Social Upgrading in Mobile Phone GVCs: Firm-level Comparisons of Working Conditions and Labour Rights

2017 ◽  
pp. 315-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joonkoo Lee ◽  
Gary Gereffi ◽  
Sang-Hoon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Social Upgrading

Dignity at Work

2018 ◽  
pp. 68-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Gilabert
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Basic Rights ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
The Ideal

This chapter offers a justification of labour rights based on an interpretation of the idea of human dignity. According to the dignitarian approach, we have reason to organise social life so that we respond appropriately to the valuable capacities of human beings that give rise to their dignity. That dignity is a deontic status in accordance with which people are owed certain forms of respect and concern. Dignity at work involves treatment of people that enacts the ideal of solidaristic empowerment as it pertains to their life as workers. This requires that we generate feasible and reasonable social schemes to support each other in the development and exercise of our valuable capacities to produce in personally and socially beneficial ways. The spectrum of dignitarian justice goes from basic rights to decent working conditions to maximal rights to flourish in working practices that are free from domination, alienation, and exploitation.

scholarly journals Crisis-related collective bargaining and its effects on different contractual groups of workers in German and Belgian workplaces

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Doerflinger ◽  
Valeria Pulignano
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Temporary Workers ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Works Councils ◽  
Permanent Workers

This article investigates the effects of crisis-related collective bargaining on different contractual groups of workers. Comparing four workplaces of two multinationals in Germany and Belgium in the recent economic crisis, the authors observe that Belgian unions could protect some temporary workers’ jobs and when the crisis endured, the jobs and working conditions of the permanent workforces. In contrast, temporary jobs in the German workplaces were not protected and later on, the works councils had to concede on the permanent workers’ working conditions to safeguard their jobs. This is explained by the intersection of institutional and firm-level differences which interacted to offer (or not) resources to unions to enforce protection.

scholarly journals Governance of Eswatini Apparel Regional Value Chains and the Implications of Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Pasquali ◽  
Shane Godfrey
Keyword(s):  
Global South ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Private Governance ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social Upgrading

AbstractThere is a growing literature on the impact of Covid-19 on commercial and labour conditions at suppliers in apparel global value chains (GVCs). Yet much less is known about the implications for suppliers operating in regional value chains (RVCs) in the global South. In this article, we focus on Eswatini, which has grown to become the largest African manufacturer and exporter of apparel to the region. We draw on a combination of firm-level export data and interviews with stakeholders before and after the Covid-19 lockdown to shed light on the influence of private and public governance on suppliers’ economic and social upgrading and downgrading. We point to the coexistence of two separate private governance structures: the first characterised by direct contracts between South African retailers and large manufacturers (direct suppliers); the second operating through indirect purchasing via intermediaries from relatively smaller producers (indirect suppliers). While direct suppliers enjoyed higher levels of economic and social upgrading than indirect suppliers before Covid-19, the pandemic reinforced this division, with severe price cuts for indirect suppliers. Furthermore, while retailers provided some direct suppliers with support throughout the crisis, this was not the case for indirect suppliers, who remain comparatively more vulnerable. In terms of public governance, the negative consequences of the lockdown on firms’ income and workers’ livelihoods have been compounded by the state’s ineffective response. Our paper contributes to the research on RVCs in the global South, enhancing our understanding of how different governance structures and external shocks affect firms’ and workers’ upgrading and downgrading prospects.

scholarly journals ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL UPGRADING OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
K. S. Volkova
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Social Upgrading

The issue of overexploitation in developing countries in the era of Global value chains (GVC ) is directly related to the question of the relationship between the economic and social upgrading of countries in GVC. The relevance of this topic is due to its  narrow representation in the scientific field, as well as the persistence of a low standard of labor force’s living in developing countries, despite the growth in labor productivity and the transition to the production of goods with higher added value. This article examines the problems faced by low-and medium-skilled workers in developing countries, including extremely low wages, social insecurity, and gender inequality. Often the reason for the preservation of this situation is the low price of goods, which is set by the purchasing  companies  that  govern  the  GVC.  International  organizations  and  the  media systematically  attract  public  attention  to  this  problem,  which  has  led  to  the  establishment  of control  over  working  conditions  by  the  parent  companies  of  the  GVC.  However,  in  many industries, the workers’ situation is still unsatisfactory, which indicates that the measures taken in this direction are insufficient. According to the author, significant improvement of working conditions  is difficult without the  participation of industry and  inter-industry trade unions  of employees.

