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Tailoring Globalization to Reduce Global Poverty and Inequality: a Case Study of the U.S.-Cambodian Bilateral Textile Agreement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Extract

Globalization has done little to fight global poverty and inequality. Though some critics have used this fact to argue against global economic integration, this article explains that those in favor of a freer and fairer global trade and finance system must link that regime with labor rights in order to achieve a reduction in global poverty and a more equitable distribution of trade gains. Without this connection, today's most powerful economies will be tomorrow's least relevant markets, finding themselves subordinate on the global supply chain to countries who were once thought of as “lesser developed.” This result will not come from increased development from those countries. Instead, it will derive from the erosion of progress in leading markets initiated by enhanced competition from countries with lower relative standards of living. Simply put: without a mechanism to increase those standards in the poorest countries, the richest countries will find their own standards retrograded in order to remain competitive. Accordingly, legal architectures must link free trade and global finance with core worker rights—or else.

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Articles
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Copyright © 2005 by the International Association of Law Libraries 

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References

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44 See Hall, supra note 36, at 146 (providing the history behind Cambodia's labor unions and the struggle for freedom of association rights). Cambodia's oldest union is the Independent Trade Union of Cambodian Workers (“ITUCW”), which descends from the Ministry of Unions that existed from 1979 until 1992. Id. The Ministry of Unions was the sole labor organization in Cambodia at a time when all enterprises were state-owned. Id. The ITUCW claimed to represent 18,591 members throughout nineteen of the registered garment unions as of 1998. Id. Its leader is Men Samon, who is a Member of Parliament under Hun Sen's CPP. Id. Through Men Samon, the CPP uses the ITUCW for political purposes and not necessarily for the good of the ITUCW's members. Id. The largest of Cambodia's labor unions is the Cambodian Unions Federation (“CUF”), which claims to represent 55,700 members of whom ninety percent works in the textile industry. Id. at 145. Chuon Mom Thol, who leads the CUF, also serves as the vice-chairman of Cambodia's Labor Advisory Committee, which is a forum for employers, workers, and the government to address labor-related issues, and frequently represents Cambodia's labor movement at international functions, including the ILO. Kolben, supra note 39, at 87. However, Chuon Mom Thol suffers criticism for leading nothing more than a “paper union,” designed to present a friendly face to the international community, but which in practice does very little for the employees it represents. Id. Philip Robertson of the AFL-CIO's Bangkok office in explained in an interview with Hall that paper unions usually consist of representatives who the factory management has elected, not the workers. Hall, supra note 36, at 145. The factory management creates election ballots of “approved” candidates who function for management's purposes after their election. Id. The Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (“FTUWKC”) is potentially the most independent of Cambodia's unions. Id. With unions in sixteen garment factories representing 117 male and 2,213 female workers, the FTUWKC is Cambodia's largest union. Id. Sam Rainsy, of the Sam Rainsy Party, founded the FTUWKC. Id. As with the other unions, the FTUWKC has received criticism that it functions for its leader as a source of political power. Id. Of course, the Sam Rainsy Party is not a part of the CPP-FINCINPEC coalition government and is far from approaching the power of either party. Hall, supra note 36, at 145. Some commentators have noted that the FTUWKC may be the start of an independent and credible labor movement in Cambodia. Id. Google Scholar

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50 See id. (demonstrating the way the Labor Code allowed factory management to circumvent the role of labor unions by using stewards).Google Scholar

51 See id. (discussing the new regulation providing for a process to determine who has the right to negotiate with management).Google Scholar

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60 See id. at 110 (suggesting that discrimination against women continues to persist because of a lack of political will to change it).Google Scholar

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63 See discussion infra Part III (showing that while the agreement called for the promotion of the Labor Code, the ILO program never achieved that goal because of the ILO's weak enforcement role).Google Scholar

64 See discussion infra Part III (focusing on these critical failures because these are internationally recognized core labor standards).Google Scholar

