Abstract
In responding to the Commons International Development Select Committee report on Fair Trade and Development, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary, Brendan Barber, stated that, ‘Fair Trade is one way that consumers in Britain can make sure people who work in developing countries get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work — so that everyone benefits from globalisation.’1 But in written evidence to the same Committee the TUC had argued that, ‘in the absence of a trade union and a collective agreement in the workplace, labelling the ‘human rights content’ of goods as having been produced in conditions of respect for worker’s rights is unreliable … So while the trade union movement supports the Fair Trade movement’s labelling with regard to price, it believes that labelling against labour standards on Fair Trade products is as premature there as it is in ETI [Ethical Trading Initiative] member companies.’2 These statements begin to reveal the paradox of the TUC’s connection with Fair Trade and more broadly the tensions between trade unions and Fairtrade certification.3
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