Employment Relations and Global Governance

Globalization has driven many improvements in technology, communication and transport, but global economic and social challenges remain. Chief among these is the growing income inequality both within and between countries and a persistently high proportion of people living in poverty. While national trade unions have been struggling to influence policy at the national level, especially in the face of the growing influence of multinational enterprises, the international trade union organizations (Global Unions) have become more active. To address these problems, global unions have been attempting to influence the international financial institutions (IFIs), the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by developing a dialogue between the IFIs and themselves. The international trade union organizations have tried to focus and direct the consciousness of the IFIs towards the ILO core labour standards. Employment Relations and Global Governance focuses on this dialogue, which can be considered as a strategic instrument of transnational trade union policy that helps the Global Unions to exercise influence over the policies of the IFIs, especially those policies which concern workers. This dialogue takes place on three levels including the headquarters, the sector and the country level. The analysis focuses mainly on the headquarters level dialogue which includes exchange and cooperation at the top administrative level between the IFIs and the Global Unions. Employment Relations and Global Governance will bekey reading for academics and researchers studying industrial relations, political economy, international organizations, and international comparative employment relations. It will also be of interest to trade unionists and practitioners working for international non-governmental organizations.