GLOBALIZATION AND EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC - SOMEEMERGING ISSUES - INTRODUCTION

While countries in the Asia and Pacific region have not adopted a unif orm approach to employment relations, increased economic development a ppears to be facilitating a higher degree of labour market institution alization, as evidenced by the emergence of minimum wage laws, health and safety regulations and independent dispute-settling mechanisms. Al though industrial relations institutions are generally rather weak, em erging democratization is resulting in legislative provisions to stren gthen the rights of labour, particularly at the enterprise level. In m any rapidly industrializing economies of Asia, governments are seeking to accommodate demands by employees and their unions for a more signi ficant voice, and former systems of state suppression are being modifi ed. However, while some degree of convergence can be seen in the goals of employment relations policies of many newly industrializing econom ies in Asia and the Pacific, this convergence is often being achieved through divergent means.