A Social Conscience in the Global Marketplace? Labour Dimensions of Codes of Conduct, Social Labelling and Investor Initiatives

This article analyzes the increasing phenomena of voluntary private sector initiatives in social responsibility and assesses the public impact of the privatized pursuit of social justice. It concludes that the social concerns at the root of the phenomenon under review are a welcome development, yet a number of limitations appear inherent in the very nature of the initiatives. A lack of transparency and of participation by the supposed beneficiaries is attributable to their unilateral origin. Selectivity in the nature of the labour issues addressed as well as an absence of uniformity in the definition of principles underlying best practices result in a disparity between the goals of many initiatives and the universal principles underlying fundamental labour standards. Further limitations in measuring the impact of labour-related goals result from a lack of standardization of labour criteria and methods of implementation, as well as the variability of the external and internal environments of the enterprises concerned. Such limitations have been exposed in a review of more than 200 codes, social labels, investment-fund screening programmes and shareholder initiatives focusing on labour practices