The Impact of Globalization on Workers’ Rights

By Ryan M. Coker 

The Law Students on Workers’ Rights series publishes essays from current and incoming students at some of the top law schools in the country. These essays, submitted for the Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship, address the question “What are the biggest challenges facing workers’ rights in the future?”

We live in a technologically advanced society that seems to grow larger and faster by the day. I remember sitting in an undergrad class on international relations discussing the topic of globalization and how it has greatly impacted and altered countries around the world and— especially—how we interact with one another across borders. The biggest challenges facing workers’ rights are several, but as I ponder this question it becomes clear how many of these challenges from automation, climate change, and political instability can actually be encapsulated through our understanding of the impacts of globalization. 

In the context of labor, globalization may refer to the increased interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought by free trade and international investment. Many nations have changed due to widespread development as a result of direct foreign investment by companies, especially by multinational corporations (MNCs) in wealthier countries. I argue that the political realm has accepted and happily reaped the rewards that globalization can offer through investments and free market systems. However, these practices have generated a labor landscape that tends to place greater emphasis on ethnocentrism, isolationism, and class divisions. 

While our national and international labor market has benefited in positive ways due to globalization through decreased levels of poverty, diversifying economies, immigration, and a net positive for economic mobility, we must look at the consequences in places where workers’ rights are most in danger. Globalization has led to increased class divisions in countries, hostile work environments, and unethical practices through the use of child labor. 

At its extreme, it is easy to dismiss practices that occur in less-developed countries because they seem to have no true impact on the conditions of workers in the U.S. However, this is not the case as there are already similar, extreme instances of poor working conditions caused, in part, by globalization. In February, the New York Times released an article detailing how companies employ immigrant children to work in factories with low wages for long hours. One of the accounts follows Carolina, a 15-year-old girl from Central America working for a factory in my home of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hannah Drier writes that “this shadow work extends across industries in every state, flouting child labor laws that have been in place for nearly a century.” As some countries diversify, taking in more immigrants, free market systems have become more prone to taking advantage of vulnerable individuals due to language barriers and discrimination. In Germany, there are accounts of immigrants often being pushed out of higher-paying jobs, deepening class divisions across races.

Furthermore, research is split on whether or not MNCs exploit workers. Scholars point to how MNCs tend to pay workers fairly “livable” wages. Simultaneously, there are several accounts of American companies exploiting workers abroad. The company Nike, for instance, has grown at a fast rate over the last decades—benefiting from global sourcing opportunities to expand profits and investing in innovative marketing campaigns. In the 1980s, Nike had been criticized for sourcing its products in factories in countries where low wages, poor working conditions, and human rights problems were rampant, particularly in Asian countries.

Benefits to working people have always been only a slice compared to the massive gains swept by some businesses, often at the expense of harsh working conditions in other countries. However, these same practices occur in the U.S. as well. In February, the Department of Labor issued findings on an investigation of Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. for illegally employing over 100 children between the ages of 13-17 in hazardous occupations at 13 meatpacking facilities owned by Tyson and others. These children worked illegally on overnight shifts cleaning razor-sharp saws and other high-risk equipment on slaughterhouse “kill floors.” At least three of them suffered injuries, including burns from caustic cleaning chemicals. 

Globalization is only part of a web of challenges to workers’ rights and well-being, but the challenges and issues involved are numerous and expanding. Unethical working environments occur even in countries that have laws that are meant to deter such behavior. Thus, a major threat is also human complacency. In spite of the law’s purpose to protect workers, it falls short of its true value due to the lack of intervention on behalf of policymakers, employers, and sometimes even workers themselves who may not have the legal resources to act. Some individuals are unaware that they are being treated unfairly. Nonetheless, injustice to workers anywhere should be an injustice to all of us. 

Reflections from Charles Joseph

Unsafe working conditions and exploitation are unfortunately common for workers around the world, including in the United States. And in spite of whistleblower protections for reporting health and safety risks, too many employees fear retaliation and other negative consequences for speaking up. 

The interconnected problems in the wake of globalization have no simple solutions, as Ryan Coker argues. Laws alone do not deter exploitation without enforcement. And workers do not always realize when employers violate their rights. For example, New York’s WARN Act requires 90 days’ notice for mass layoffs. Many workers do not realize that their employers owe 60 days’ wages if they fail to give notice. While giving workers tools is an important step, addressing the impact of globalization also requires a commitment from policymakers, workers’ rights advocates, and employers.

Ryan Coker holds a bachelor’s in political science, international relations, and legal studies from Central Michigan University. He will join the class of 2026 at Wayne State Law School in the fall. Contact Coker on LinkedIn. 

Charles Joseph has over two decades of experience as an NYC employment lawyer. He is the founder of Working Now and Then and the founding partner of Joseph and Kirschenbaum, a firm that has recovered over $140 million for clients.