US and EU external labor governance : Workers' rights promotion in trade agreements and in practice

260 Pages·2017·13.19 MB·English

by  Oehri

The European Union
in International Affairs
Series Editors
Sebastian Oberthür
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium
Knud Erik Jørgensen
University of Aarhus, Denmark
Philomena B. Murray
University of Melbourne, Australia
Sandra Lavenex
University of Geneva, Switzerland
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MyriamOehri
US and EU External
Labor Governance
’
Workers Rights Promotion in Trade Agreements
and in Practice
MyriamOehri
GlobalStudiesInstitute
UniversityofGeneva
Genève,Switzerland
TheEuropeanUnioninInternationalAffairs
ISBN978-3-319-49300-8 ISBN978-3-319-49301-5(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-49301-5
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To my Nana
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
IwouldliketoexpressmydeepgratitudetoSandraLavenex,whosewise,
constructive, and encouraging words of advice have been an invaluable
guidefromtheverybeginningofmydoctoraljourney.Mysincerethanks
gotoJanOrbiefortheintellectuallystimulatingandhonestexchangeson
somany relevantstepsof myresearch projectandbeyond.
I wish to extend my thanks to the members and affiliates of the
Department of Political Science at the University of Lucerne, namely
André Bächtiger, Joachim Blatter, Tina Freyburg, Julia Maisenbacher,
Omar Serrano, and Nenad Stojanovic, and of the Centre for EU Studies
at Ghent University for jointly reflecting and fruitfully advising on my
research project. Special thanks go to Lorette Baptiste, Larry Beeferman,
Elaine Bernard, Richard Freeman, and John Trumpbour from the Labor
and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, Harvard University, and
the program’s affiliates Tamara Kay and Andrew Martin, for their gener-
ous hospitality, engaging conversations, and/or kind assistance in estab-
lishing contacts with labor representatives. My thanks also go to Jennifer
Erickson, Boston College, for her professional advice. I am grateful to
Marva Corley-Coulibaly and Rafael Peels from the Research Department
oftheILOforhelpfulfeedbackonseveralaspectsofmyresearchproject.
I would like to thank all of my interview partners for their openness and
valuable insightsaswell astheiradvocacyforlabor rights.
This book evolved from a dissertation with the title “US and EU
External Labor Governance: A Comparative Study of the Promotion of
Labor Standards in Mexico, Morocco, and the Dominican Republic,”
submitted in the spring semester of 2015 at the Faculty of Humanities
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
and Social Sciences of the University of Lucerne, and supervised by Prof.
Sandra Lavenex (formerly University of Lucerne, now University of
Geneva) and Prof. Jan Orbie (Ghent University). I am obliged to the
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of
Lucerne and the Swiss National Science Foundation for two research
scholarships, as well as the Global Studies Institute and the Department
ofPoliticalScienceandInternationalRelationsattheUniversityofGeneva
for providing a hospitable and supportive environment for finishing my
dissertation and publishing this book. I am thankful to the editors, series
editors, commissioning editor, and editorial assistant of Palgrave
Macmillan for their professional support in preparing and realizing this
publication. For relevant feedback and recommendations on this book
Iam grateful to the externalreviewer.
Special thanks go to Martin Petzke for his intellectual inspiration and
encouragementthroughouttheresearchandpublicationprocess.Finally,
Iwish tothankmy familyfortheirendless support andtrust.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction:InternationalPromotion ofLabor Standards 1
Trade Agreementsand LaborStandards 2
The Promotionof LaborStandardsas External Governance 5
US andEU LaborGovernance in Mexico, Morocco, andthe
Dominican Republic:Comparative CaseStudies 11
Notes 19
2 USExternal Labor Governance:Imposing Sanctions
orProvidingAssistance? 25
US-MexicoLabor Governance:The NAALCand Beyond 26
US-Morocco LaborGovernance: TheUS-MoroccoFTA
and Beyond 43
US-Dominican Republic LaborGovernance:The CAFTA-DR
and Beyond 57
US ExternalLabor Governance:Discussion 76
Notes 81
3 EUExternal Labor Governance: PointingFingers
orLendinga Hand? 99
EU-Mexico LaborGovernance: The EU-MexicoGA
and Beyond 100
EU-MoroccoLabor Governance:The EU-MoroccoAA
and Beyond 114
ix
x CONTENTS
EU-Dominican RepublicLabor Governance:
The EU-CARIFORUM EPAand Beyond 128
EU External LaborGovernance: Discussion 146
Notes 152
4 WorkingonWorkers’ Rights: Howthe USA and theEU
GovernLabor Standards Abroad 169
Comparative Conclusionsof USand EU External Labor
Governance 170
Effectiveness of USand EU ExternalLabor Governance 174
Theoretical ReflectionsonUS andEU External
Labor Governance 176
Labor Cooperationand NuclearOptions: Discussion 201
Notes 206
5 Conclusions 211
ImprovingUS andEU External LaborGovernance: Policy
Implications and Recommendations 213
Theoretical Implications andOutlook for FutureResearch 219
Notes 224
References 225
Index 245