Page 135 - The Ethics of ASEAN

Ethics of Human Development in ASEAN

academic career, he speaks from wide experience as a union
representative, a management consultant, an educator, and
finally an expert investigator for fair work in the ASEAN region.
Prof Binghay says that the need for clear ethical
frameworks is ever more urgent given the scale and complexity
of labour markets today. Within the region there are 70 million
Micro-, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that account
for over 97% of private enterprise and manage an average of
85% of ASEAN workers.
Labour markets are also changing work. A growing source
of work comes from the platform economy, the digital sector of Figure 3: Professor Virgel
the gig economy. For these types of organisations, frameworks Binghay, Director of
are needed to better ensure the ethics of labour arrangements. the Center of Industry
Productivity and Professor
The disenfranchisement of platform workers through the lack at the School of Labor and
of social and labour protections is a growing ethical challenge Industrial Relations at the
University of Philippines
for ASEAN.
Frameworks anchor ethics—our understanding of what is
good and bad. The International Labour Organisation promotes
decent work for women and men in conditions of freedom,
equity, security, and human dignity. However, Prof. Binghay
reminds us that decent work remains only an aspiration if not
made applicable through policies and working conditions.
These include fair income, employment security, safe working
conditions, equal opportunities, social protections, personal
development, social integration, and the freedom to organize
and have a legitimate voice in expressing job-related concerns.
ASEAN governments often ensure work ethics through
national labour standards. For example, the Philippines is
very legalistic and has its own national labour standards and
occupational health and safety standards. But there are often
gaps in ensuring the compliance by the Philippine Department
of Labour. Prof. Binghay agrees with Dr Boontinand that
compliance is more powerful as an intrinsic than extrinsic ethic,
when imbedded in a corporate culture of human rights and
development and enforced as mindset of leaders.
A new paradigm for human development in companies can
be found in three kinds of ethical benchmarks.

Firstly, the SA 8000 is an auditable certification
developed by Social Accountability International meant to
create a common standard for social welfare compliance.
Criteria considered in SA 8000 include child labour, forced or
compulsory labour, health and safety, freedom of association
to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices,
working hours, remuneration, and management system.

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