Fair Working Research Articles

Awareness and Readiness of Public Procurement officers on Sustainability in North-Eastern Nigeria

There is a growing trend worldwide, primarily developed and some developing countries, of the public sector moving from conventional procurement system towards the more sustainable and environmental-friendly approach. The need to consider economic, environmental as well as social aspects of projects before embarking on it yield enormous benefits to the present and future generations. This study seeks to assess the level of awareness and readiness of public procurement experts on Sustainability in north-eastern Nigeria. The study targeted procurements experts in Bauchi and Gombe state working at Due-process unit, a focal point that ensures efficiency, transparency and effectiveness in all procurements (goods and services), and issue certificate of compliance to across the state. A total of seventy-three (73) questionnaire forms were administered to the respondents to rank, based on their experience, social, economic and environmental factors in a Linkert-like scale of five-point. Fifty-three (53) questionnaires were returned, and Cross-tabulation was used to compare the respondents' background information, which shows that most of those with training on Sustainability are engineers with a bachelor's degree. Descriptive statistics and Friedman's ANOVA were used to, which ranked gender, race, religious discrimination, the factor with highest mean score thus ranked first, while Similar working experience, lowest responsive tender and excellent workmanship were ranked second, third and fourth respectively. Friedman's ANOVA with the stepwise step-down comparison, with a significant factor of 0.05, ranked using energy saver appliance and fair working condition as the most significant factors. The study recommends that other geopolitical zones of the country should also embark on the same study.

Variables Which Influence the Early State Adoption of Pro-LGBT Legislation

ABSTRACT State-level legislation was instrumental in achieving marriage equality and is similarly crucial in establishing protection from discrimination for LGBT employees. States that were early legalizers of same-gender marriage shared geographic, political, and demographic variables. An analysis of the characteristics of states that are early adopters of legislation prohibiting LGBT employment discrimination lacks in the literature. This study analyzed variables significant to the early state adoption of legislation prohibiting discrimination against LGBT employees using multinomial logistic regression. A state’s region, the size of its urban population, college graduates, and the percentage of same-gender families were among nine variables significant to state adoption of anti-discrimination statutes protecting LGBT employees. Efforts to secure protection from discrimination for LGBT employees should focus on fair working conditions for all as opposed to specific rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Further, different LGBT rights issues may warrant different strategies for public support.

