Industrial Labor Research Articles

Labour standards in global garment supply chains and the proposed EU corporate sustainability due diligence directive

Growing concerns over labour standards and workers’ rights in global supply chains (GSCs) have led many companies to adopt codes of conduct (CoCs) as part of increasing attempts to self-regulate through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) instruments to promote international labour standards in suppliers’ factories. However, improvements in labour standards and the level of protection of workers’ rights in GSCs are unsatisfactory, the garment industry labour force being a case in point. At European Union (EU) level this has led to the adoption of an EU corporate sustainability package in addition to previously adopted sector-specific/thematic due diligence legislation. This article looks closely at selected labour standards and labour rights aspects of the EU proposed Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (CSDD) and evaluates its contribution to the improvement of workers’ rights protection in global garment supply chains.

Trade and Labor-Allocation: Evidence from Sectoral Embodied Labor Transfer between China and Africa

Trade and Labor-Allocation: Evidence from Sectoral Embodied Labor Transfer between China and Africa

What Led to the Decline of Child Labour in the European Periphery? A Cointegration Approach with Long Historical Data

The “traditional view” on the historical decline of child labour has emphasised the role of the approval of effective child labour (minimum working age) laws. Since then, the importance of alternative key driving factors such as schooling, demography, household income or technology has been highlighted. While historically leading countries such as England and industrial labour have been studied, peripheral Europe and a full participation rate also including agriculture and services have received limited research attention. The contribution of this paper is to provide a first empirical explanation for the child labour decline observed in a European peripheral country like Portugal using long historical yearly data. For doing so, we use long series of Portugal’s child labour participation rate and several candidate explanatory factors. We implement cointegration techniques to relate child labour with its main drivers. We find that not only factors related to the “traditional view” were important for the Portuguese case. In fact, a mixture of legislation, schooling, demography, income, and technological factors seem to have contributed to the sustainable fall of Portugal’s child labour. Hence, explanations for observed child labour decline seem to differ by country and context, introducing a more nuanced view of the existing literature.

David Bisaha. American Scenic Design and Freelance Professionalism

Moving away from individual design practice to look at the institutional power structures that governed the flow of labour and capital in the theatre industry throughout the twentieth century, this well-researched examination of the movement toward professionalization in American scenic design adds an important new dimension to American theatre history.

IoT based Smart Poultry Management System

This research focuses on the development of an intelligent system utilizing embedded frameworks and smartphone technology for monitoring and managing chicken farms. The proposed system aims to control environmental parameters and automate feeding and water supply, offering a cost-effective, asset-saving, and quality-oriented approach to poultry farming. By leveraging smart devices and IoT technologies, this system can replace manual labour, addressing industry labour challenges and introducing semi-automation. The system encompasses tasks such as feeding using a container, water supply through nipple waterers, temperature and humidity regulation with fans and heaters, automatic lighting, and real-time environmental monitoring accessible through IoT cloud data. This technology-driven solution holds promise for enhancing productivity and efficiency in poultry farming and broader agricultural applications.

Efficiency of labor allocation: An observation in Indonesian Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC)

This study aims to analyze the efficiency and elasticity of the large and medium manufacturing industry sector in Indonesia from 2012 to 2020. The analysis focuses on the 24 subsectors within the 2-digit Indonesian Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) principal groups 10 to 33. The efficiency level of the manufacturing industry sector was analyzed using the Cobb-Douglas production function model with linear logarithmic transformation. During the period 2012–2020, the production efficiency of the 24 ISIC 2-digit subsectors increased by an average of 445%, or 4 times higher than before. The ISIC 2-digit subsector (24 subsectors) had output elasticity values smaller than one (EL < 1) or inelastic 45 times. This indicates that the marginal value added of labor was lower than the average value added of labor. Therefore, the additional allocation of labor in large and medium industries tends to reduce the average value added of labor. The computer industry, electronic and optical goods computer, electronic and optical goods had the highest efficiency index in order, according to the data. This can be achieved by focusing on industries such as ISIC 17 (paper and paper goods industry), ISIC 31 (furniture industry), and ISIC 29 (motor vehicle, trailer and semi-trailer industry). To improve the efficiency of labor allocation, it is necessary to optimize the use of labor resources, increase productivity, and remain competitive in the market. To improve efficiency and elasticity, it is recommended to implement a robust workforce planning strategy that aligns labor resources with production needs. Additionally, matching the skills and abilities of the workforce with job roles is crucial. Finally, identifying tasks that can be automated using technology can also increase efficiency.

