Mark Anner, Penn State University, Esther Busser, Michael Fichter, Tandiwe Gross, Dr Frank Hoffer, Jenny Holdcroft, Praveen Jha, Adam Lee, Maité Llanos, Ron Oswald, Victor Hugo Ricco, Christoph Scherrer und Edlira Xhafa

Decent Work in Global Supply Chains

  • FREE
  • Englisch
  • Interdisziplinär
  • mit Zertifikat Upgrade-Option

What is the course about?

Welcome to our FREE online course "Decent Work in Global Supply Chains"!

According to the UN organization UNCTAD, 80% of trade takes place in global supply chains linked to transnational corporations. Governed by powerful transnational corporations, these global supply chains set the ‘rules of the game’ of today’s global production system. For the majority of workers, this production system translates into poverty wages, excessive working hours, unsafe workplaces and repression of workers’ right to form and join democratic trade unions.

This course offers a careful mix of video lectures and interviews, readings, online resources, and exercises to gain both knowledge and practical skills for promoting decent work in global supply chains. In some countries, the online learning experience will be complemented with local workshops for a truly global learning experience.

The course started with a Facebook live discussion with Prof. Dr. Mark Anner on 12 January 2017. You can watch the FB live here: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalLabourUniversity/videos/10154300252512602/

What will I learn

This course discusses the particularities and strategies of transnational corporations as actors orchestrating global supply chains, as well as their impact on labour relations worldwide. It looks at regulatory frameworks for trade, investment and taxation, and explores whether global supply chains contribute to development.
After presenting the major decent work gaps in today’s global supply chains, the course will look at the existing governance framework and its gaps. What are the governance gaps and what are strategies and tools for an alternative governance structure that promotes sustainable development and decent work in global supply chains?

What do I need to know?

The course requires a working level of English and draws on the fields of political science and law at the level of a Masters’ programme. However, theoretical concepts are explained in an accessible and well-illustrated way, so it is also possible to participate in the course using skills and knowledge acquired outside formal education.

Course workload

The estimated workload is 5-6 hours per week if you read also the key reading for each unit.

Certificates and Scholarships

You can enrol and complete this course for FREE. If you would like to get a certificate, you have two options:

Certificate of Participation

You can obtain a Certificate of Participation at any time after completing the course. This means watching all the videos and responding to the quiz questions of each video. The Certificate of Participation costs 29€. If you are from a non-OECD country or a trade unionist from an OECD country, you can apply for a scholarship, by sending an email to online@global-labour-university.org indicating your organisation and the country you are from.

Certificate of Accomplishment

Aside of complying with the conditions for a Certificate of Participation, obtaining a Certificate of Accomplishment requires taking an online exam. Options for such a certificate are limited to the periods in which the GLU Online Academy organises an exam phase. The Certificate of Accomplishment costs 49€. Again, if you are from a non-OECD country or a trade unionist from an OECD country, you can apply for a scholarship, by sending an email to online@global-labour-university.org indicating your organisation and the country you are from.

How to use the course materials?

You can organise a local workshop on the topics of the course combining the course materials with local experts from trade unions, labour research institutes and universities.

If you work for a university, trade union or any other labour-related institution you are welcome to integrate the course material into your education and training programmes. All video lectures and interviews, readings, online resources, and exercises can be downloaded separately and used for free.

Course structure

You can study at your own pace- any time you want. The estimated workload is 3-4 hours per week.

Chapter 1: Introduction to global supply chains


This chapter introduces the evolution and drivers of global supply chains as today’s dominant production system. It discusses whether the “East-Asian miracle” countries can serve as an example for development through global supply chains and explores the architecture and strategies of transnational corporations. Participants will be invited to introduce themselves and share relevant material in an interactive world map.

Chapter 2: The regulatory framework on trade, investment and taxation


Chapter two provides an overview of the evolution and characteristics of the global trade system and the framework of investment and taxation. Who sets the rules? How does dispute settlement work in today’s trade regime? What are the implications of these rules for human and workers’ rights, social justice and the environment?

Chapter 3: Global supply chains and development


This chapter discusses the role of global wage hierarchies and investment policies as drivers of global supply chains and explores their impact on development. What can we learn from the example of the extractive industries in Africa, and from the impact of privatization on public services? In which way do global supply chains rely on forced and child labour. How does insertion into global supplies chains affect middle-income countries?