Perceived organizational support and organizational commitment among special education teachers in Pakistan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS), organizational commitment and job satisfaction among special education teachers in Pakistan. The data were collected from 85 special education teachers from different special education centers in Punjab, Pakistan. POS was measured using a survey of POS developed by Eisenberger et al. (1986). Affective continuance and normative commitment are measured by affective continuance and normative commitment scales developed by Meyer and Allen’s (1984) and Allen and Meyer (1990), respectively. Results of the current study show that POS and job satisfaction are positively correlated with affective and normative commitment. POS and job satisfaction are not associated with continuance organizational commitment. This suggests that a teacher’s commitment can be improved by increasing organizational support, underprivileged working environment and job satisfaction. Limitations and implication of the study are discussed.Design/methodology/approachIn the current study, cross-sectional research design and non-probability purposive sampling technique were used. A sample of 85 special education teachers was collected from different special education institutes of Punjab and federal, Pakistan. Inclusion criteria were teacher with specialization in all disabilities (mentally challenged, deaf, blind, physical handicapped and slow learners), informed consent and age range 20‒55 years, at least 6-month teaching experience in special education. Exclusion criteria were teaching experience less than 6 months and age less than 20 or more than 55 years. The demographic characteristics of teachers are presented in Table II.FindingsFindings of the present study suggest a positive association between POS, affective commitment, normative commitment and job satisfaction, whereas there is no association between POS and continuance commitment as well as between job satisfaction and continuance commitment among special education teachers in Pakistan. Organization should consider the exclusive support of the special education teachers.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study also has some limitation. The sample size is very small. In the current study, data are collected from 85 special education teachers from federal and few cities of Punjab, Pakistan. Hence, data are not true representative. Data for current study are collected through self-reported scales and only collected from academic staff.Practical implicationsIn the current study, special education teachers have identified factors that promote organizational support, commitment and job satisfaction, such as reasonable workloads, sound working environment, unbiased and fair working conditions, and administrative support. It has been found that decreased level of POS, commitment and job satisfaction damage the organization, special educators and special students. Therefore, special education department should develop and implement policies that strengthen these dimensions. A broad recommendation can be made on the basis of these findings: affective and normative commitment increases when individuals have satisfying experience with organization. Thus, this may be improved by providing special educators with the opportunity to work in a better work environment, with proper work load, as it would increase emotional and normative attachment of the individuals with their institutes. The current study would be helpful for policy makers in the field of education and administration in order to work on these dimensions to increase the teacher’s job satisfaction and organizational commitment. It would also create awareness among the general public about the potential problems of special education teachers in Pakistan affecting the quality of life of children with special needs. Results suggest that by providing organizational support, appropriate work load and unbiased attitude, a teacher’s commitment can be improved.Social implicationsThe current research helps academics and administration to improve social functioning of special education teachers by improving their job satisfaction and organizational support.Originality/valueThe prevalence rate of children with disabilities is increasing rapidly in Pakistan. Since stigma is associated with individuals with disabilities, parents hide disabilities of their children so that other relatives may not face any problems, such as being doubted of carrying defective genes. Families have to cope with financial crises due to lack of institutional support, extra expense to deal with disabled person and loss of work. In such circumstances, special education institutions are only hopes for such people to assist them in dealing with their disabled children. However, the strength of teachers in these institutions is not enough to fulfill needs of such children. A number of researches have examined the role of organizational support, job satisfaction and organizational commitment of teachers in western countries (Makanjee et al., 2006; Alijanpou et al., 2013; Batool and Ullah, 2013). However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has yet investigated this serious issue in Pakistan. This study provides valuable information on organizational support, commitment and job satisfaction among special educators, and recommendation on how organizational commitment can be improved.

Engaging with and reflecting on the materiality of digital media technologies: Repair and fair production

How do people think about and engage with the materiality of digital media technologies and thereby try to transform the devices and society? The article discusses this question by presenting the results of two qualitative studies in which people reflect on and engage with the materiality of media technologies. In the first case, the repairing of media devices in Repair Cafés was analyzed, in the second, the focus was on the production and appropriation of the Fairphone, a smartphone which should be produced under fair working conditions. In both initiatives people reflect on the materiality of media technologies, criticize the production and disposal of the devices, and engage with the materiality of the apparatuses in order to change not only the technologies but also society as a whole by contributing to sustainability and the “good life.” The article adds to the field dealing with materiality and digital media technologies.

Digitization in Agriculture: A Timely Challenge for Ecological Perspectives

The main focus of political debates on digital agriculture has been on environmental sustainability. So far, the literature has primarily ignored social sustainability, notably labor issues. This is worrisome because digitization may fundamentally alter farming techniques and labor processes, potentially affecting rural development, rural communities, and migratory workers. It examines how digital technology affects labor in horticulture and agricultural fields. To incorporate labor into the debates around agriculture and digitalization, this article provides a detailed picture of how digital technologies affect agricultural labor. Results suggest new forms of labor management, intensification of work processes, and risks of working-class fragmentation along age lines. Digitalization has not resulted in worker or farmer deskilling. The claim of greater worker dependency due to reduced agricultural employment possibilities is disputed. The importance of creating agricultural policies that promote fair and equitable working conditions.

Incorporation of Circular Aspects into Product Design and Labelling: Consumer Preferences

The transition to a circular economy requires a fundamental change in products and the way they meet consumer demands. In this context, the aim of this article is to analyse the level of importance that consumers attach to the fact that circular aspects were incorporated into a product design and to the need to communicate them on the product labelling. The aspects analysed in this study are related to durability, repairability, recycled material content, low environmental impact, fair working conditions and origin. To this end, a survey was designed and conducted with a representative sample. It was found that Spanish consumers are concerned mainly about fair working conditions during the product manufacturing and the durability of the products. A high degree of congruence was found between the level of importance attached to incorporating each aspect into the product design and including this information in the product labelling. In addition, multinomial regression models are applied to identify the consumer profiles (gender, age, household size, level of education, household income) that are more or less prone to prefer products that incorporate these aspects into their design and labelling. Household size and gender are the socio-economic variables that most affect consumer preferences.