Evaluating the Performance-Based Grading of Construction Labour in Road Project Operations Through a New Apprenticeship Framework

The main issues facing the construction industry in many nations have been poor labour performance in work operations, leading to significantly influencing the quality, safety and productivity of construction processes/outcomes. By implementing efficient apprenticeship components, this study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness/performance of labour in road project operations through a case study. With action-oriented and problem-focused communication approaches, an exhaustive academic review and expert consultations were carried out to design a collection of methods/tools/systems linked to labour apprenticeship and performance assessment inside a framework. Through a newly established site supervisory apprenticeship programme, the developed procedures were implemented with more than 100 construction labourers engaged in nine Sri Lankan road projects. The results display the specific patterns of substantial changes in labour performance levels with the quantified values, which aid in the planning and formation of crew mixes for various project jobs, as well as proactive methods for managing and controlling labour in the construction industry. The findings ensure the generalisation of the developed practices/tools/mechanisms towards the sustainability of its applications. The study further adds advanced attributes to construction supervision job roles. The study findings/outcomes can make significant impacts on the practices of other developing nations and industries.

PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK AND PAY TRANSPARENCY

The European Pillar of Social Rights, jointly proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission, incorporates among its principles equality of treatment and opportunities between women and men, and the right to equal pay for work of equal value. The Union gave the guideline, principles and some mechanisms to regulate the real situation of discrimination, still existing in industrial labour relations. the normative act is Directive (EU) 2023/970.

Challenges and potential for human–robot collaboration in timber prefabrication

Recent advancements in robotics and human–machine interfaces enable new collaborative procedures that combine the strengths of machines and humans. Compared to existing automation technologies in the timber prefabrication industry, human–robot collaboration (HRC) offers new possibilities for increased flexibility and productivity. This paper aims to map out the challenges and opportunities for HRC within the context of timber prefabrication by constructing a conceptual framework. The framework is based on three pillars: (1) existing HRC theories and frameworks, (2) a literature review of HRC research in robotic timber fabrication, and (3) perspectives of human labour in the timber construction industry. The relevant topics among these three areas are triangulated to construct a conceptual framework that bridges the system-, design-, and human-centred considerations. The framework serves as an organising device to support future explorations and research on human–robot collaboration in robotic timber construction.

International organizations and the question of child labor in the Iranian carpet industry

ABSTRACT This article examines child labor in the Iranian carpet industry, from around 1890 to 1930. During this period, child labor was shaped by a combination of local and global factors, including the involvement of international organizations of various kinds. Whereas European carpet firms, under the protection of British diplomats in Iran, employed and exploited Iranian children, British missionaries attempted to alleviate the physical harm that befell child laborers and treated them in missionary hospitals. In the years following the First World War, the International Labour Organization approached the Iranian government with a direct request to curb the practice, and British diplomats supervised and reported on what they saw as an improvement in the working conditions of these children. I argue that both child labor and the attempts to curb it were intrinsically linked to children’s bodies – their abilities, health, and protection. Children’s supple fingers were considered ideal for carpet knotting, and the damage this labor caused young bodies was central to the discourse on improving their labor conditions. This article uses the lens of childhood history to shed light on some of the intricacies of the attempts to regulate child labor in Iran and to analyze Western observers’ views on this issue.

Leaving post-industrial urban studies behind?

