Globalization Policy Brief

Name: Institution:Date: GLOBALIZATION POLICY BRIEF Introduction Globalization has turned the world into a village and more interdependent. There are many advantages of globalization such as cultural diffusion and spreading which helps the communities which have been historically been unexposed. It has also helped the developing and undeveloped nations access technology and capital that have come to be very instrumental for their development. Most big corporations and multinationals have taken advantage of globalization to source cheap labor in developing countries. It is one of the ways that China capitalized on when it sought to grow economically and today it has become the factory of the world. Most electronics are designed in other countries but are produced in China. GAP, a multinational cloth line has roughly 1 million workers in approximately 900 factories in China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia because of cheap labor CITATION Mar151 \l 1033 (Gunther). Due to the cost of living in most western countries, multinationals find it cheaper to produce goods in other countries to maximize their profits. This phenomenon has brought about other unintended effects. These multinationals have resorted to exploiting the people in these countries. Most developing countries in which these multinationals and big corporations have set up their production facilities have weak labor laws or the existent laws are poorly enforced CITATION Fox16 \l 1033 (Fox). This creates a conducive environment for these multinationals to exploit the locals by paying them poorly because of of-of the host country’s high unemployment and poverty rates. The big corporations also tend to poorly facilitate the employees with safety equipment and little or no benefits other than the salaries. The low wages also force the locals to work for long hours to make ends meet even in their struggling economy. There is a need for the world to be concerned about the welfare of the people who produce the goods they consume. They can become the voice of the voiceless who are exploited for bigger profit margins by powerful corporations in corrupt countries. There has been little progress in the efforts to bring these corporations to account and force them to treat their workers humanely in less developed countries where they have set up their production facilitates. There is a need for a policy that compels these multinationals to act in the best interest of their workers, environment, and communities where they have set up their production facilities. Policy proposal The goal of the policy is to protect local communities from over-exploitation and unethical business practices by big corporations. The elements covered in the policy are; minimum wage and working hours, paid leave, workplace safety, health coverage, social security, whistleblower protections, freedom to join labor unions and employment-based protections. All the aforementioned conditions will have to be met for any corporations to be allowed to establish production facilities in other countries and especially in the developing countries. The policies will also be structured in a way that the corporation cannot hide under other laws such as contracting or outsourcing labor to other organizations to continue exploiting the people. The company will be solely responsible for the welfare of all the workers in their facilities. This means the workers must be insured, granted perks such as insurance and pension, allowed to join in labor unions and participate in lawful strikes and any other mas action practice to campaign for their rights. Additionally, the corporations must also ensure that each worker has safety equipment and or the environment is safe for all the people who work in it. The risk of work-related injury must be avoided at all costs and if any occurs, the company through its insurance schemes must cover the hospital bills or compensate the family appropriately should the individual pass on. The workers must also be compensated fairly and relatively at the industry level. The workers must also work the recommended 8 hours a day with breaks. If there is any overtime work to be completed, it must be compensated appropriately. The goal of these policies is to ensure that the workers are legally protected to fight for their rights and they are compensated fairly. The primary objective of the policy is to hold the corporations accountable for the welfare of their workers. In many instances, these companies find loopholes in the law that help them to exploit the people even with existing laws. For example, they contract other companies or agencies to provide labor to their production facilities such that the workers are technically not employed by the big corporation but by another outsourced company CITATION Shi16 \l 1033 (Shilling). This helps them to avoid paying for other benefits such as insurance and pension for the workers. It also absolves them the blame on how the workers are treated because they are not their workers technically yet they work in their production facilities. Thus, these corporations have found clever ways to still exploit locals in developing countries despite some labor laws forbidding that. When they contract other companies to provide labor services to their factories it shows that the companies do not want to act in the best interest of their workers or immediate community. If the law enforcement officers come knocking, they can always hide under the law citing that those are not their employees and they throw the contracted company under the bus and turn to another labor service provider. Thus, there is a need for a well-structured policy that compels the companies to be accountable and also act in the best interest of the people rather than masking under the law to carry out unethical practices because the law absolves them of the same. The goal of the policy framework would be to fine any company found to be carrying out these unlawful practices. The host countries may opt to have the capacity or political will to enforce these laws meant to protect their people. Thus, the policy can only be effective if its enforcement is done in collaboration with other international bodies such as World Trade Organization and western governments which can help exert pressure to these big corporations to do what is in the best interest of the people. The policy can be framed to ensure that the big corporations found to be running sweatshops are heavily fined by the government and or the World Trade Organization. The World Trade Organization will maintain an oversight role into the operations of these big corporations and carry out independent evaluations of their work ethic to establish whether it aligned with the principles of the organization and if it is in the best interest of the local community. The local community also ought to benefit. Corporate Social Responsibility should not be optional for these corporations. They must be encouraged and if possible, enforced to ensure that the immediate communities benefit from the existence of production facilities in its proximity. Each production facility affects the environment and the people around it adversely in several ways and the company must give back to the same ...