65 But see PR: Linking Trade and Labor Rights, supra note 5 (proclaiming the success of the USCBTA).Google Scholar

66 See USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A) (agreeing that the benefits of trade should include improved working conditions and living standards for workers in the Cambodian garment industry, while remaining silent on how the ILO should implement the Labor Code to achieve those goals). This silence allowed the ILO to adopt its own organizational structure, removing from the U.S and Cambodian governments the onus of determining this element in the agreement itself. Id. Compare Capitalism in the Raw: Labour Rights and Free Trade with the United States, Economist, Jan. 24, 2004 [hereinafter Capitalism in the Raw] (suggesting that the Central American Free Trade Agreement (“CAFTA”) may never pass through the U.S. Congress if the agreement fails to include essential enforcement provisions, which are generally highly contentious when states negotiate trade agreements because enforcement encroaches on sovereignty), available at 2004 WLNR 15258863 (last visited Feb. 12, 2005), with Russo, supra note 19, at 112-19 (questioning whether NAFTA's labor side agreement managed to provide an effective dispute resolution structure despite bargaining and compromise).Google Scholar

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72 But see Amy Kazmin, Garment Factories Are Being Forced to Mend Their Ways, Fin. Times, Dec. 10, 2002, at 3 (praising the model of transparency as “unrivalled”), available at 2002 WLNR 6785214 (last visited Mar. 4, 2005). The article also mentioned that factory owners “frantically” telephoned ILO inspectors to ensure a clean report before the inspectors named their factories individually. Id. Google Scholar

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76 Compare Anthony DePalma, Nafta's Powerful Little Secret; Obscure Tribunals Settle Disputes, but Go too Far, Critics Say, N.Y. Times, Mar. 11, 2001, sec. 3 (reporting criticism that NAFTA tribunals, which investors can use to sue governments for violations of NAFTA Chapter Eleven provisions, are too secretive, even though they are effective at protecting investor rights), available at 2001 WLNR 3421720 (last visited Mar. 4, 2005). Unlike the ILO program, which uses a regulatory approach, the NAFTA Chapter Eleven tribunals use an adversarial model, which provides transparency to the fact-finder through pleadings, arguments, and evidence. Id., with Public Citizen, Another Americas is Possible: The Impact of NAFTA on the U.S. Latino Community and Lessons for Future Trade Agreements, 14 (asserting that similar NAFTA provisions are too weak to protect labor rights), available at http://www.citizen.org/documents/LatinosReport.pdf (last visited Mar. 4, 2005). Even though workers can bring complaints like those that the investors can bring under Chapter Eleven, the transparency is ineffective because the labor provisions are too dilute. Id. Google Scholar

77 See First Synthesis Report, supra note 73, sec. 1.3.1 (explaining further that while the ILO was interested in obtaining full access to factory employees, the factories were concerned with inaccuracies that this system could have generated). In exchange, the ILO agreed that monitoring visits would occur in a fair and objective manner, that inspections would take place in such a manner as to cause the least disruptions, that basic information would be kept confidential, and that the ILO would have considered any allegation of inspection-related misconduct in good faith. Id. Google Scholar

78 See Kolben, supra note 39, at 91 n. 72 (explaining that the United States rejected earlier proposals for the program that would have granted the ILO greater power because of concerns for Cambodia's state sovereignty). Mark Barenberg, professor of law at Columbia University Law School and an expert on international labor regulation, designed a stronger proposal that would have granted the ILO a greater enforcement role. Id. The American Union of Needle Trades and Industrial and Textile Employees (“UNITE”) in turn lobbied for the agreement to adopt this plan. Id. Google Scholar

79 But see Sheridan Prasso, Case Study: Bringing Labor Issues Into the Cambodian Textile Agreement, initiative for Pol'y dialogue, 2003 (asserting that the mere presence of the ILO gave to Cambodian workers too much power to defend their own rights), at http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/ipd/j_cambodia.html (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

80 See, e.g., id. (lauding the ILO program's impressive strengths such as improvements in correct payment of wages, improvements in mandatory overtime, and improvements with regard to freedom of association protections). Although Prasso cites to the ILO's Sixth Synthesis Report, she provides no guidance as to what constituted a noteworthy improvement or how those improvements related to the original working conditions. Id. Nor does Prasso articulate whether those improvements correlated to improved working conditions. Id. Because these reports contain little information, no one can. Id. Google Scholar

