Wages: An Overlooked Dimension of Business and Human Rights in Global Supply Chains
Wages: An Overlooked Dimension of Business and Human Rights in Global Supply Chains
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DOI：
10.1017/bhj.2020.32
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发表时间：
2021-01
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
G. LeBaron
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
G. LeBaron
在有关全球供应链中的人权和企业的学术和政策辩论中，抽象工资--工人从雇主那里获得的劳动报酬--被广泛忽视。他们不应该这样。就像生活工资可以使工人免受人权侵犯和劳工剥削一样，徘徊在贫困线附近或以下的工资，再加上工资盗窃和拖欠工资等非法做法，使工人容易受到严重的劳工剥削和人权侵犯。本文利用对全球茶叶和可可供应链的研究数据，探讨工资对全球供应链中最严重的侵犯人权行为之一--强迫劳动--的影响。报告表明，在全球供应链中，低薪工人极易受到强迫劳动的伤害。报告认为，学者和政策制定者需要更认真地对待工资在塑造或保护工人免受剥削方面的作用。当工资被忽视时，它也是保护人权和加强全球供应链中企业责任的关键工具。
Abstract Wages – the monetary payments that workers receive from employers in exchange for their labour – are widely overlooked in academic and policy debates about human rights and business in global supply chains. They shouldn’t be. Just as living wages can insulate workers from human rights abuse and labour exploitation, wages that hover around or below the poverty line, compounded by illegal practices like wage theft and delayed payment, leave workers vulnerable to severe labour exploitation and human rights abuse. This article draws on data from a study of global tea and cocoa supply chains to explore the impact of wages on one of the most severe human rights abuses experienced in global supply chains, forced labour. Demonstrating that low-wage workers experience high vulnerability to forced labour in global supply chains, it argues that the role of wages in shaping or protecting workers from exploitation needs to be taken far more seriously by scholars and policymakers. When wages are ignored, so too is a crucial tool to protect human rights and heighten business accountability in global supply chains.