International Labour Law: Multinational Corporations in a Globalizing World - Period 5

The impact of globalisation of trade on labour law and the protection of workers? rights is potentially vast. In order to present themselves as suitable places of establishment or production of goods and services, countries are tempted to compete on the price of labour. Labour law that covers all workers in the supply-chain is non-existent and 'old-school' methods of legislating are insufficient to deal with this issue. During the course this problem will be reviewed and developments will be studied. Through a general introduction in international labour law students will be made familiar with the institutional framework of the International Labour Organisation and the legal nature of international labour law (from both a global and a regional perspective), and various legislative techniques, material aspects and the impact of international labour law on the domestic legal order of the member states. Recent developments in international labour law concerning the application of private law doctrines such as those on liability and tort, on violations of human rights in the supply-chain of multinational corporations will be studied, and students will work on effective cures and remedies including compensation. The aim of this course is that the students will learn to work with the different legal tools that have been developed over the years, in order to find resolutions for the problems of the application of labour law in a world where trade has been globalized, but social justice not yet.

Through the course several topics are discussed:
- the institutional framework within which international labour law has come into existence;
- the legal nature of international labour law and the functioning of the ILO and its supervisory mechanism;
- the main principles of international labour law and core labour standards concerning collective bargaining rights, prohibition of forced and child labor, and discrimination in respect of employment and working conditions;
- methods to apply international labour law in the supply-chain of multinational corporations;
- case-law (f.i. Wal-mart, Adidas, Coca cola) concerning the application of international labour law;
- alternative regulation and dispute settlement, corporate codes and international collective bargaining;
- international trade agreements and labour clauses;
- the impact of international labour law on the national legal order.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.