81 See USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A) (linking improved working conditions in part to transparency into the enforcement of the Labor Code).Google Scholar

82 But see PR: Linking Trade and Labor Rights, supra note 5 (heralding the ILO project as exemplary for using trade to increase respect for workers’ rights).Google Scholar

83 See U.S.-Chile FTA, supra note 23, Annex 18.5 (providing an entire section for the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement's Labor Cooperation Mechanism).Google Scholar

84 Compare Id. para. 5(a)-(g) (elucidating seven distinct, but illustrative, methods of achieving the goals of the U.S. and Chilean governments), with USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A)-(E) (lacking similar specificity, particularly with regard to frequency of inspections).Google Scholar

85 See, e.g., Human Rights Watch, Bad Dreams: Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia, 6-8 (July, 2004) (asserting that Human Rights Watch's reports of Saudi Arabian working conditions would have been more complete if the inspectors could have conducted interviews of all the available workers), available at http://hrw.org/reports/2004/saudi0704/saudi0704.pdf (last visited Mar. 5, 2005). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains closed to human rights inspectors. Id. The report acknowledged that without sufficient access to work sites, the conclusions drawn from the reports were an incomplete picture of the full labor scene. Id. Google Scholar

86 See Third Synthesis Report, supra note 68, sec. 2 (emphasizing that reported information for the named factories only represents changes in the situation from the first visit to the follow-up visit).Google Scholar

87 See id. sec. 1.3.2 (stating that the ILO mainly derived the checklist from provisions located in the Labor Code).Google Scholar

88 But see U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, US-Cambodian Economic and Trade Relations (proclaiming that the USCBTA was an “unqualified success” in promoting Cambodian economic growth while promoting Cambodia as a labor-friendly country) at http://usembassy.state.gov/cambodia/wwwf0040.pdf (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

89 See id. (reporting that in 2003 Cambodian exports to the United States amounted to over $1.2 billion). Eighty-five percent of that amount came from the textile trade. Id. Google Scholar

90 See USCBTA, supra note 5 (adopting a hollow goal-oriented approach by specifying goals to which the parties aspired while ignoring the steps by which the parties would achieve those goals).Google Scholar

91 Compare id. (agreeing to promote “general labor rights” that were “embodied” in the Labor Code), with First Synthesis Report, supra note 73, sec. 2 (elaborating all of the elements that the ILO chose to incorporate), and Labor Code, supra note 30, chs. III-XIV (enumerating with great specificity particular protections that workers should receive).Google Scholar

92 See PR: Linking Trade and Labor Rights, supra note 82 (stating that the United States was willing to trade with any company in the Cambodian garment industry as long as the industry as a whole substantially complied with the Labor Code).Google Scholar

93 See, e.g., Third Synthesis Report, supra note 68, sec. 2 (noting simply whether the named factories complied in full, in part, or not all).Google Scholar

94 But see Prasso, supra note 79 (championing the success of the USCBTA in the field of labor rights protection).Google Scholar

95 See Labor Code, supra note 30, ch. XVI (providing a sliding scale of penalties depending on the kind of labor provision that a factory owner violated).Google Scholar

96 See First Synthesis Report, supra note 73, sec. 1.4 (explaining that the first report only included sixteen percent of the factories participating in the program and that the monitoring of the factories was not an objective in itself, but rather part of a larger process to improve the industry as a whole). The report is silent on what the other parts of the larger process consist of. Id. Google Scholar

97 See USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(D) (conditioning these statements based on consultations between the U.S. and Cambodian governments).Google Scholar

98 But see Polaski, supra note 31, at 14 (remarking that an impressive number of factories made rapid changes and corrections to practices that routinely confronted apparel workers in many countries). The author bases her claims on the flawed ILO reports. Id. Google Scholar

99 See PR: Linking Trade and Labor Rights, supra note 82 (stating the conditions for which the United States would increase the quota).Google Scholar

100 See Polaski, supra note 31, at 7 (stating that nonparticipating firms could have shared in the increased trading without the related costs of more stringent labor policies).Google Scholar

101 See, e.g., Cambodia: U.S. increases garment quota, asian labour news Dec. 5, 2003 (reporting the quota increases, which yielded over $1 billion in revenue for Cambodian industry), available at http://www.asianlabour.org/archives/000183.php (last visited Feb. 13, 2005).Google Scholar

