Cudles

Hi Ekkehard, three more questions. They are pretty political, so I understand if you can't answer them. Much obliged!

How do you view Robert Cox's argument that the ILO is mainly a political corporatist tool for insiders in the advanced economies. Non-unionised workers, landless movements, women's groups, agricultural workers, temporary workers, and so on and so forth are all left out of the system of Tripartism. Do these points still apply, if they ever did?

How do you view notions put up by other criticizers (such as Guy Standing) that the ILO with its Core Labour Standars only focuses on political rights, neglecting social rights such as a living wages, while promoting mainly those rights (such as FoA, Child Labour, and Discrimination), which are that much harder for emerging countries to improve on, than it is for advanced economies?

Finally, do you think the ILO is putting up a viable alternative to the regimes promoted by the Troika? In light of this, how do you see the recent attempts to cooperate with the Troika? What is the risk of the ILO being coopted?

Hi Ekkehard, thank you for doing this AMA! Hope it gains some traction on reddit within the next hour. 2 questions: Would you like to give us your opinion on the viability of workers demands for higher wages in those countries who are showing only a mild recovery from the crisis?

In view of declining union rates, what alternate routes do you see for increasing the share of workers in corporate profits? How do you view collective agreement provisions that connect productivity gains to wage gains?

p.s. Would you agree that the BIT cafeteria food leaves much to be desired? It's so overcooked!

Thank you for your answers! So I guess you would view the new MW in Germany as a good development (perhaps also in light of all those mini-jobs for non-unionised workers?) to tie GDP growth to wage growth? Or isn't that link between GDP growth and increases in MW so clear? Can it also be viewed as a risk of the MW becoming a ceiling on wages?