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The Use of Transnational Labour Law in Steering Socially Responsible Corporate Governance towards Increased Worker Protection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2018

Isabelle Martin
Isabelle Martin*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor School of Industrial Relations University of MontrealIsabelle.martin.9@umontreal.ca
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Abstract

Socially responsible corporate governance (SRCG) is a product of the interaction of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. These two transnational business governance schemes have converged around the principles of accountability, sustainability, and due diligence. This article will examine to what extent SRCG can be useful in promoting worker protection. It will contend that, as a reflexive regulation, SRCG is normatively indeterminate and may easily be subject to regulatory capture by the traditional actors of corporate governance. This article will argue that these risks may be alleviated by the interaction of SRCG with transnational labour law (TLL). Transnational labour law increases SRCG’s responsiveness to the value of worker protection by offering labour more direct sources of participation to strengthen SRCG’s enforcement and alleviate risks of capture. Moreover, the principles of TLL weave a coherent and meaningful framework which can be used to assess the quality of the various corporate governance initiatives.

Résumé

La gouvernance socialement responsable (GSR) est au carrefour de l’interaction entre la gouvernance et la responsabilité sociale des entreprises. Ces deux systèmes de gouvernance convergent autour des principes de responsabilité, de durabilité et de diligence raisonnable. Cet article examine dans quelle mesure la GSR peut s’avérer utile en tant que mécanisme de protection des travailleurs. L’une des thèses de cet article est qu’en tant qu’outil prescriptif, la GSR est caractérisée par une certaine ambiguïté qui la rend susceptible d’être influencée par les intérêts corporatifs traditionnels. Toutefois, ce risque d’influence peut être modéré par la confluence entre la GSR et le droit transnational du travail (DTT). Le DTT augmenterait la réceptivité de la GSR à l’égard de la protection des travailleurs, et ce, en offrant aux travailleurs une certaine capacité pour renforcer l’application de la GSR et réduire les risques d’influence de la part des intérêts corporatifs. Enfin, les principes du DTT instituent un cadre cohérent et significatif qui peut être utilisé pour évaluer la qualité des différentes initiatives en matière de gouvernance d’entreprise.

Keywords

socially responsible corporate governancetransnational labour lawcorporate social responsibilityreflexive and responsive regulationlabour participationuse of principles in global regulationGouvernance socialement responsabledroit transnational du travailresponsabilité sociale des entreprisescapacité d’action des travailleurs
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 33 , Issue 2: Vers un droit du travail décolonisé : Contributions au droit transnational du travail en émergence / Decolonizing Labour Law: Contributions to an Emergent Transnational Labour Law , August 2018 , pp. 159 - 176
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association / Association Canadienne Droit et Société 2018 

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Footnotes

*

Earlier version of this paper were presented at the 2015 Labour Law Research Network conference in Amsterdam as well as at the Transnational Business Governance Interaction seminar in May 2016 held in York University (Toronto). I would like to thank Adelle Blackett, the anonymous reviewers, and the CJLS editors for their insightful comments. I would also like to thank Emmanuel Cigana for his proofreading assistance. Any remaining errors are my own.

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122 On how international conventions may provide such a consensus, see: Richardson, “Fiduciary,” 77.

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125 Ibid.

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