102 See Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures (unpublished document, on file with author) (showing that despite the presence of the labor inspectors and the positive incentives from the USCBTA, several factories failed to implement the inspectors’ recommendations). This document, compiled from all nine ILO synthesis reports, lists all of the suggestions that the inspectors made in the areas of freedom of association, collective bargaining, employment discrimination, and child labor. Id. This document lists all of the suggestions that the inspectors made with regard to these issues, how many factories followed these inspections, and the percentage rate of compliance. Id. It also lists the total number of factories that received suggestions from each reporting period and from the aggregate of all nine reports. Id. Google Scholar

103 See PR: Linking Trade and Labor Rights, supra note 82 (explaining that industry-wide substantial compliance was sufficient for individual factories to participate in the increased quotas).Google Scholar

104 See Polaski, supra note 31, at 7 (discussing the free-rider problem in economics terms, but ignoring the fact that that working conditions will not improve for a large segment of the work force).Google Scholar

105 See First Synthesis Report, supra note 73, sec. 1.3.1 (reporting that even though the Ministry of Commerce required that all factories interested in trading with the United States needed to register with the ILO program, there was no requirement that any of the factories adopt the ILO's suggestions at all).Google Scholar

106 Compare USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A)-(E) (providing in five brief paragraphs a list of goals and describing the incentive structure, but listing no methods for achieving those goals), with U.S.-Chile FTA, supra note 23, ch. 18 (devoting eight pages and an entire chapter to labor provisions).Google Scholar

107 See USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A) (connecting the goal of improved working conditions with the Labor Code's freedom of association articles).Google Scholar

108 See Labor Code, supra note 30, ch. XI, art. 266 (articulating the extensive freedom of association provisions in twelve articles, but which call upon the Ministry of Labor to undertake a significant enforcement role, which the ILO lacked under the USCBTA); see, e.g., Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102 (demonstrating the insufficiency of the ILO's inspections in this regard). Thirty-three factories received suggestions that they “ensure that workers have the right to freely form and join trade unions and freely participate in union activities.” Id. Upon the follow-up visit, the monitors found that seventy-six percent of the factories had complied with the recommendation. Id. The monitors suggested to fourteen factories that “management refrain from taking measures that would prevent workers from freely forming or joining unions and engaging in union activities.” Id. Of these, seventy-nine percent had complied. Id. The monitors recommended to ten factories that “management should ensure that union leaders are dismissed only in accordance with the requirements of the law.” Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102. Ninety percent of the factories complied. Id. Twenty-two factories received suggestions that management ensure that “no worker suffers disadvantages because of union membership or participation in union activities.” Id. Seventy-three percent of the factories complied. Id. The inspectors suggested that thirty-two factories hold new shop steward elections. Id. Seventy-five percent of the factories complied. Id. Ninety-three factories received suggestions to ensure that “the next shop steward elections are held in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures.” Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102. Only twenty-eight percent of these factories complied. Id. One-hundred seventy-eight factories received suggestions to ensure that shop stewards are provided two office hours per week, an office, and working materials to undertake their duties. Id. Only twenty-one percent of these factories complied. Id. Google Scholar

109 See U.S. Dep't of State, supra note 55, sec. 6(a) (explaining the reports of antiunion harassment by employers, including the dismissal of union leaders, in more than 20 garment factories and other enterprises during the year).Google Scholar

110 See Labor Code, supra note 30, at ch. XII, art. 301 (granting authority to the Ministry of Labor's inspectors to intervene in labor disputes). The USCBTA fails to empower the ILO with similar authority. Id. Google Scholar

111 See First Synthesis Report, supra note 73, sec. 1.3.2 (describing all of the monitoring procedures that the ILO used, including the checklist).Google Scholar

112 See, e.g., Seventh Synthesis Report, supra note 69, sec. 2 (illustrating that the contents of the checklist consisted of questions that only reflected the contents of the Labor Code). The checklist method failed to accompany the enforcement power that the Labor Code contained. Id. Google Scholar

