ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the key factors underlying the current inability of workers in Vietnam to establish and maintain independent trade unions and to force managers to bargain collectively. Analysis presented in this chapter is based primarily on the case of Vietnam, particularly on labour conditions in its garment-footwear sector. The authors own field research informs discussion where possible, drawing on survey data with workers, factory managers, and union and non-government organization officials. Following an initial review of the worker rights violations that persist in this sector, and of the failure of state regulators to protect workers against such abuse, the chapter analyses the broad array of interlocking power relations that operate to disempower and exploit workers. The chapter then evaluates two major strategies that have been explored to date as potential means of promoting compliance with labour standards: transnational activism; and corporate self-regulation, otherwise known as corporate social responsibility (CSR).