Two-level decomposition-based matheuristic for airline crew rostering problems with fair working time

We propose a two-level decomposition-based matheuristic algorithm to solve a practical airline crew rostering problem with fair working time. The goal is to find an optimal assignment of pairings to individual crew members that satisfies hard constraints reflecting, for instance, international flights, rest days and regulatory requirements. The objective is to achieve a fair working time of crew members. We propose a two-level decomposition algorithm applying partial optimization under special intensification conditions (POPMUSIC). The method decomposes the original problem into a master problem and a subproblem. The master problem determines an assignment of pairings and rest days. The subproblem checks the feasibility of the original problem when the solution of the master problem is fixed. These problems are iteratively solved by embedding cuts into the master problem. A new method for solving the master problem by a generalized set partitioning reformulation is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed method for real-world data is shown via computational experiments.

Consumer preferences for fair labour certification

High profile cases of exploitative labour practices have increased concerns over agricultural working conditions. However, it is unclear to what extent the public is willing to trade-off fair working conditions for higher prices. We implement a large-scale survey to uncover consumer preferences for a food labeling system that certifies fair working conditions for the workers employed in agricultural production. We test for several methodological issues with respect to value elicitation and predictions of reference dependent theory. With our most conservative estimates, we find that consumers are willing to pay an average premium of 53 cents per 500 gr, 95\% CI [43.9, 62.3], for strawberries with fair labour certification.

International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) and Violations of Right to Fair Trial: A Comparative Study

Right to fair trial is recognized internationally as a fundamental human right and countries are bound to respect it. Therefore the war crime tribunals of former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) were fully accepted the fair trial right and with the mandate of United Nations, incorporated it in their statutes as a guarantee against the unlawful actions. While the domestic war crime tribunal of Bangladesh (ICTB) follows its own special procedures and rules which is lacking the fair trial guarantees to ensure a free and fair trial. In terms of rights ensuring fair trial guarantees, procedure, statutes and working, there are huge differences found between the ICTB and the other two internationally recognized tribunals (ICTY & ICTR). The ICTY and ICTR appear more transparent and fair than the ICTB. The ICTB has repeatedly deviated from the recognized judicial norms and principal of fair trial. Moreover, non-compliance with the ICCPR, violations of the domestic laws of the country and the revealed Skype scandal makes the tribunal (ICTB) illegal.

Modeling socioeconomic pathways to assess sustainability: a tailored development for housing retrofit

In the European context, energy and climate have been prioritized by policies related to retrofitting, but social concerns such as unemployment or poverty need to be tackled. Policy makers need supporting assessment methods to comprehensively address complex processes as retrofitting, and the methodology of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) seems an appropriate tool. However, LCSA needs further adaptation for the intended application. The objective of this work is to define socioeconomic models that, added to environmental life cycle assessment, enable LCSA. The intended application is guiding policy making related to retrofitting from a life cycle perspective. This study defines models to assess social and socioeconomic impacts similarly to environmental life cycle assessment. These models address social and socioeconomic concerns, relevant in housing retrofitting processes, for which a cause-effect relationship can be established. Characterization models result from the identification, combination, and adaptation of available methods, developed within various research fields. These methods analyze damages to the health of workers involved in the life cycle and to the health of the household living in the retrofitted dwelling. Impacts on human well-being and dignity are addressed by analyzing prosperity, in terms of fair employment, alleviation of fuel poverty of households, and economic growth. With the proposed LCSA methods, we have compared impacts associated to the retrofitting of a house in Brussels in two scenarios, considering a remaining life cycle of 30 years and taking into account the reference situation. Environmental damages significantly decrease in one of the scenarios, but slightly increase for households that commonly under-heat. Retrofitting prevents indoor mold and associated damages on health but implies damages on the health of workers. Fair working hours involved in the life cycle have been quantified as well as the effects on the households regarding fuel poverty. The effects on the economic growth have also been studied to provide insights for the optimization of encouraging measures. This LCSA proposal consists of a set of socioeconomic characterization models coupled with selected environmental ones. The models have been defined adapted to the particular application, given the context-specific nature of some of the social concerns, indicators, and characterization factors. This LCSA proposal helps adapting policies to housing typologies, household and dwelling conditions, as well as identifying potential improvements in the life cycle.

