ILRLR 3830 - Workers’ Rights as Human Rights

Fall, Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

J. Gross.

This course, a distance learning endeavor with the International Labor Organization in Geneva, examines U.S. domestic labor law and policy using internationally accepted human rights principles as standards for judgment. Considers the idea of human rights, its philosophical and moral origins, and introduces the legal and social obligations of both governments and nonstate actors to respect the human rights of workers. Topics include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ILO International Labor Standards, the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, workers’ freedom of association and the right to organize and collectively bargain, occupational health and safety, discrimination, forced labor, child labor, migrant labor, labor rights defined in international trade agreements, the value judgments underlying labor policy choices, and the struggle for enforcement of human rights standards nationally and international. The course examines these topics in an internationally comparative context and includes presentations and discussions from international experts on various human rights issues.