A Study Of The Unification Of International Labor Laws

Economic globalization has accelerated the economic development of the whole world and integrated the world into one huge economic body. In this situation, the world has become one common market;trading activities, even our life and entertainment have broken the boundaries between countries and regions. More important is that not only merchandise, but also capital flows freely in the whole world because of global economic integration. Along with the appearance of a large number of multinational enterprises, the nationality color of enterprise is reducing step by step. Raw materials, production and sale often scatter in different countries, and international capitals are more and more shifted to countries and regions with low cost of labor. Because of different political and economic interests within different countries, the cross-border flow of labor force lag behind that of capital. Capital and labor being two essential factors in international production, the unsymmetrical flow of both causes international labor problems. Economic globalization entails the globalization of labor. In order to become more competitive, all countries have relaxed in succession labor standards and the distribution of multinational corporations worldwide has broken down the organization of trade unions and, as a result, the original right balance has been broken, and there appears an increasinglyobvious pattern of "strong capital and weak labor". This makes the workers unable to share the fruit of a free economy, and even their original rights have been affected. Such problems have attracted the attention of the working circle, governments and international organizations concerned. On the other hand, along with the globalization and unification of the world economy, the trading relationship between countries is not confined to the aspect of "things" but extends to that of "person". The focus of international competition also changed from the economic field to the social field. Social problems, such as labor standard, have drawn the attention of the WTO as well as of people from all works of life. Developed countries ask to include them into the scope of multilateral trading system and have a heated debate with developing countries on these issues.In this time of globalization, the cross-border flow of labor force has been a trend. To settle disputes over labor issues and protect the lawful interest and rights of laborers merely through internal laws and the bilateral agreements is not enough;therefore, the call for establishing and approving globally unified labor laws is increasingly heard worldwide.This dissertation makes a systematic study into the literature on the unification of international labor laws. And on the basis of this, it elaborates on the origin and development of international labor laws unification movement, international organizations engaged ininternational labor laws unification and their contributions, and the great achievements of the International Labor Organization. China is among the founding nations of the International Labor Organization and we should know some basic things concerning China's approval and implement of international labor laws, a comparison between the labor legislation of our country and that of other countries, and our government's stand on international labor laws. Therefore, this dissertation makes detailed research into these issues. Moreover, as China has joined the WTO, it is of strategic significance to quicken our steps in approving international labor standards. In view of this, this dissertation, aiming at promoting the favorable development of unification of international labor laws in our country, puts forward some measures concerning the accelerated approval of international labor standards.