Understanding the link between communication satisfaction, perceived justice and organizational citizenship behavior

This study broadens the application of the justice and OCB concepts beyond pay and job satisfaction to capture previously uninvestigated effects by examining the link between communication satisfaction (CS), perceived justice, and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) among Chinese employees. We predict perceived justice will mediate the relationship between CS and OCB. We also predict CS will mediate the relationship between perceived justice and OCB. Quantitative analyses were used to analyze the relationships. FsQCA was used as an additional technique to test the mediating effect. Results show that OCB were influenced by CS and perceived justice. CS is a mediator between perceived justice and OCB. Perceived justice is not a mediator between CS and OCB. The finding points to the need for enhancing communication practices and creating a fair working environment in order to encourage discretionary behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed along with the limitations.

EXAMINATION OF ETHICAL PROCUREMENT THROUGH ENTERPRISE EXAMPLES

Today’s business world is affected by the 21st century’s processes, like globalization, fluent online attendance, digitalization and their direct consequence depersonalisation. The authors are motivated by these facts and want to vivify the „old fashioned” correct business models and find the indispensable parameter of the well-functioning economy, in one word today’s equivalent of „honorable gentlemen”. The assumed key to success could be useful for the for-profit sector because not only profit can be the impelling in the professional life of a corporation. The human value added is one of the most important keystones of thrift. The aim to establish a balance between economic and ethical behaviour of corporations has been enounced serving the interest of all participants, consumers, corporations and society. The before natural thought values seem nowadays to turn into something different or to be neglected. As a consequence the question has been raised, if society has the force to establish and improve Ethics, will it be able to destroy it as well?! The main focus of the research is therefore the mapping of criteria and marks which belong to on the competitive market successful enterprises whose procurement decisions are ethical as well. These marks can be formal or informal. The results of the research show well that there are parameters of a company, for example, a code of conduct within guidelines concerning the procurement or procedure manuals in which also ethical issues appear in a formal way. From another point of view there are informal signs like customs arising from the corporate culture, daily routine or just human behaviour and convincement of the management and procurement employees that also support the ethical performance of the company. The results of the research can serve as best practice for the other enterprises too in their daily appearance on the market. Particularly in that area the company’s most important goal is “gaining profit” which can have next to itself another value added the “fair work”. Its role is to lead the attention to the statement that next to fair working on the market profit can be produced as well. The researchers consider it important that the companies who have already kept in mind the ethical procurement could gain a feedback, an inspiration or even new ideas to follow their work. Key words: business ethics, procurement issues, corporation’s behaviour, sustainable procurement.

Factors influencing job performance of nursing staff

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence the affective commitment of nursing staff and its subsequent impact on their job performance.Design/methodology/approach– A survey-based study was performed among 349 nursing staff working in Uttarakhand, randomly selected from six public healthcare institutes, using a well-established questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was applied to study the mediating effect of affective commitment and its correlation with the constructs used in research.Findings– The findings of the study revealed that the level of burnout is significantly higher among the nursing staff and had an inverse relation with affective commitment. Further, perceived organizational support and procedural justice showed a positive relation with affective commitment in contrast to burnout. Moreover, affective commitment had a strong impact on job performance of the nursing staff, indicated by direct relation with a value of 0.70.Research limitations/implications– The findings contribute by recognizing the various factors affecting the performance of nursing staff specifically in developing country like India. Limited in geographical area, industry and a self-rated questionnaire are some of the limitations of the present study.Practical implications– To conclude, this study revealed the vital significance of factors affecting the job performance of nursing staff through affective commitment. Based on the findings, healthcare institutions need to reduce the level of burnout, create and enhance a supportive and fair working environment to enhance the level of affective commitment and consequently the job performance of the nursing staff.Originality/value– This study has extended the existing literature by identifying the mediating role of affective commitment on factors affecting job performance of nursing staff specifically in the Indian context.

