ITGLWF - WTO to defend negligent business practices trade
15 Dec '05
5 min read
Belgium based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) stated that WTO must protect trade from irresponsible business practices.
Governments, not the International Standards Organisation, should be regulating the social responsibility of corporations at the national level, while the WTO should be adopting measures to ensure that corporate social irresponsibility is not routinely used to secure unlawful competitive advantage in global markets, a Swedish Government-sponsored dialogue on responsible business practice in Hong Kong was told today.
Speaking at the meeting Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation said that voluntary commitments to observe labour and environmental legislation were no substitute for government action in enacting and effectively enforcing good laws.
Indeed, if governments did their jobs properly there would be no need for the current strain of Corporate Social Responsibility and businesses would be able to concentrate on raising the bar and concentrating on being good corporate citizens providing innovative solutions to broader problems.
Hitting out at the failures of national governments and international agencies such as the WTO to set clear guidelines for company behaviour, Kearney said it was such inaction that had created corporate irresponsibility in the first place. Kearney was dismissive of the current glorification of unacceptable corporate behavior.