It makes no sense to talk of the social obligations of the corporation without reference to its economic obligations. The two are intertwined.
- Lee R. Raymond, former CEO of ExxonMobil
As the developed world continues to expand its consumerism and raises the minimum wage, multinational corporations (MNCs) have begun to move to the developing world. The implications of these corporations taking advantage of vague labor laws and weak states are still unclear. While the international community typically considers the economic effects of MNCs, it will be the job of the Human Rights Council to examine the differences in worker’s rights in different countries and how to combat this controversy. Join us this Wednesday 18 February at 7PM in CAS 326 as we take on this problem.
A few other updates:
BosMUN VIII, our high school conference, will be next weekend (Feb. 27-Mar. 1) at the Boston Park Plaza. If you’re not yet a staff member, it’s not too late! Just email us at bosmun.committees@gmail.com and we’ll tell you how you can get involved. If you want to know more about the conference itself, check out http://www.bosmun.org
Thanks to those of you who came to the social at Hojo on Sunday; charades was fun! Also, congratulations to those who went to McGill for the McMUN Conference in January! Our travel team had a great time in Montreal and even earned some awards.
As globalization reaches the farthest points of the world, human rights problems have begun to overcome barriers and are affecting individuals not only domestically, but internationally as well. More and more companies are moving their businesses abroad and exploiting the spread of information as profits take a higher priority than human rights. Just as moving a multinational corporation (MNC) can affect new host countries, workers in the former host country may also suffer from unemployment. The fear of losing jobs to other countries can even incite xenophobia.
It is difficult for any one state to directly pass and implement a law for multinational corporations to follow because these corporations do not fall under any one national jurisdiction. Even finding out whether a company has a code or set of guidelines to ensure human rights standards can prove to be complex because there are very few requirements for the level of a company’s transparency. In fact, most violations go unnoticed, despite the few that make headlines in the international media and ignite a new round of criticism for MNCs.
Because of the difficulties of coordinating individual countries’ efforts to combat the problem of MNCs and human rights, the responsibility falls to the UN Human Rights Council to produce a comprehensive soution on the topic to ameliorate the current situation by stopping existing violations of human rights by MNCs and to prevent any new violations from occuring at all. This will require both guidelines to regulate MNCs in terms of human rights and corporate social responsibility, as well as details as to how these regulations will be enforced.
Without sufficient enforcement or cooperation between different states, MNCs will grow stronger and remain uncontrollable. This could ultimately threaten the global balance of power, which to this point has primarily been dominated by countries: Could multinational corporations and other such powerful private entities determine the future of our world? If so, would this be a bad thing?
Bloc Positions
United States and the West
The United States is one of the countries that have benefited the most from MNCs’ actions, both domestic and abroad. The U.S., and in some cases, the United Kingdom, have profited from the “roll back” effect, where the government has spent more on military and policing, while spending less on issues such as healthcare and education. Several of the most affluent MNCs have shareholders in the U.S. or depend on private American investment. Nations that are members in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights compose the body that regulates human rights violations within the Americas.
Europe and Post-Soviet States
The European Court of Human Rights has jurisdiction to try cases introduced by individuals instead of states, and is the only international court with that ability. (Bodies such as the International Criminal Court may try individuals; however, these cases must be introduced by states or by coalitions of states and generally include human rights violations associated with war crimes.) Countries formerly in the Soviet Union have seen some investment by outsourcing from multinational corporations and have largely benefited from it.
Africa
Though African countries are among the wealthiest in terms of natural resources, these nations have not as yet been targeted as major locations for new offices or branches for MNC outsourcing. This is most likely due to the fact that the continent has suffered from unstable political agencies, volatile infrastructures, and some of the most severe civil crises. MNCs in Nigeria were accused of serious human rights violations in the Niger Delta region.
Middle East
Because there is such a huge network in the Middle East of laborers traveling between countries quite frequently, it is difficult to manage and regulate human rights abuses. Domestic and migrant workers generally do not have access to judicial systems, and those who do are rarely recognized.
Latin America
There have been studies led in Latin America that show that MNCs have actually taken more jobs than they have created and consumed domestic capital. Several companies, such as IBM, have locations in Mexico. Human rights violations have been associated with MNCs in Chile, Honduras, and Mexico.
Asia
Since the 1980s, countries in Asia, especially China, have been primary destinations for MNCs and their investments. These countries’ economies have largely thrived from the influx of money and jobs. Growing businesses from India and China have also begun to expand their markets to other countries. Malaysia, China, and Korea have taken measures to increase labor efficiency to the benefit of capital. Sweatshops in India and Indonesia are among the most common human rights abusers in these countries. There is no comprehensive program in Asia that promotes or protects human rights, and countries have varying approaches to the protection and violation of human rights.
Questions to Consider
- How should world leaders and policy makers deal with the differences in worker’s rights in different countries?
- What should the balance between the rights of individual workers and gaining new investment from a prospective company entail?
- Is it possible for regulations concerning multinational corporations to be enforced? If so, how?
- How can the HRC help developing countries with weak governments or judicial systems to avoid changing laws at the demand of MNCs?
- Is the lack of transparency by multinational corporations justified? Or is it absolutely necessary?
