Regulating the employment dynamics of domestic supply chains

Abstract

This article sheds light on the role that the regulation of primarily domestic, rather than global, supply chains could play in protecting and enhancing standards of workplace health and safety, as well as employment standards more generally. The analysis presented confirms the potential relevance of such regulation in these regards. However, it also reinforces existing evidence pointing to the fact that only very rarely will marketrelated considerations on their own prompt purchasers to seek to directly influence the employment practices of their suppliers. The article ends therefore by highlighting a number of key issues relating to the design of regulatory initiatives aimed at protecting and enhancing employment conditions within supply chains.

Arrangements for workers’ safety and health in container terminals: Corporate core values and concrete practice

“…These matters are dictated by the wider organisational and operational management of the terminal companies and outside the influence of behaviour safety strategiesor indeed efforts to influence safet ultu e ithi the te i als. It is also i te esti g to ote that where these outcomes were most pronounced, trends in employment practices mean that: Hill, 2008: 164-165 Research in other sectors suggests that substantial improvements in o t a t o ke s working conditions lie within the reach of corporate influence (Walters and James, 2011;James et al, 2015;Sampson et al, 2014). Greater attention could be applied to developing corporate standards concerning these matters without necessarily risking excessive interference with the freedom of business units to manage the financial and organisational aspects of their business relations with contractors.…”

The Petroleum Driver Passport scheme: a case study in reregulation

“…A third feature of the scheme was that it was designed explicitly to fit with existing regulatory arrangements that applied within the industry. Voluntary regulation often complements and can amplify the effects of statutory regulation (James et al ., ), and this kind of interaction between different regulatory forms was also seen in the case of the Passport. One statutory provision that covers the downstream oil industry is the ADR Dangerous Goods Driver Training Qualification, a certificate of competence that all drivers involved in the transport of hazardous materials must acquire.…”

“…The arrangements in social care have clear parallels with the well‐known Justice for Janitors campaign in the United States (Milkman, ), and in Ireland, a union campaign has led to the extension of public sector terms and conditions to domiciliary care workers employed by voluntary organisations that receive state funding (Murphy and Turner, ). In the UK, other studies attest to the role of unions and lead firms in promoting good health and safety practice amongst subcontractors in both construction and the maritime industry (James et al ., ; Wright and Brown, ). Moreover, proposals to revive multi‐employer collective bargaining have gained currency in recent years and won support from both the TUC and the Labour Party.…”

Regulating factory safety in the Bangladeshi garment industry

“…The first is a recognition that powerful supply chain buyers can directly and indirectly act to drive down employment standards in supplier organizations (James et al . ). The second is an acknowledgement that developing countries frequently do not possess the regulatory capacity and/or willingness to counter such adverse effects (Graham & Woods ).…”