In this forum paper, we question the lasting utility of the framework and language of urban post-industrialism. We suggest that, while such conceptual metaphors are useful to understand economic, social and cultural change at specific times, post-industrial may obscure more nuanced explorations of the realities of today's multi-faceted, planetary, and digitally-mediated urban processes and socio-spatialities. Post-industrial speaks primarily to dramatic and violent changes that happened in the twentieth century, and continue to happen today, but, we suggest, the story is more complex. Specifically, we bring forward a few critiques of the post-industrial, that a revitalized agenda might begin to move beyond. Firstly, is that industrialisation is always-ongoing, and not something that can be fixed into place. Where it is absent, it continues to haunt. Second, is that over-use of post-industrial as a descriptor and critical lens can lead to territorial, class, racial/ethnic, political, and world-regional stigmatizations. In particular, it can reinforce colonialist hierarchies of prototype Northern/Western cities versus those in the majority world, and certain assumptions about linearity and path dependencies about industrial trajectories. Thirdly, we suggest post-industrial frameworks can calcify gender binaries and obscure counterhegemonies and fluidities, especially given the realities of global urban industrial labour today. Finally, we propose that moving beyond the post-industrial might open more radical space for vibrant art and politics, from cross-spectrum alliances and solidarities (like revitalized labour movements), to joyful artistic expression that transcends rust, decay, and ruin. We do not propose throwing away post-industrialism, but rather, to invite other possibilities to coexist.

Labor contingent of the Southern Kuzbass Corrective Labor Camp of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in 1947-1953: number, employment, composition of the working fund.

The article is devoted to the study of the labor contingent in the South Kuzbass Corrective Labor Camp of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in the period from 1947 to 1953. The purpose of the publication is to identify the composition and number of workers involved in the production sector of labor camps and their employment. The chronological framework of the study covers the period from the formation of the camp until the beginning of a radical restructuring of the Soviet Gulag system. When studying this issue, the author used general scientific and special historical methods (methods of quantitative analysis and statistical processing of materials). The novelty of the work lies in the use of unpublished archival documents and addressing local history issues that have not received widespread scientific coverage. Based on archival materials from the current archive of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Kemerovo Region, the dynamics of changes in the number of both forced labor camp prisoners and civilian workers, as well as the degree of their employment, are examined. A comparative analysis of the quantitative composition of the working fund of the South Kuzbass Corrective Labor Camp of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs predecessor, the Yuzhkuzbassles trust, showed that the transition to the use of forced labor in the logging industry in the south of the Kemerovo region made it possible to solve the problem of labor shortage. Particular attention is paid to the issues of employing the camp contingent in the production sector of the Corrective Labor Camp. The reasons why labor functions were not always performed by the prison population were identified, and statistics for each of them were also provided. Particular attention is paid to the processes of transformation of the labor fund in 1953.

‘Citizenship as incorporated beyond’ – Challenging national citizen–migrant categorisations with transnational (post)colonial relations of incorporating agrifood

ABSTRACT Migrant activists in Bremen, Germany, challenge classifications of people as national citizens or migrants by highlighting the (post)colonial and capitalist relations that have contributed and continue to contribute to this citizen–migrant divide. Based on ethnographic research and using the relational–ontological tools of material semiotics, I concretise these alternative-knowledge claims by tracing two of many entanglements (1) between the EUropean border regime, the exploitation of migrant labour in the agrifood industry, and the enactment of European citizens and companies and (2) with the (post)colonial histories underpinning these exploitative relations. First, I argue that citizen bodies and migrants’ labouring bodies are intimately related in bodily, fleshy ways. Moreover, corporations that pay taxes for national states are materially related to transnational, (post)colonial migrant labour. Second, I contribute to the literature that challenges the notion of independent individual national citizens or states. Considering citizenship–migrant categorisation based on those agrifood relations, I conceptualise ‘citizenship as incorporated beyond’. This means that national citizens and body politics such as Germany have been and continue to be brought into being by incorporating (i.e. eating, embodying, forming a corporate body, black boxing), among others, (relations of) agrifood from beyond their ‘national’ bodies and borders.

Dynamics of labor and capital in AI vs. non-AI industries: A two-industry model analysis.