113 See Int'l Labour Org., Eighth Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions Situation in Cambodia's Garment Sector, sec. 2.1.3.1 (Feb., 2004) [hereinafter Eight Synthesis Report] (reporting that the inspectors gave this suggestion only to eleven factories, of whom seven complied in full), at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/publ/cambodia8.htm (last visited Mar. 4, 2005).Google Scholar

114 See Labor Code, supra note 30, ch. XVI, art. 359 (granting to the Ministry of Labor's inspectors the power to enforce penalties).Google Scholar

115 See id. ch. XVII, arts. 387-89 (creating labor courts that would have the authority to determine the precise meanings of these words so as to give guidance as to how the violators of this provision actually treated its workers).Google Scholar

116 See, e.g., Human Rights Watch, Women's Work: Discrimination Against Women in the Ukrainian Labor Force, 18-26 (Aug., 2003) (providing an example of a reporting method that other investigators have used that give enough details to create a complete image of employment discrimination in the Ukraine), available at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/ukraine0803/ukraine0803full.pdf (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

117 See United Nations, Situation of human rights in Cambodia, para. 107 (Sept. 18, 1998) (reporting that management often assumed control over unions and that the government did little to prevent worker intimidation), available at http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord1998/documentation/genassembly/a-53-400.htm (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

118 But see Eighth Synthesis Report, supra note 113, sec. 4 (indicating that the ILO's successes in the area of freedom of association compensates for problems that continue to persist in other fields, despite the lack of guidance as to what constitutes truly free union formation).Google Scholar

119 But see AFL-CIO & UNITE, Central America: Labor Rights And Child Labor Reports Pursuant To The Trade Act Of 2002, Section 2102(C)(8)-(9), 19 (June 5, 2003) (arguing that CAFTA should replicate the Cambodian example because of the ILO's success, despite the clarity in the checklist's language), available at http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/globaleconomy/upload/CAFTA.pdf (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

120 Compare Seventh Synthesis Report, supra note 69, sec. 1.3.2 (suggesting that the regulatory approach works best when the inspectors are in a position to see Labor Code violations, which is problematic because some of the most egregious violations could go unhidden, especially if factory management is particularly coercive), with NAALC, supra note 18, arts. 4, 5 (creating a private action for workers and granting them access to a full tribunal with due process of law). The NAALC's adversarial approach allows workers to bring to light through pleadings labor law violations that a purely regulatory approach otherwise might miss. Id. Google Scholar

121 Compare USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A)-(E) (leaving an open-ended labor law enforcement mechanism, which permitted the ILO to adopt the least stringent means of enforcement), with NAALC, supra note 18, (devoting over fifty articles, including specific definitions and an entire dispute settlement procedure, as well as several annexes to developing a stronger enforcement structure). However, while the NAALC offered workers direct access to the dispute settlement process, the enforcement structure failed to provide adequate remedies. Id. art. 22.Google Scholar

122 See USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A) (lacking sufficiently specific information to guarantee that the ILO would adopt the most effective standards to achieve the agreement's otherwise lofty goals).Google Scholar

123 See Labor Code, supra note 30, ch. XII, art. 309(a)-(c) (defining the three separate ways that the Ministry of Labor may intervene to resolve disputes between management and labor, including a provision that creates a dispute resolution structure even without a previously written conciliation agreement).Google Scholar

124 But see Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102 (demonstrating that the ILO inspectors found that high numbers of factories violated this right and only small percentages of the participating factories actually followed the ILO's suggestions). One-hundred twenty-seven factories received a suggestion to ensure that workers understood the terms of their employment contract. Id. Only thirty percent of the factories complied. Id. Sixty-six factories received a suggestion to amend employment contracts to comply with the law. Id. Only thirty-three percent of the factories complied. Id. Twenty-two factories received a suggestion to ensure that dispute settlement procedures comply with the law. Id. Thirty-six percent of the factories complied. Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102. Twenty-eight factories received a suggestion to that management should implement conciliation agreements. Id. Fifty-four percent of the factories complied. Id. Twenty factories received a suggestion that management should ensure that conciliation agreements are posted in the workplace. Id. Eighty-five percent of the factories complied. Id. Google Scholar

