In the global economy, multinational corporations move capital and jobs half-way around the world with the click of a mouse.

These companies—many of them American—seek out the lowest possible labor costs and weakest worker protections. Even if the jobs are not moved, corporate executives use the threat of moving to coerce concessions from their U.S. workers.

Some undemocratic governments, desperate for investment, facilitate the movement of jobs by competing in the global marketplace, denying their citizens the right to form a union and protection from workplace abuse—including below—survival wages, physical attacks and even murder to crush unions and workers’ rights.

In the public sector, the global rush to shift from publicly to privately managed public services is being used to boost profits and break unions, driving down workers’ living standards and denying families access to essential services like healthcare, education and water.

In a world economy increasingly connected by international trade and investment, the need for enforceable rules in the global economy to protect workers’ rights—and to prevent a devastating drive to the bottom in labor standards—is critical. 

• Workers' Rights, Violence and Impunity in Colombia.
• AFL-CIO Executive Council on democratizing the global economy.
• The AFL-CIO's ongoing campaign to post the basic rights of workers in every workplace.
• AFL-CIO Executive Council on Colombia.
• AFL-CIO protests detention of Burma activist.
• Global Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work from the International Labour Organization.

Links to public and nonprofit websites addressing issues related to the global economy.