There is an imbalance in the development of artificial intelligence between industries. Compared to non-AI enterprise, AI- enterprise will save labor, enhance innovation capabilities, and improve production efficiency. By constructing a two-industry model of AI and non-AI enterprise, this paper finds that with the development of artificial intelligence in the same industry, the AI enterprise will occupy a dominant position, attracting labor and capital from the non-AI enterprise into the AI enterprise. In different industries, the development of artificial intelligence improves the production efficiency of the enterprise. However, due to the price effect, non-AI enterprise benefits more. Labor and capital flow from AI enterprise to non-AI enterprise. In order to promote the improvement of production efficiency in the whole society, the government can tax non-AI enterprise and subsidize them to AI enterprise. Taxation promotes the degree of automation and the improvement of production efficiency, but it has only a short-term effect on the development of AI. At the same time, taxation inhibits the development of non-AI enterprise, and there is a high risk of unemployment. When both industries use artificial intelligence for production, the labor share and the capital share of the two industries will tend to the same value. The convergence of technology measures is conducive to increasing labor income share and reducing income inequality, but it is not conducive to innovation.

Disentangling social impacts in global value chains through structural path analysis: Investigating forced labor in the cotton industry

AbstractThis analysis proposes an analytical method to trace the precise pathways through which impacts from a specific origin are disseminated worldwide and embodied in high‐income nations' consumption. Our methodological approach is based on a multi‐regional input–output model developed using EXIOBASE data for 2019. The model is extended with the structural path analysis (SPA) methodology, which allows us to trace and quantify the critical interactions in the impacts' dissemination process from their origin until reaching their destination as final demand in a specific industry and region. The SPA method is explored both in gross and net terms as complementary perspectives to disentangle the complexity of global value chains, which is the main contribution of our approach. The net assessment accounts just for interindustry transactions, whereas the gross analysis considers all steps of the value chain, even those occurring at an intraindustry level. In this work, we analyze a case study to expose the features of this proposal, which focuses on assessing the global reach of forced labor in the cotton industry in the two leading worldwide cotton producers. Textile global value chains are intricate and complex, making it hard to trace the negative social impacts linked to them. Therefore, a deeper understanding of how forced labor is disseminated worldwide until reaching developed nations is necessary to shed light on the social sustainability debate. Although this kind of forced labor seems to be a regional affair, our results show that more than 13% of the estimated forced workers are attributed to the European Union and the United States consumption, respectively, with apparel, footwear, and textiles as key goods embodying these workers. After analyzing the specific paths of dissemination linked to the fashion demand of the European Union and the United States, our key findings show the predominant role of the Chinese and Indian textile industries in most paths given the high number of intrasectoral transformations inside this sector. We also show that forced labor in the Chinese cotton industry is even more distant to the final consumer than usual unskilled labor, which is an additional obstacle to its traceability.

Caring and loving teachers online: personality in the feminized labour of Filipina English Language teachers

Abstract What kind of people are language teachers? In this article we address this question by examining commercial forms of language teaching in which personality functions in the evaluation of particular teachers as “good” or “suitable” for particular learners. We relate commercial forms of the online teaching of English to global political economic changes in which affective labour in service work, and the feminization of labour, have involved new gendered relations between the global North and South in recent decades. We focus on the emergence of particular forms of commercial online English teaching that bring Filipina teacher labour into relation with Japanese learners as customers. We relate the affective nature of the labour Filipina teachers are expected to perform, in terms of being teachers who are kind, cheerful, always smiling, and able to produce a feeling of ease or relaxation in their learner-customers, to the feminization of labour in service industries more broadly. We present the feminized affective labour of Filipina teachers of English, as an illustration of the partiality and situatedness of discourses of personality in online platforms and customer reviews. Here, personality becomes salient for teachers within particular gendered and racialised relations, where personality serves a substitutionary role in compensating for professional skill, knowledge or nativeness. As such, discourses of personality draw on patriarchal notions of women as “naturally caring” or “working out of love” which permeate low paid and precarious forms of language teaching. We conclude by discussing future directions and issues for work which examines the object of teachers’ care or love – caring or loving for who or what?

