A promoção dos padrões trabalhistas fundamentais nas cadeias globais de produção têxtil por meio de global framework agreements

Abstract

This dissertation approaches the precariousness of labor conditions in the textiles, global governance initiatives aimed at tackling this problem and devotes special attention to the Global Framework Agreements (GFA), private instruments negotiated between workers' representatives at the international level and corporations in the world market. It proposes a comparative analysis of the GFAs in the sector to evaluate their contributions, potentials, and challenges in the promotion of the International Labor Organization¿s (ILO) core labor standards. The textiles industry fragmentation in global production chains has led to precarious working conditions worldwide. In this scenario, child labor, forced labor, discrimination, and obstacles against workers¿ freedom association are still common practices. Although those individual and collective freedoms are defined as core labor standards by the ILO, being at the center of its activities and among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda, it is undeniable that international actions and national labor regulation and inspections are no longer sufficient to deal with the complex and transboundary challenges of the protection of workers in global production chains. GFAs intend to guarantee that ILO¿s core labor standards are respected through all the stages of the signatory corporations¿ production chains, complementary and independently of state¿s action. They also aim to expand social dialogue between all actors, seeking for mature and democratic industrial relations. The purpose of this research is to analyze whether the garments industry¿s GFAs contribute to the dissemination of core labor standards in its global production chains, in parallel to state¿s action, the ILO and other international and global governance initiatives. The methodology is bibliographic research with qualitative analysis, and the methods are hypothetico-deductive and inductive. In conclusion this study has identified that GFAs are improving tools that depend on active local unions and on strengthening relations between workers and employers. It also observed they create innovative mechanisms for implementing core labor standards in the textiles global production chains and therefore contribute to the expansion of decent work worldwide, for pacifying labor relations and to the sustainable development of the sector.