125 Int'l Labor Affairs Bureau, supra note 38, at 11 (noting that the low number of collective bargaining agreements is indicative of failed government policy).Google Scholar

126 See Labor Code, supra note 30, art. 309(a) (noting that the parties could resolve their dispute through any procedure that they devised in the mutual agreement).Google Scholar

127 See id. art. 303 (allowing the Ministry of Labor's inspector to intervene in labor disputes not only when one of the parties notifies the inspector, but even if the inspector becomes aware of the dispute through other means).Google Scholar

128 Compare USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A)-(E)(calling for the promotion of compliance with the Labor Code, but failing to specify whether the ILO should usurp the Ministry of Labor's authority as the Labor Code provides), with Labor Code, arts. 302-08 (granting significant authority to the Ministry of Labor to intervene in labor disputes, including the power to bind parties to a collective agreement when the party representing the workers is a trade union).Google Scholar

129 See, e.g., Labor Code, arts. 302-08 (granting the Ministry of Labor a monitory role, but also providing authority to resolve conflicts). This illustrates that the National Assembly envisioned that while the Ministry of Labor would conduct its role through inspections, it also should have significant enforcement authority over those areas of the Labor Code that factories or workers abrogated. Id. Google Scholar

130 See Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102 (reporting that the ILO documented only fourteen instances of child labor throughout the four years of inspections and the two hundred factories that they visited); see also Ministry of Planning, Cambodia Human Development Report 2000: Children and Employment, 33-35 (2000) (indicating that the ILO reports may be troublingly erroneous), at http://hdrc.undp.org.in/APRI/NHDR_Rgn/Cambodia/cmbda_nhdr_2000.pdf (last visited Mar. 5, 2005). Approximately forty-two percent of children aged ten to thirteen were “economically active” during the time period under review. Id. at 31. Of the children who held jobs, approximately seven to eleven percent worked in the manufacturing sector, which the report defined as jobs in the garment and apparel manufacturing, brick-making, and salt production. Id. On average, these children worked around forty-four hours per week for around thirty-five weeks per year. Id. at 32. The report emphasized that because of its methodology, the reported numbers “may grossly understate the number of child workers in the country.” Id. at 29.Google Scholar

131 See Labor Code, supra note 30, art. 177 (mandating that the minimum age for employment is fifteen years old).Google Scholar

132 Compare USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A)-(E) (lacking any discussion of child labor), with Labor Code, supra note 30, arts. 177-181 (banning child labor and regulating the means by which children between fifteen and eighteen may seek employment), and Canada-Chile FTA, supra note 21, art. 25 (offering at least a mechanism by which to discover and remedy instance of child labor), and U.S.- Singapore FTA, supra note 24, ch. 17, art. 17.7(1)(d) (providing that children shall be protected through the enforcement of domestic child labor laws).Google Scholar

133 See Labor Code, supra note 30, ch. XVI (granting the Ministry of Labor the authority to institute stiff penalties for Labor Code violations). If the ILO cooperated with the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry could have instituted penalties for the violations that the ILO discovered. Id. Google Scholar

134 But see USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A)-(E) (indicating that even if the USCBTA's drafters sought to fight child labor, they believed that the ILO effectively could have done so using alternate methods).Google Scholar

135 See, e.g., First Synthesis Report, supra note 73, sec. 1.1 (describing the USCBTA as an agreement that provided solely an incentive structure). The agreement contained no punitive measures. Id. Google Scholar

136 Cf. Andrew Wells-Dang, Linking Textiles to Labor Standards: Prospects for Cambodia and Vietnam, 2-3 (June 2002) [hereinafter Linking Textiles to Labor Standards] (asserting that the growth of the Cambodian garment industry may not be attributable solely or even mostly to the USCBTA's positive incentives) available at http://www.fpif.org/pdf/reports/PRtxt-labor.pdf (last visited Mar. 5, 2005). If this is true, then there would have been little if any correlation between the trade agreement's incentive structure and improved working conditions. Id. That would include women's rights. Id. Google Scholar