Application of two-phase decomposition algorithm to practical airline crew rostering problem for fair working time

Application of two-phase decomposition algorithm to practical airline crew rostering problem for fair working time

Work, career, age and life-stage: assumptions and preferences of a multigenerational workforce

With increasing levels of age diversity in the labour force, it is now possible to find workplaces with teams comprising members from at least three ‘generations’. To date, extensive research has been conducted to explore ways in which ‘Generation X’ and ‘Generation Y’ (or Millennials) may need to be managed differently from ‘Baby Boomers’. Many of the recommendations have been framed to enhance the ability of older managers to better understand younger workers. While this paper addresses these issues, it also considers the growing need for younger managers to develop strategies and skills that will assist with the management of older workers. It is concluded that the provision of flexible, equitable and fair working conditions will assist organisations in attracting and retaining the best candidates from all ‘generations’.

Sex Trafficking in the Tourism Industry

This article examines exploitation in tourism. If the industry is to move towards enhanced sustainability, then the issue of fair working conditions needs to be addressed. The study summarizes current literature on trafficking in tourism and discusses the current state of sex trafficking in the tourism industry. The paper finally summarizes major initiatives in the industry and concludes by providing warning signs and indicators of trafficking that can be useful for tourism employees.

Report: Kenya's anti-union highway

the KLDTDAWU called on the ITF family for international solidarity support. The ITF immediately launched a campaign calling for an end to the violence and for the company to negotiate with the union. The first step was to raise the flag and stop the police aggression. The ITF’s General Secretary, acting on behalf of 4.5 million transport workers, contacted the CEO of Agility Logistics and urged the company to negotiate with workers . Meanwhile, the ITF set about spreading the word amongst the union family about the shocking violence Agility workers faced for demanding their rights. A LabourStart campaign was launched and within two days more than five thousand people sent a message to CEO Tarek Abdul Aziz Sultan calling for respect and union recognition. At the end of March an ITF monitoring team, accompanied by an official from the Britain’s UNITE the Union, arrived in Kenya to meet with the Agility CEO in Kenya, Kola Saibaba. The team gathered evidence and workers’ stories needed for a strategic campaign. In Nairobi, the team met with truck drivers and mechanics at Agility’s Gilgil Road depot and the Agility warehouse at Broadway. The ITF team also travelled to meet with workers at the Agility branch in Mombasa. At the Gilgil Road depot, workers told the ITF about their unsafe and unfair working conditions. “We are working 24/7. When it comes to accidents we just take care of ourselves. When it comes to payment, it’s very little . We have families and we can’t make it with this salary”, explained Ronald, an Agility Logistics trucker based in Nairobi. At the Broadway warehouse , workers told the ITF that their jobs were to be outsourced with only a few days notice and that their new employer was trying to force them to sign a new contract, which failed to give any information about their new terms and conditions . Workers feared that they could be forced to work in different locations far away from their homes. Workers also reported that management had required them to work an extra three hours, apparently in an attempt to prevent them meeting the ITF team. Then, in Mombasa, four Agility workers, who were active members of the union, told the ITF that they had recently received notice that they would be transferred to new workplaces. The workers reported that they were given only nine days’ transfer notice. Truck drivers involved in the recent strike also complained that they were facing reprisals from management. They reported that they had been sent on journeys without enough fuel, leading to some of them becoming stranded. Agility told its workers that their salaries would be delayed, a move which workers regarded as retaliation for the recent strike. Drivers who had been involved Agility Logistics workers demand decent work and a voice at work INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 18 Volume 22 Issue 2 2015 ISABEL CORTES, International Transport Workers' Federation, London T ruck drivers, warehouse and clerical workers in Kenya are demanding a voice at work and safe and fair working conditions. They are all employees at Agility Logistics, one of the world’s largest logistics companies, headquartered in Kuwait. Together they facilitate the flow of goods on Kenya’s Northern Corridor, a key route linking land-locked Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi with Kenya’s maritime port of Mombasa. Agility joins a list of companies operating in this region that are notoriously anti-union. In March this year a group of Agility truckers began a peaceful protest against excessive working hours, intimidation and denial of union recognition. Police responded with violence and intimidation. Four months later, following a call for international solidarity and many broken promises from Agility, the workers and their union, the Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers and Allied Workers Union (KLDTDAWU) remain determined and are standing firm in their fight for rights along the anti-union highway. The trigger On 3 March, drivers parked their trucks on the main highway between Mombasa and Nairobi in a peaceful protest against excessive working hours, intimidation and denial of union recognition by Agility Logistics. A second group of drivers gathered near to Mai Mahui, on the road between Nairobi and...

