There is a very interesting debate in the recent edition of the New Labor Forum that includes Lance Compa of Cornell and Jay Youngdahl, an American labor lawyer. They are debating whether labour rights — the right to form unions, engage in collective bargaining, strike, etc.–should be framed as human rights. Both writers are supporters of the labour movement and strong labour rights, but they differ on whether associating labour rights (often considered to be ‘collective’ rights) with human rights (often considered to be ‘individual’ rights) is likely to advance the interests of workers.
Here is the debate from New Labor Forum (thanks to New Labor Forum and Lance Compa for giving us permission to publish this on the blog)
A similar debate is taking place in Canada. Roy Adams is a leading academic arguing in favour of treating labour rights as human rights, in which he is supported by the ongoing campaign by NUPGE and the UFCW. Others, including Larry Savage of Brock University, have questioned the approach. You can access the papers in the debate between Adams and Savage that were published in Just Labour here.
Do you think labour rights should be treated as “human rights”? Do you think the debate matters? Why, or why not?
Should Labour Rights Be Treated as Human Rights?
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