International Labour Standards, Codes of Conduct and Gender Issues: A Review of Recent Debates and Controversies

The increase in international networks of production, centred around multinational corporations (MNCs) has led to calls for greater levels of protection for workers. This paper suggests that, states are now less able to enforce national labour standards as they are keen to attract foreign investment through MNCs. It examines various debates and controversies that surround issues of labour standards and looks at the ways these have played out within the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It then contrasts this approach with the emergence of MNC's voluntary 'self-regulatory' codes of conduct. This paper specifically looks at how women's labour rights are being protected. A gender perspective in this area is essential because of the important role of female employment in many of the globalized industries that have been at the heart of labour standards debates (in particular in clothing). The emergence of a 'human rights approach' to international labour standards has, in practice, led to narrow definitions of labour standards which marginalise women's concerns as workers in global supply chains. Despite the limitations of codes of conduct as a mode of regulating labour standards, these codes do provide a space for bringing gender concerns into the labour standards debate.