rows of harsh neon lights overhead and little or no ventilation. Here, the term sweatshop is more than just an expression.” “After about 20 minutes, the stagnant heat blended with fabric dust and other chemicals gets uncomfortable, yet not a single worker throughout the day is seen drinking water, and only a handful wear protective masks.” “They live in crowded dormitories where up to two dozen workers are crammed into a 20- by 10-foot space.”

Article 25 It shall not be lawful to derogate in private contracts of employment from the principle of equality of treatment referred to in paragraph 1 of the present article. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that migrant workers are not deprived of any rights derived from this principle by reason of any irregularity in their stay or employment. In particular, employers shall not be relieved of any legal or contractual obligations, nor shall their obligations be limited in any manner by reason of such irregularity. Article 25 is not being upheld neither by the domestic community nor by the global community. The growing power of the global society represented by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) is the only entity concerned with the issues presented by the globalization of abor.

Article 26 States Parties recognize the right of migrant workers and members of their families: (a) To take part in meetings and activities of trade unions and of any other associations established in accordance with law, with a view to protecting their economic, social, cultural and other interests, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned; (b) To join freely any trade union and any such association as aforesaid, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned; (c) To seek the aid and assistance of any trade union and of any such association as aforesaid. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of these rights other than those that are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public order (order public) or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. “The NLC tour of factories and dormitories yielded little information from the workers, so the group set up a clandestine night meeting. Fifty-eight Bangladeshi workers showed up, some of the same people who watched the American group pass through their factories earlier in the day.”

Common Human Rights Violations When the life, liberty, or security of a person is threatened. Victims of abuse are denied an effective judicial remedy. Citizens are forbidden to leave or return to their countries. The right to join a trade union is denied. Unpaid and underpaid wages. Wage exploitation

Common Human Rights Violations Food depravation and inadequate living conditions Confiscation of passports, forced confinement, and restricted communication Physical and psychological abuse Sexual abuse Heavy workload and excessively long work hours without rest.

Common Human Rights Violations Prohibitions of returning home. Forced labor Exploitative practices by labor agents in the countries of employment

Government Obligations Governments have an obligation to end abusive practices by employers and recruitment agencies. International human rights laws place positive obligations on states to protect the rights of individuals against acts including the ill treatment and discrimination committed by private persons or entities. International human rights laws establishe the security of persons and the right to be free from cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment.

U.S Position U. S President Bush declared that the U.S will not seek a seat on the Human Rights Council saying that it would be more effective from the outside. According to the U.S State Department, the Council has lost credibility with repeated attacks on Israel and the failure to confront other rights abusers. U.S House of Representatives, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen supported the decision and stated that “Rather than standing as a strong defender of fundamental human rights, the Human Rights Council has faltered as a weak voice subject to gross political manipulation”. wikipedia.com