Rule Intermediaries in Global Labor Governance

Abstract

The International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work is a “canon” in the global governance of labor rights. The ILO has its own implementation, monitoring, and enforcement system in place to foster compliance with the declaration. However, other transnational regulatory initiatives also integrate the declaration into their standards and procedures, leading them to become nondelegated intermediaries. We analyze and compare two such cases: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF). The case studies show two distinct approaches, which differ significantly in operation and the involvement of other intermediaries. The two initiatives also differ in effectiveness. We suggest that this is related to how they involve different intermediaries and how they relate to the targets. The OECD involves few intermediaries, and these play passive roles with little interaction with targets, while the FWF involves many intermediaries, which play diverse roles and constantly engage targets.