"IMF conditions weaken labour rights, World Bank labour policy inconsistent"

...IMF policy paper on Labour and product market reforms in advanced economies: fiscal costs, gains, and support [advocates] “lower entry barriers for firms” and “reducing the level or duration of unemployment benefits where particularly high” during weak cyclical conditions...[It suggested] that such reforms can raise output and thus strengthen public finances...Commenting on the paper, Cambridge University political scientist Bernhard Reinsberg...cautioned that “labour regulations are vital to the protection of worker interests in marginalised places of the global economy. The results presented in the IMF staff note thus cannot be applied to the majority of countries around the globe.”...The World Bank Group’s (WBG) approach to labour rights came under recent scrutiny by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). [Last April, the ITUC reported that] although the Bank places itself at the vanguard amongst development institutions “in the area of ensuring respect for workers’ rights it has actually been a laggard.”