Transnational Activism within the International-Organizational Pathway. The Case of the ILO

Abstract

Chapter 3 presents an analysis of the various forms of labor-rights activism in the International Labor Organization (ILO). It distinguishes between three forms of labor activism: “activism from above” refers to how Western unions use the institutionalized ILO complaint channel; “activism from aside” points to the ILO as an arena for information exchange and discussions between international unions and the Chinese state-sponsored union, All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU); and “activism from below” comprises efforts of the local ILO office in Beijing to improve conditions and rights of workers in China. The analysis shows how these three forms of activism led to an increasing and yet selective congruence between the demands of labor advocates, the ILO agenda, and China’s labor politics, while crucial differences persist in the understanding of freedom of association. The chapter also illustrates how activism within the ILO pathway is affected by developments in other international arenas, such as the labor clause debate within the World Trade Organization (WTO), and by domestic labor law reforms within China.