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1 – 10 of over 3000Globalization has created conditions in which business has become increasingly global. The combined effect of global business, intense competition, weakening of labor…
Abstract
Globalization has created conditions in which business has become increasingly global. The combined effect of global business, intense competition, weakening of labor unions, and the inability of national governments to control the negative effects of globalization has created immense difficulties in the formulation and implementation of global labor standards. This research takes an ancient industry with a long tradition of international features and regulations, that is, the maritime industry, as a case study to understand the dynamics associated with the regulation of a global industry. The study argues that J. R. Commons' works at the turn of the century not only give us excellent insights into the creation of global markets and the need for global labor rights protection but also provide us with a solution, that is, the creation of an “authoritative commission.” Finally, the study suggests that there is a need to enhance the role of ILO as a global “commission” to regulate the industry. Presently, the ILO does not have the essential features for becoming such a commission. Therefore, ILO should develop three important characteristics: ability to include new emerging actors, decision-making based on consensus and dialogue, and sanction power to implement its standards. Based on the above principles, ILO can work as the center of a global regulatory regime in the maritime industry. Through its power of sanction, it will implement its standards mainly through states. But, at the same time, it will network with unions and NGOs and all other important actors in the industry at local, national, and global levels to detect and eradicate substandard shipping.
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The 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was the most deadly disaster in garment manufacturing history, with at least 1,134 people killed…
Abstract
The 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was the most deadly disaster in garment manufacturing history, with at least 1,134 people killed and hundreds injured. In 2015, injured workers and the families of those killed received compensation from global apparel brands through a US$30 million voluntary initiative known as the Rana Plaza Arrangement. Overseen by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Rana Plaza Arrangement awarded payments to survivors using a pricing formula developed by a diverse team of ‘stakeholders’ that included labour groups, multinational apparel companies, representatives of the Bangladesh government and local employers, and ILO actuaries. This paper draws from anthropological scholarship on the ‘just price’ to explore how a formula for pricing death and injury became both the means and form of a fragile political settlement in the wake of a shocking and widely publicised industrial disaster. By unpacking the complicated ‘ethics of a formula’ (Ballestero, 2015), I demonstrate how the project of creating a just price involves not two sets of values (ethical and financial) but rather multiple, competing values. This paper argues for recognition of the persistence and power of these competing values, showing how they variously strengthen and undermine the claim that justice was served by the Rana Plaza Arrangement. This analysis reveals the deficiencies of counterposing ‘morality’ and ‘economy’ in the study of price by reflecting upon all elements of price as situated within political economy and history.
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This chapter is about child labour as slavery in modern and modernizing societies in an era of rapid globalization.For the most part, child slavery in modern societies is…
Abstract
This chapter is about child labour as slavery in modern and modernizing societies in an era of rapid globalization.
For the most part, child slavery in modern societies is hidden from view and cloaked in social customs, this being convenient for economic exploitation purposes.
The aim of this chapter is to bring children's ‘modern slavery’ out of the shadows, and thereby to help clarify and shape relevant social discourse and theory, social policies and practices, slavery-related legislation and instruments at all levels, and above all children's everyday lives, relationships and experiences.
The main focus is on issues surrounding (i) the concept of ‘slavery’; (ii) the types of slavery in the world today; (iii) and ‘child labour’ as a type, or basis, of slavery.
There is an in-depth examination of the implications of the notion of ‘slavery’ within international law for child labour, and especially that performed through schooling.
According to one influential approach, ‘slavery’ is a state marked by the loss of free will where a person is forced through violence or the threat of violence to give up the ability to sell freely his or her own labour power. If so, then hundreds of millions of children in modern and modernizing societies qualify as slaves by virtue of the labour they are forced – compulsorily and statutorily required – to perform within schools, whereby they, their labour and their labour power are controlled and exploited for economic purposes.
Under globalization, such enslavement has almost reached global saturation point.
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Lynnard Mondigo and Demelo Madrazo Lao
The purpose of this paper is to develop a web-based interactive learning object (ILO) of introductory Computer Science (CS) concept on recursion and compare two feedback…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a web-based interactive learning object (ILO) of introductory Computer Science (CS) concept on recursion and compare two feedback methods in the learning assessment part.
Design/methodology/approach
Test driven development (TDD) approach was used to develop ILO. The authors adapted Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) standard instrument to evaluate ILO’s effectiveness as an e-learning tool. Three respondents, from a list of pre-identified prospective evaluators, were randomly chosen and served as raters for MERLOT, while 32 student-respondents coming from first-year Math and CS undergraduate majors were randomly assigned to each ILO version implementing either one of the two feedback methods.
Findings
ILO obtained mean ratings above 4 (in scale 1-5) in three MERLOT criteria, namely, potential effectiveness as teaching tool, ease of use, and quality of content, which is rated highest (mean=4.40, SD=0.53). The study also revealed that immediate feedback increases retention while delayed feedback improves generating new knowledge. Respondents who viewed the ILO implementing immediate feedback in their first session had statistically significantly higher scores (mean=8.25, SD=0.80) than those who viewed with delayed feedback (mean=7.63, SD=0.89). In their second session, the same observation was noted although with higher mean scores. These results give evidence that the developed ILO met standards in e-learning material and showed evidence of its effectiveness with preferably implementing immediate feedback.