137 See Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102 (showing that the inspectors found that forty-seven factories received a suggestion to ensure that no worker had to pay a fee in order to get a job, while only forty-seven percent complied). Fifty-four factories received a suggestion to ensure that the piece rate was set at such a level to permit a worker of average ability working normal hours to earn the minimum wage. Id. Twenty-one percent complied. Id. Eighty-seven factories received a suggestion to ensure that ninety days maternity leave is provided, with half pay for workers who had worked at least one year. Id. Fifty-one percent complied. Id. Fifteen factories received a suggestion to ensure that workers were not subject to negative changes in their contract status when returning from maternity leave. Id. Eighty percent complied. Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102. One-hundred ninety-two factories received a suggestion that management should ensure that time-off for breast feeding is provided and that workers are aware of this right. Id. Twenty-eight percent complied. Id. Nineteen factories received a suggestion that management should take steps to address problems related to sexual harassment. Id. One-hundred percent complied. Id. One-hundred nineteen factories received a suggestion that management should refrain from engaging in indecent behavior. Id. Twenty-nine percent complied. Cumulative ILO Synthesis Report Figures, supra note 102.Google Scholar

138 See Labor Code, supra note 30, arts. 172-76, 182-87, 363 (listing the protections that women receive under the Labor Code as well as the penalties that discriminating employers will suffer for violating those provisions). A typical penalty consists of a fine of thirty-one to sixty days of the base daily wage. Id. art. 368. However, only the Ministry of Labor has the power to impose this penalty. Id. at 359.[hereinafter U.S.-SingaporeGoogle Scholar

139 See Hall, supra note 36, at 158 (explaining that labor violations in the garment industry will have a disparate impact on women because of the overwhelming numbers of women working for men). According to one interview that Hall conducted, a European consultant for the garment industry discussed Chinese male managers’ relationships with their Cambodian female employees, They really don't like Khmer women at all. Joke [sic] about them being ugly and stupid and lazy. They keep complaining about how the women here don't work as hard as women in China or Malaysia, and how they don't want to do over time … They say if they paid these women more money they would gamble it away, or just get drunk … I've seen these men hit and shout at women, calling them fucking whores, and slapping them on the face. Then they laugh about it, joking with each other. Id. at 159.Google Scholar

140 See SG Report: Cambodia, supra note 58, ¶ 116 (discussing the alarming instances of discrimination against women, especially violent incidents).Google Scholar

141 See Linking Textiles to Labor Standards, supra note 136, at 2 (asserting that the ILO was unable to overcome many other challenges to the Cambodian labor environment). For instance, internal corruption, a lack of resources, and a weak judicial system has resulted in gross under-enforcement of the Labor Code, which is why the ILO needed to compensate in some degree for these inadequacies. Id. Google Scholar

142 See, e.g., USCBTA, supra note 5, para. 10(A)-(E) (creating a prototypical incentive structure that should be studied, modified, and then replicated).Google Scholar

143 See Polaski, supra note 31, at 9 (explaining that textile quotas disappeared for Cambodia when it joined the WTO).Google Scholar

144 See id. at 9, 16-17 (describing the many reasons why Cambodia has chosen to continue adhering to the ILO inspections even though the quota system has ended, including the commercial benefits that flow from consumer confidence in labor-friendly garments). Polaski argues that future trade agreements can replicate the USCBTA program through the use of positive incentives. Id. at 17. However, Polaski leaves unaddressed the merits of a hybrid structure that incorporates both positive and negative incentives. Id. Google Scholar

145 See, e.g., Codigo de Trabajo (El Sal.) (1972)(amended 1994, 2004) (providing relatively weak labor protection), available at http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/49592/65113/S95SLV01.htm; see also Capitalism in the Raw, supra note 66 (explaining that, unlike the USCBTA, CAFTA cannot depend on countries, like El Salvador, to enforce their own labor codes on the grounds that those labor laws are too lax).Google Scholar

146 See generally Labor Code, supra note 30 (providing relatively thorough labor protections). The Labor Code relies primarily upon the Ministry of Labor for enforcement, which is notorious for under-enforcement. Id. Google Scholar

147 See Press Release, Human Rights Watch, Cambodia: Judiciary on Trial, (June 20, 2001) (condemning Cambodia's judiciary for corruption and lack of political independence), at http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/06/20/cambod149.htm (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