Chapter 4: Decent work gaps in global supply chains


Featuring the ITUC’s general secretary Sharan Burrow, this chapter explores the different levels of decent work gaps in global supply chains. It looks at the fragmentation of labour and the realities of informal economy workers at the bottom of many global supply chains.

Chapter 5: Key elements of the existing governance framework

How are global supply chains governed today? What are the main instruments of Corporate Social Responsibility, what do the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights say and how does the complaints mechanism under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises work? Given the existence of these mechanisms, why do massive workers’ rights violations in global supply chains continue?

Chapter 6: Negotiated governance - strategies on the company and industry level


This chapter explores innovative strategies on the company and industry level to improve working conditions and voice and representation of workers, including Global Framework Agreements, the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety and IndustriALL’s ACT Initiative. What can we learn from them and how can they be extended?

Chapter 7: Regulating global supply chains - strategies on the political and legal level

What are the most promising political and legal strategies to realize decent work in global supply chains? This chapter combines the voices of international experts from the policy and legal fields and looks at the most common arguments of employers against the regulation of global supply chains. It closes with an overview of the way forward.

Chapter 8: Campaigning to win – strategies and tools

Even the best knowledge is useless without the right tools to push for change. Drawing on successful campaigns, this chapter explains the key methods and tools of strategic corporate research and campaigning as well as hands-on skills on how to use technology and communication to promote decent work in global supply chains.

Course team

Prof. Dr. Mark Anner (Associate Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, and Political Science, Penn State University, USA)

Esther Busser (Geneva Office of the International Trade Union Confederation)

Dr. Michael Fichter (Senior Lecturer, Global Labour University, Germany)


Tandiwe Gross (Associate Fellow, Global Labour University)

Dr. Frank Hoffer (Executive Director, ACT Foundation)

Jenny Holdcroft (Assistant General Secretary, IndustriALL Global Union)

Prof. Dr. Praveen Jha (Professor for Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India)

Maité Llanos (Project coordinator, Global Labour University)

Adam Lee ( Organizing and Campaign Director, IndustriALL Global Union)

Ron Oswald (General Secretary, International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations)

Victor Hugo Ricco (Senior Specialist, Bureau for Workers’ Activities, ILO)


Prof. Dr. Christoph Scherrer (Professor for Globalization and Politics, Social Science Department of the University of Kassel, Germany)


Course instructors (in order of appearance)

Prof. Dr. Praveen Jha (Professor for Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India)

Dr. Michael Fichter (Senior Lecturer, Global Labour University, Germany)


Prof. Dr. Mark Anner (Associate Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, and Political Science, Penn State University, USA)

Prof. Dr. Christoph Scherrer (Professor for Globalization and Politics, Social Science Department of the University of Kassel, Germany)


Hilma Mote (ACTRAV, ILO)

Eddie Cottle (Project Leader, Labour Research Service, South Africa)

Sandra van Niekerk (Researcher at Public Services International’s research unit, South Africa)

Beate Andrees (Chief, Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch, ILO)

Daniel Bertossa (Director Policy and Governance, Public Services International)

Sharan Burrow (Secretary-General, ITUC)

Jane Barrett (Director, Organization and Representation Department, WIEGO)

Victor Hugo Ricco (Senior Specialist, Bureau for Workers’ Activities, ILO)


Esther Busser (Geneva Office of the International Trade Union Confederation)

Dr. Frank Hoffer (Executive Director, ACT Foundation)

Jenny Holdcroft (Assistant General Secretary, IndustriALL Global Union)

Claudia Meyer (Director of DGB Bildungswerk, Germany)

Guy Ryder (Director-General, ILO)

Prof. Dr. Reingard Zimmer (Professor for Labour Law at Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany)

Victor Baez (General-Secretary, Trade Union Confederation of the Americas)

Tandiwe Gross (Associate Fellow, Global Labour University)

Ron Oswald (General Secretary, International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations)

Dr. Kate Bronfenbrenner (Director of Labor Education Research, Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations)

Adam Lee (IndustriALL)

Cherrisse Fredricks (Communications Officer, IndustriALL)

Image Copyright (above): ILO/Crozet M

Course instructors

Ausgewählte Bewertungen

Gesamtbewertung 5.0 (1 Teilnehmer)

(5.0)
Edlira Xhafa
4 Monate
(5.0)