Research limitations/implications
Although the developed ILO can now be used in school as supplementary learning material in teaching the concept of recursion in an introductory CS subject, a pilot testing of the web-based ILO using a larger sample of respondents to validate its effectiveness for online distance learning educational material can be pursued. Furthermore, in designing and creating an ILO, the provision of feedback during the assessment stage is necessary for effecting learning.
Originality/value
The study was a first to develop ILO for CS topic on recursion. The paper also compared which of two known feedback methods is best to implement in an ILO.
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This paper proposes a holistic institutional approach to provide insight into the policy reforms necessary to progressively achieve compliance with internationally…
Abstract
This paper proposes a holistic institutional approach to provide insight into the policy reforms necessary to progressively achieve compliance with internationally recognized labor-related human rights. Drawing on institutions theory from political economy, the paper reframes international legal norms as holistic institutions, comprised of rules, social norms, and actual behaviors, the so-called rules of the game. In this way, problems in implementing labor-related human rights that may result in violations of international law are also considered as employment practices and, like other employment practices, are embedded in a web of formal and informal rules – institutions that govern work and employment. Based on the understanding that institutions contribute to violations, this holistic institutional approach also includes a framework to improve regulation and compliance based on Harold Koh's compliance theory from international law. The approach is illustrated using the example of forced obligatory overtime in textile assembly (maquilas) in Honduras and Nicaragua.
Yong Hwa Chia, Ivan CK Tam and Arun Kr Dev
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) embodies standards of existing international maritime labour conventions and recommendations, as well as the fundamental principles to…
Abstract
Purpose
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) embodies standards of existing international maritime labour conventions and recommendations, as well as the fundamental principles to be found in other international labour conventions. The aim of the convention is to address the employment standards of seafarers in the areas of fair wages, contractual terms, working and living conditions, as well as their health and safety on board ships. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth study of MLC Regulation 3.1, specifically on the layout design of the accommodation spaces and possible solutions to meet the new demands as those will certainly affect the crew comfort, health and well-being on board ships.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach used includes a review of pre- and post-MLC conventions and regulations. This is then followed by looking at the impact of MLC Regulation 3.1 on new ship design. Possible solutions for new ship design are then proposed.
Findings
The findings from the paper were as follows: More flexibility in the form of non-mandatory guidelines and substantial equivalence under MLC. Under MLC, only Special Purpose Ship (SPS) is allowed to accommodate four persons in one room. The requirement for increased height and floor spaces would result in increased gross register tons (GT) for post-MLC built vessels. Impact due to post-MLC requirements would be more unfavourable for the design of smaller vessels below 500 GT than of bigger vessels of up to less than 3,000 GT. Possible solutions include applying for exemptions and substantial equivalents with flag states or registering with a non-ratifying flag state.
Originality/value
This paper has been based on a dissertation carried out for the partial fulfilment of a post-graduate degree. It has not been published in any journal.
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The subject of part‐time work is one which has become increasingly important in industrialised economies where it accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of…
Abstract
The subject of part‐time work is one which has become increasingly important in industrialised economies where it accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of total employment. It is estimated that in 1970, average annual hours worked per employee amounted to only 60% of those for 1870. Two major factors are attributed to explaining the underlying trend towards a reduction in working time: (a) the increase in the number of voluntary part‐time employees and (b) the decrease in average annual number of days worked per employee (Kok and de Neubourg, 1986). The authors noted that the growth rate of part‐time employment in many countries was greater than the corresponding rate of growth in full‐time employment.
Mithat Zeki Dinçer and Fsun Istanbullu Dinçer
In resolving the social and economic problems within the global dimension, countries try to realize social policies according to ILO norms, because nowadays many factors…
Abstract
In resolving the social and economic problems within the global dimension, countries try to realize social policies according to ILO norms, because nowadays many factors influence the future of the labour movement. Turkey became a member of ILO in 1932 and approved 40 conventions of this organization. Despite the approved conventions, the Turkish social security system has still some problems. Besides that, the tourism sector plays a very important economic role for the Turkish economy. In this research, we tried to carry out the application of ILO norms in the Turkish tourism sector, because the norms are important steps to be realized in the course of E. U. membership for Turkey. This work was supported by the Research Fund of the Istanbul University. Project Number: 1605/30042001.
During the last ten years, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and some other international organizations, have increasingly addressed human trafficking from a…
Abstract
Purpose
During the last ten years, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and some other international organizations, have increasingly addressed human trafficking from a “forced labour” perspective. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the terminology in relation to human trafficking and forced labour, to highlight the links between them, and to provide a critique of the ILO approach. It also aims to make the case for the implementation of a specific international instrument to address the link between trafficking and forced labour.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper compares the definitions of human trafficking and forced labour, the link between them in the United Nations, European and ILO instruments.
Findings
Although human trafficking is a criminal activity, the ILO identifies it as a form of forced labour. The paper concludes that, no matter what role the trafficking victims have in participating in the criminal activities, they should be viewed as victims and witnesses. They should not be viewed as “workers” or “labourers”. Any minor under the age of 18 years, in accordance with the European and international instruments, has no legal capacity to give consent to being exploited.
Originality/value
This paper argues that the international and European instruments do not specifically address the link between trafficking and forced labour. There is a need for a specific international instrument prescribing the link between trafficking and forced labour. In the absence of such an international instrument, there is a piece meal approach by international bodies and countries toward the regulation of trafficking and forced labour.
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