The experience in a number of post-industrialized market economies of the North, including societies that consider themselves to be multicultural and welcoming to persons from many parts of the world and of a variety of heritages, is not uniformly bleak. It is possible to acknowledge the development of institutions meant to safeguard human rights in the workplace, and a growing effort to seek a coordinated application of human rights norms by labour law enforcement mechanisms and recognition of labour rights (economic and social rights) within human rights frameworks. These institutions often date from the 1970s and 1980s – in many parts of the world they are not new. Yet a persisting problem remains that racialized workers tend to be “over-represented in lower paid occupations usually requiring less education and training, such as semi-skilled and other manual workers, sales and service workers, and clerical personnel.” For example, according to one study, 40 % of the harvesting labourers are from racialized groups. They are similarly more likely to experience employment gaps than all other workers, for example less likely to be hired for a continuous year. Their jobs are more precarious, requiring dependence on employment insurance that is greater than all workers, but also increasing the likelihood that they will not qualify for employment insurance benefits because they worked an insufficient number of hours. Educational attainment and integration into society do not necessarily account for the disparity. In some countries, workers of colour are much more highly educated than all other workers, with similarly small proportions who have less than a high school education and a significantly higher proportion having a university degree or higher. When they are employed in higher status positions, they may report a range of informal barriers to continued occupational advancement. I have been particularly concerned about the deficit in mentoring opportunities provided to racialized minorities so that they may be meaningfully accepted in their occupations, and ensured the conditions under which they may thrive. Studies have also increasingly challenged the “catch up” theory so much a part of the founding myths of many multicultural societies in respect of those members of racialized communities who immigrated to their country of residence. Members of racialized communities – whether immigrant or nationals by birth – tend to face more significant difficulties on the labour market than members of the majority culture. This challenges in particular the view of steady progress toward equality over time. The data that I have studied paints a picture of underrepresentation in occupations that afford relative autonomy, control and societal power. It suggests overrepresentation in low status, subordinate, poorly remunerated and precarious employment – it suggests societal marginalization. I want to focus now on how labour rights and the decent work challenge fit into the picture of labour market inequality on the basis of race. Labour rights are meant to be enabling. They are meant to span both the civil and political rights, and the economic and social rights. As I have understood the ILO’s historical approach, the distinction represented by the two distinct UN covenants was not even accentuated in international labour law: the focus was on constructing labour regulatory frameworks that would ensure workers’ equitable access to and participation in meaningful employment. Fundamental labour rights – the freedom from forced and