The KiK Case: A Critical Perspective from the South

Abstract

AbstractLabour in Global South countries often has meagre social security protections and almost no representation in domestic legislatures. To address this deficit, labour law’s clear orientation towards “distributive justice” and emphasis on constitutionally protected freedom of association and collective bargaining rights have been core values for workers and labour movements in the South. Over the course of the last century, labour law has increasingly sought to assure “distributive justice” by departing from the confines of “corrective justice” and the slippery “ethical” basis of private law in both civil and common law systems. This chapter asks how both multinational corporations’ (MNCs) recent turn toward the use of codes of conduct in regards to labour and working conditions (labour codes) and, correspondingly, activists’ increasing reliance on the private law doctrines of tort and damages to resolve labour disputes, dilutes labour law’s focus on “distributive justice.” What problems and challenges do these shifts cause for labour law practice and theory? Taking the KiK case as an example, this chapter applies a critical legal perspective to address these questions.