Freedom for whom? Globalization and trade from the standpoint of garment workers

By Sally Ding on April 5, 2011

ID:	HARP-250
Title:	Freedom for whom? Globalization and trade from the standpoint of garment workers
Source:	Canadian Woman Studies, March 2002, Vol. 21, No. 4; Pg. 74(8); ISSN: 0713-3235, 03561771
Parties:
Dispute Resolution Organ:
Year:	2002
Pages:	0
Author(s):
Keywords:	agreement, Canada, economic, social, and cultural rights, employment, globalization, governance, human rights, trade, restructuring
Abstract:	“Globalization” and “restructuring” are buzz words of the new millennium. They are seen in positive and negative lights. On the one hand, governments and corporations see globalization as a positive process enabling businesses to move around the globe in search of markets and “flexible” labour, thereby augmenting profits. Organized labour in Canada, as well as elsewhere, argue that globalization has led to work restructuring, job loss, and depression of wages, thereby impoverishing the livelihood of working people. Who is right? How do we see and understand the manifestation of these abstract, macro processes as concrete and actual relations that shape people’s everyday lives? This paper examine will aspects of globalization in relation to the changing working conditions of garment workers in Canada. I will first explain what I mean by globalization and restructuring. I will then describe briefly the changing reality of the garment industry in Canada. I will focus on trade agreements as one component in the conglomerate of processes that shape the working conditions of garment workers against the backdrop of globalization and work restructuring.
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