scholarly journals Labour Rights Protection in Industrial Relations Issues

Rechtsidee ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Eko Adi Susanto
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Employment Law ◽  
Employment Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Labour Rights

Many violations of the terms of employment at Surabaya, employment protection  and working conditions for workers who are not provided by employers to the maximum, according to the legislation in force, while the legal protection for workers constrained because of the weakness in the system of employment law, both the substance and the culture built by governments and companies. How To Cite: Susanto, E. (2015). Labour Rights Protection in Industrial Relations Issues. Rechtsidee, 2(2), 109-120. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.21070/jihr.v2i2.78

scholarly journals Serious Violation of Workers’ Rights in a Situation when Employees Refrain from Work due to Employer’s Failure to Provide Safe and Hygienic Working Conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-53
Author(s):  
Wioleta Więckowska ◽  
Marek Jasion
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Employment Contract ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Contract Of Employment ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Way

The paper examines a situation in which an employee is entitled to terminate the contract of employment without prior notice. The case under examination occurs when the employer commits a serious violation of workers’ rights by failing to provide safe and hygienic working conditions. The paper also presents topic related controversies that have arisen in the doctrine and judicature and tries to establish at which point one may speak of a breach of fundamental labour rights and on the basis of which regulations the employer may be held liable. The authors also try to determine whether certain situations could constitute a basis for termination of the employment contract by the employee, at the same time giving rise to the right to claim damages from the employer. Other issues touched upon in the paper include the absence of a catalogue of infringements in the Polish Labour Code and the way of assessing the weight of various infringements.

scholarly journals Work in the time of Covid-19 pandemic: challenges for didactic activity in the Republic of Moldova

Economica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Eduard Tugui ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Opinion Poll ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Primary And Secondary Education ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Decent Life ◽  
The Republic

The study represents an analysis of the pandemic impact on working conditions of teachers employed in general primary and secondary education institutions in the Republic of Moldova. The analysis is based on an opinion poll carried out among the didactic staff and relates the working conditions during the pandemic to the provisions stipulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as those in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. The poll results denote the fact that the working conditions of the didactic staff have changed for the worse during the pandemic, having aggravated some chronic problems of Moldovan education, whereas exercising labour rights in conformity with international and constitutional engagements implies rationalization of work and providing necessary remuneration for a decent life.

scholarly journals Circular Economy as a Glocal Business Activity: Mobile Phone Repair in the Netherlands, Poland and China

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serdar Türkeli ◽  
Beijia Huang ◽  
Agata Stasik ◽  
René Kemp
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Business Activity ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Loop Design

Repair of mobile phones fits with the vision of a circular economy in an urban context and with the Sustainable Development Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities. Drawing on the literature about firm level competitiveness and closed-loop design through repair, remanufacturing or recycling, we analyze the business ecosystem of independent mobile phone repair shops in the Netherlands, Poland and China as a glocal business activity. The analysis is based on primary data collection through a questionnaire to independent repair shops in the Netherlands (n = 130), Poland (n = 443) and China (n = 175) with response rates of 13%, 12%, 40%, respectively; and 17 interviews in the Netherlands, 40 in Poland, and 70 in China. Findings indicate that to maintain a strong position in the local market and to sustain the trust of customers, independent mobile phone repair shops offer a range of customized services based on direct contact with customers. In China, the increasing prices of spare parts and falling prices of mobile phones constitute the most important challenges, whereas in the Netherlands and Poland, the most important challenges are the competitive pressures from informal repair activities, and new repair shops. Our research also revealed that repairability strongly depends on the global manufacturers’ circularity choices.

The International Labour Organization and Its Contribution to the Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 117-176
Author(s):  
Athanasios Yupsanis
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
International Labour Organization ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Basic Minimum

SummaryFrom its very inception, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has been a pioneer in addressing indigenous peoples’ issues, albeit initially from a culturally biased, integrationist perspective. Its contributions have progressed from the preparation of studies on the working conditions of indigenous peoples in the 1920s, to the elaboration of recommendations and conventions on indigenous labour rights in the early 1940s and 1950s, and most recently to the adoption of legally binding instruments recognizing a broader range of indigenous rights, such as those pertaining to land and resources, which are at the top of indigenous peoples’ agendas. This article reviews and assesses these developments with a particular focus on ILO Convention nos. 107 (1957) and 169 (1989). The author concludes that, setting aside its initially assimilationist orientation, the ILO has made invaluable contributions in partial satisfaction of indigenous demands and has succeeded in establishing a solid floor of basic, minimum prerequisites for the safeguarding of the dignity and rights of these most disadvantaged, both historically and presently, peoples.

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