Working Like a Dog: Canine Labour, Technological Unemployment, and Extinction in Industrialising England

The turnspit dog, an extinct breed, powered English roasting spits from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries by rotating an apparatus comparable to a hamster wheel. It was not merely a working breed, however. It was an animal labourer. Breeders bred it solely for work. Contemporaries conceived of it as an industrious worker intrinsic to food production. Despite its importance, owners treated it contemptuously due to its utilitarian nature. Cooks replaced the dog with a machine, the smoke-jack, once the latter proved reliable. Rather than repackage it as a companion, the English ceased breeding it due to its inextricable connection with a disparaged trade. Industrialisation’s upheaval triggered the turnspit’s extinction by 1850. Examining its decline explicates how technological unemployment wrought catastrophic change on nonhumans. Elucidating comparable disturbances within cottage industry labour for canines and English workers provides scholars with a more-than-human understanding of industrialisation’s ramifications. Furthermore, uniting animal and labour history reconceives current theorisations of historical animals, affirms working animals’ past contributions and highlights their importance as labourers.

Imperialism and crises of social reproduction in Africa

Gender inequalities feature in the prevailing model of financialised capitalist development, which in the peripheries is increasingly dependent on enclosures of land and nature, unbridled debt that is being shifted onto households, and deepening exploitation of gendered labour for service and industry. These conditions of accumulation generate reproductive crises in the core and peripheries that have serious implications for the survival and sustenance of working people and surplus populations of the global South. This article uses two main arguments to elaborate the nature of these reproductive crises from the vantage point of working people in the peripheries. First, by elaborating the link between land, nature and the commons and social reproduction in the agrarian South, foregrounding an agrarian question of gendered labour which agrarian reforms must address as a condition of national liberation. Second, the ways in which social reproduction is structured by centre–periphery relations of capitalist accumulation are elaborated in relation to the structures of gendered labour under late capitalism, asking how these dynamics shape the conditions of survival and reproduction of working people in Africa. The article highlights the imperative for a social reproduction lens in the analysis of imperialism within the possibility of liberation as well as sovereignty of Third World nations.

Rice Industry Labour Issues and the Role of Social Entrepreneurship Education in Promoting Inclusivity and Fairness

This research paper digs into the critical issue of labour challenges within the rice industry and explores the transformative potential of social entrepreneurship education in fostering inclusivity and fairness.This paper presents a comprehensive examination of how social entrepreneurship education can address labour issues, ultimately contributing to a more equitable rice industry.The rice industry is characterized by a history of labour disparities, encompassing low wages, substandard working conditions, and precarious seasonal employment. These challenges affect the livelihoods and well-being of countless workers, making it imperative to seek innovative solutions. Social entrepreneurship, with its commitment to addressing societal problems, emerges as a promising avenue for positive change.This study's foundation lies in a thorough review of existing literature, which illuminates the multifaceted nature of labour challenges in the rice sector and the principles underpinning social entrepreneurship. A theoretical framework is developed to elucidate the connections between social entrepreneurship and inclusivity, providing a conceptual lens through which to view our empirical findings.Empirical data and case studies offer tangible evidence of how social entrepreneurship education has been applied in various contexts to tackle labour issues within the rice industry. These real-world examples not only underscore the practicality of this approach but also highlight the successes achieved and the hurdles encountered.The discussion section provides insight into the significance of our findings, emphasizing the potential impact of social entrepreneurship education in promoting inclusivity and fairness in the rice industry. While recognizing limitations, this research ultimately contributes to a broader dialogue on the role of education in addressing labour challenges and driving positive change in a vital sector.This paper underscores the transformative potential of social entrepreneurship education as a catalyst for addressing labour issues within the rice industry. By equipping individuals with the knowledge and skills to effect change, we can pave the way for a more inclusive and fair industry that respects the dignity and rights of its workers.

Michael Hoffman, Glimpses of Hope: The rise of industrial labor at the urban margins of Nepal

Michael Hoffman, Glimpses of Hope: The rise of industrial labor at the urban margins of Nepal