148 See U.S. Dep't of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2004: Cambodia, sec. 6(a) (Feb. 28, 2005) (asserting that the Labor Code went unenforced in 2004 due to a lack of political will), available at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41638.htm (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

149 See, e.g., NAALC, supra note 18, Annex 1 (providing a list of labor principles that guide the parties’ domestic legislative priorities). While this language is merely aspirational, it remains more prototypical than the USCBTA, which lacks any guiding labor principles. Id. Google Scholar

150 See discussion supra Part III.A.3 (explaining that two inspections during a four-year time period is insufficient to conclude, infer, or even speculate that Cambodian factories abided by anything more than the worst labor standards imaginable).Google Scholar

151 See Int'l Labour Org., Ninth Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions Situation in Cambodia's Garment Sector, sec. 1.3 (July 2004) (reporting that the project, which by the ninth report had included at least 243 factories, had recruited only eleven inspectors), at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/publ/cambodia9.pdf (last visted Feb. 4, 2005). However, the small number of inspectors may have been sufficient since the program so infrequently sent them to inspect participating facilities. Id. Google Scholar

152 See supra notes 84-85 and accompanying text (demonstrating the need for more inspections in order to achieve credible results).Google Scholar

153 But see supra notes 70, 72, 79, 82, 88, 98, 119 and accompanying text (showing that the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia, two mighty super unions, an international trade scholar, and at least two reputable journalists proclaimed the ILO program as an exemplary success story on the meager basis of two inspections conducted in a four-year time span with methods of dubious reliability).Google Scholar

154 See supra discussion Part III.A.4 (explaining that the incentive structure allowed grossly noncompliant and defiant facilities to trade with the United States).Google Scholar

155 See supra discussion Part III.A.4 (proving that the free-rider problem was directly related to industry-wide standard).Google Scholar

156 But see Polaski, supra note 31, at 17 (eschewing any use of negative incentives, which logically would include the sliding-scale approach advocated here).Google Scholar

157 See Linking Textiles to Labor Standards, supra note 136, at 3 (arguing that the disconnect between factory compliance and quota allocations served as a challenge to effective implementation and monitoring).Google Scholar

158 See Regina Abrami, Worker Rights and Global Trade: The U.S.- Cambodia Bilateral Textile Trade Agreement, Harvard Business School Case Study, No. 9-703034, at 15 (Aug. 2003) (arguing that consumer pressure will be strong enough to encourage socially responsible business practices).Google Scholar

159 See, e.g., Laurence Hefler & Anne-Marie Slaughter, Toward a Theory of Effective Supranational Adjudication, 107 Yale L.J. 273 (1997) (comparing and contrasting different methods of international dispute resolution systems); see also John H. Knox, A New Approach to Compliance with International Environmental Law: The Submission Procedure of the NAFTA Environmental Commission, 28 ecology L.Q. 1 (2001) (arguing for a different method for compliance in NAFTA-related environmental disputes).Google Scholar

160 But see Kolben, supra note 39, at 91 n. 72 (implying that approaches such as this, which encroach on state sovereignty, will face significant political obstacles).Google Scholar

161 See supra note 76 and accompanying text (showing that the ability to bring a lawsuit in an adversarial setting might increase transparency into the administration of law law).Google Scholar

162 But see supra note 156 (demonstrating the opposition to hybrid positive-negative incentive structures).Google Scholar

163 See Michael Posner, An Open Letter to Ambassador Robert Zoellick, (November 26, 2001) (arguing for changes in the USCBTA that would have allowed nongovernmental actors to play at least a minimal role in the administration of the Labor Code), at http://ur.rutgers.edu/news/ACLA/lchrcambodia.htm (last visited Mar. 5, 2005).Google Scholar

164 See Russo, supra note 19, at 112-18 (describing the faults in the NAFTA dispute settlement procedures).Google Scholar

165 See NAALC, supra note 18, art. 27 (aspiring to redress labor violations through ministerial consultations).Google Scholar

166 See generally NAFTA, supra note 17, ch. Eleven (describing the procedures by which investors can obtain redress for violations of enumerated investment protections).Google Scholar

167 See discussion supra Part III.A.3 (revealing the weaknesses in the regulatory model alone).Google Scholar