There is a need for a multi-level, transnational labour law to ensure a living wage for all because work today occurs in global supply chains where workers and capital cross borders, whereas labour laws do not. The global living wage strategy proposed in my new book is based upon extensive empirical research and regulatory theory and is more ambitious than previous real-life experiments and academic propositions.
Read MoreCompetition to keep prices low and corporate profits high often results in exploitative labour practices, with the greatest burden on informal and precarious workers. These workers are generally a part of global supply chains, yet, what they earn is not enough to cover basic living costs. Despite efforts worldwide to reduce the number of working people in poverty, progress has stalled. A key reason is that current labour laws are powerless to help these workers as they were designed with a different workforce in mind. Labour laws are national in scope, while work today occurs in global supply chains in which both workers and capital cross borders. Labour laws regulate employment, whereas those pushing down wages often subcontract production. To close this gap between labour laws and today’s mode of production, we need a global living wage backed by an international labour law.
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