The application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in EU staff law

The fundamental rights of EU staff members have been protected since long before the Charter was adopted. Since it acquired Treaty status in 2009, the Charter has nonetheless become the first point of reference in this area for the Union Courts, and it has been relied on in assessing the validity of and interpreting both normative measures and individual decisions. In particular, the Charter has been instrumental in defining substantive rights of staff members, such as the protection of family life or the right to just and fair working conditions, and procedural rights in administrative and judicial proceedings. It has thus contributed to raising the level of fundamental rights protection in EU law, including that governing the relations between institutional employers and their staff.

Way to Measure the Concept Precarious Working Conditions in Oil Palm Plantations

Oil palm plantations are the backbone of the Malaysian economy, since day immemorial. When you look intothe past, the workers in the oil palm plantations were dominated by Indian and Chinese communities. Later dueto the sigma associate with oil palm plantations jobs viz., dirty, dangerous and distance, the Indians and Chineseworkers moved away from the oil palm work and they were replaced by Indonesians and Philippines. Theseforeign workers whom having the legal and illegal status under enforcement in Malaysia, have been living inremotely located inhabitations engaging in ‘dirty, dangerous and distance’ wise oil palm plantations. Though thelarger oil palm plantation companies ensure minimum living and working conditions for the foreign workers,vastly located small holding plantations never follow such minimum and fair working environment. Theseconditions to be correlated with the term “precarious working conditions’ in small holding oil palm plantations.Due to lack of availability of the locals to engage in oil palm work, the plantations have to depend on foreignworkers do all these ‘dirty, dangerous and distance’ workers in oil palm plantations. Except a few literatureavailable from Amnesty international and local NGOs, there is less evidence to prove the existence of suchexploitative working conditions in oil palm plantations. In order to explore precarious working conditions in oilpalm plantations thus a qualitative research study is conducted in the Sabah region of the Eastern Part ofMalaysia. The study followed, triangulation method through interviews with the migrated foreign workers, (legaland illegal), focus group discussions and Delphi technique with the identification of experts in the field to arriveat the factors and categories related to the theme ‘precarious working conditions’ in oil palm plantations. Theoutcome of the study fixes the variables that need to be concentrated for a higher level research throughquantitative research.

Experimental biofuel governance: Historicizing social certification in Brazilian ethanol production

Amid debates questioning the social sustainability of ethanol, Brazilian industrialists sought an exportable social verification that could accompany sugarcane ethanol technology transfers to global South countries. Despite an effective national anti-slave labor pact and marketing campaigns promoting the sustainability of ethanol, in 2008, members of the federal government orchestrated a series of meetings between representatives from the state, sugarcane industry, and national labor organizations to discuss labor practices. They created “The National Commitment to Labor Conditions in Sugarcane Activity,” a voluntary certification program that they hoped would attest to fair working conditions on plantations and provide acknowledgment for participating businesses. After reports revealed gross violations of labor practices on complying plantations, the certificate was abandoned in 2013.In this paper, I trace the conditions that enabled this certificate to emerge and then fail as a state-sanctioned instrument for governing social justice in the Brazilian ethanol industry. I contend that understanding the emergence of neoliberal governance schemes requires analysis of the historical relationships that intersect with new geopolitical formations. In this case, the state engaged in an experimental form of governance in attempts to export a social certificate alongside technology transfers. This led to the conversion of rights into privileges with no official means for punishing non-complying companies, causing the certificate to lack efficacy and fail. I argue this by connecting the intersecting histories of labor unions, the ethanol industry, and the state to the contemporary factors that led to the need for a mechanism to attest to social sustainability.