Given our contention that human rights are a priority objective that lies at the heart of globalization in an accelerating world economy, the Human Rights at Work Foundation supports activities that promote fundamental human rights in the workplace.

While globalization increases the flow of economic exchanges and industrial investments in the world, it also considerably raises the inequalities between North and South: only the developed countries in the North benefit from the low cost labor provided by workers in the South.

The globalization of the economy can reinforce peace and prosperity but it accentuates the dependence on cross-border transactions. Two risks result from this:

• disrespect of labor laws,
  
• the questioning of the premise that companies and their actions have consequences on the very existence of labor law.

The social conditions of workers in developing countries are the reflection of the precariousness of employment, difficult working conditions and the weakness of social protections and, often, their lack of enforcement.

The economic power of companies operating in the globalized economy has not been offset by systems of collective regulation at the global level. The attempts at strengthening these systems by the WTO (World Trade Organization, independent of the United Nations), the stagnation of the normative dynamic of the ILO (International Labor Organization), the quasi-inexistence of workplace inspections in many countries, the persistent fragmentation of the labor movement that is always stuck on national priorities… are not up to the task of countering the negative impacts of the individual choices of private actors (organizations). Outsourcing, production decisions virtually only on the basis of financial return (without any regard for the social impacts), sourcing policies that insist on flexibility above all else… these are all pitfalls that weigh heavily on workers in the North as well as the South.

The principal strategic objectives of the Human Rights at Work Foundation

The Foundation supports those organizations and efforts worldwide that defend human rights in the workplace. Following are the two core areas that the Foundation has set as future priorities over the next few years : .

Strengthen the competency of social actors in their management of novel approaches to corporate social responsibility as it applies to employees and workplaces.

Preference for International Exchanges