From Rana Plaza to COVID‐19: Deficiencies and opportunities for a new labour governance system in garment global supply chains

Stephen J. Frenkel; Elke Schüßler

doi:10.1111/ilr.12208

From Rana Plaza to COVID‐19: Deficiencies and opportunities for a new labour governance system in garment global supply chains

Stephen J. Frenkel
, Elke Schüßler

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The 2013 Rana Plaza disaster highlighted the failure of labour regulation in global garment value chains. Eight years on, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, what changes have occurred in labour regulation and with what consequences for workers? Using the concept of a labour governance system (LGS), the authors show that, despite improvements in building and worker safety regulation, the garment LGS remains weak and wages, working hours and the treatment of workers show little improvement. The pandemic appears to have exacerbated these deficiencies but it may also offer an opportunity to strengthen the LGS along lines proposed in this article.

Original language	English
Journal	International Labour Review
Volume	160
Issue number	4
Pages (from-to)	591–609
Number of pages	19
ISSN	0020-7780
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12208
Publication status	Published - 12.2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, the editors of this Special Issue, and in particular their handling editor, Arianna Rossi, for useful comments in developing this article. They gratefully acknowledge funding by the Volkswagen Foundation for the research project “Changes in the governance of garment global production networks: Lead firm, supplier, and institutional responses to the Rana Plaza disaster” under the Europe and Global Challenges programme. They thank all project team members for their contribution in collecting the data on which this article is based, and Jaco Fourie and Maria George for their excellent research assistance.

Publisher Copyright:
© The authors 2021 Journal compilation © International Labour Organization 2021

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

Research areas and keywords

Management studies

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Strategy and Management
Management of Technology and Innovation
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Access to Document

10.1111/ilr.12208

Cite this

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title = "From Rana Plaza to COVID‐19: Deficiencies and opportunities for a new labour governance system in garment global supply chains",

abstract = "The 2013 Rana Plaza disaster highlighted the failure of labour regulation in global garment value chains. Eight years on, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, what changes have occurred in labour regulation and with what consequences for workers? Using the concept of a labour governance system (LGS), the authors show that, despite improvements in building and worker safety regulation, the garment LGS remains weak and wages, working hours and the treatment of workers show little improvement. The pandemic appears to have exacerbated these deficiencies but it may also offer an opportunity to strengthen the LGS along lines proposed in this article.",

keywords = "Management studies, global value chains, global supply chains, labour regulation, labour governance system, garment industry, Bangladesh, Rana Plaza, COVID‐19",

author = "Frenkel, \{Stephen J.\} and Elke Sch{\"u}{\ss}ler",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, the editors of this Special Issue, and in particular their handling editor, Arianna Rossi, for useful comments in developing this article. They gratefully acknowledge funding by the Volkswagen Foundation for the research project “Changes in the governance of garment global production networks: Lead firm, supplier, and institutional responses to the Rana Plaza disaster” under the Europe and Global Challenges programme. They thank all project team members for their contribution in collecting the data on which this article is based, and Jaco Fourie and Maria George for their excellent research assistance. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The authors 2021 Journal compilation {\textcopyright} International Labour Organization 2021",

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doi = "10.1111/ilr.12208",

language = "English",

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N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, the editors of this Special Issue, and in particular their handling editor, Arianna Rossi, for useful comments in developing this article. They gratefully acknowledge funding by the Volkswagen Foundation for the research project “Changes in the governance of garment global production networks: Lead firm, supplier, and institutional responses to the Rana Plaza disaster” under the Europe and Global Challenges programme. They thank all project team members for their contribution in collecting the data on which this article is based, and Jaco Fourie and Maria George for their excellent research assistance. Publisher Copyright: © The authors 2021 Journal compilation © International Labour Organization 2021

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N2 - The 2013 Rana Plaza disaster highlighted the failure of labour regulation in global garment value chains. Eight years on, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, what changes have occurred in labour regulation and with what consequences for workers? Using the concept of a labour governance system (LGS), the authors show that, despite improvements in building and worker safety regulation, the garment LGS remains weak and wages, working hours and the treatment of workers show little improvement. The pandemic appears to have exacerbated these deficiencies but it may also offer an opportunity to strengthen the LGS along lines proposed in this article.

AB - The 2013 Rana Plaza disaster highlighted the failure of labour regulation in global garment value chains. Eight years on, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, what changes have occurred in labour regulation and with what consequences for workers? Using the concept of a labour governance system (LGS), the authors show that, despite improvements in building and worker safety regulation, the garment LGS remains weak and wages, working hours and the treatment of workers show little improvement. The pandemic appears to have exacerbated these deficiencies but it may also offer an opportunity to strengthen the LGS along lines proposed in this article.

KW - Management studies

KW - global value chains

KW - global supply chains

KW - labour regulation

KW - labour governance system

KW - garment industry

KW - Bangladesh

KW - Rana Plaza

KW - COVID‐19

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From Rana Plaza to COVID‐19: Deficiencies and opportunities for a new labour governance system in garment global supply chains

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research areas and keywords

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Access to Document

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Cite this