The EU Must Defend Democracy and Global Labor Rights

The views expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights or Harvard Kennedy School. These perspectives have been presented to encourage debate on important public policy challenges.

This is about more than corporate compliance. It’s about whether Europe stands with people who make our clothes, assemble our cars and answer our customer calls — or with unscrupulous companies that seek to profit from their exploitation.

Weeks ago, the European Parliament had the chance to advance the interests of working people and the planet. Instead, the majority bowed to U.S. and EU corporate power alongside far-right forces undermining European democracy.

The Parliament voted to gut the 2024 Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, a law that set a new global standard for responsible and sustainable business conduct in Europe and around the world. Now, the Commission and Member States must defend it.

For almost two decades, I worked on international labor rights across the Americas, in Bangladesh, and globally. Most recently, I served as the U.S. Special Representative for International Labor Affairs at the State Department for President Biden. I saw firsthand how workers in our communities and the global economy face serious challenges to practice democracy in the workplace and in the streets. They experience wage theft, dangerous conditions, unfair dismissals or intimidation and harassment. These abuses aren’t isolated incidents, hurting only individuals or families. Together, they entrench inequality and silence workers across entire industries.

And when workers push back, when they organize, bargain and exercise their basic rights, they face retaliation, criminalization and violence. Millions of workers globally are subjected to forced labor. In much of the world, whether in the Global North or the Global South, there are few options to hold employers accountable for labor rights violations in supply chains.

That is why EU corporate due diligence laws matter. CSDDD compels large companies operating in Europe to conduct real human rights due diligence – to identify, prevent and remedy abuses in their supply chains. It ensures that corporations profiting from the European market cannot turn a blind eye to exploitation connected with their outsourcing. That is why labor unions in Europe and the U.S urged EU legislators to maintain CSDDD provisions. If effectively implemented, they can help reduce obstacles to freedom of association and open the door for workplace democracy. More corporate accountability lessens the erosion of rights workers face every day – including for workers in the U.S. Furthermore, research shows the benefits of CSDDD to the European economy, including to businesses. It is both a moral and economic step toward a fairer global system.

And despite all this, CSDDD was attacked.

The resistance from U.S. businesses and far-right politicians is fierce. American corporations, including ExxonMobil, Koch, Inc. and Chevron, led the way in dismantling the policy, and business groups like the US Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers as well as neoconservative think tanks like the Hudson Institute ratcheted up pressure.

Several right-wing state-level lawmakers also attacked the due diligence law, while President Trump even made reforming the law the U.S.’ top priority for trade negotiations in the U.S.-EU trade agreement.

These actions conflict with core American values of striving for fairness and justice in our economy and democracy.

The EU “omnibus” reform – backed by these same U.S. business and political interests – will strip out the law’s most effective provisions. Among them: civil liability for companies that fail to prevent harm, the possibility for EU Member States to adopt stronger national rules, and the obligation for more firms to address human rights and environmental risks across their full value chains.  

The European Union must choose courage over concessions. It must protect the law, defend workers and show that undue corporate interference will not undermine EU autonomy and democracy.

Instead of backing down, EU policymakers must defend the law’s core components during the trilogue and transposition phases. They must ensure the largest companies profiting from the EU consumer market‌ conduct adequate human rights due diligence and remediate violations in their supply chains. These steps are necessary to uphold workers’ rights in the global economy, combat forced labor, and level the playing field for companies.

Auto parts workers in Mexico, garment workers in Bangladesh and Honduras, call center workers in Colombia, content moderators in Kenya, and dialysis technicians in the U.S. all experience ‌serious obstacles to receiving fair wages, safe conditions, and exercising internationally recognized labor rights. Effective due diligence by companies requires trade union engagement to prevent violations and ensure effective remedies for victimized workers. Indeed, CSDDD would level the playing field for companies that already pursue robust human rights due diligence. It would promote fair competition and help to make supply chains more sustainable and just.

Change is not always easy, and organizations like the new Competence Center for Human Rights Due Diligence, which I lead, will work with companies and unions globally to navigate and utilize due diligence and trade requirements. We will help responsible employers identify and mitigate risks to workers’ fundamental rights because that creates fair supply chains and builds a fairer global economy.

This is about more than corporate compliance. It’s about whether Europe stands with people who make our clothes, assemble our cars and answer our customer calls — or with unscrupulous companies that seek to profit from their exploitation. The European Union must choose courage over concessions. It must protect the law, defend workers and show that undue corporate interference will not undermine EU autonomy and democracy.