Competing for seafaring labour: Social security and agency employment in Chinese shipping

This paper discusses one strategy that Chinese crewing agencies adopt to compete with each other in the global seafarer labour supplying market. This strategy is related to Chinese seafarers’ social insurance participation. It shows that crewing agencies utilised a dual workforce – ‘company-owned seafarers’ and ‘externally hired seafarers’. Externally hired seafarers, though in precarious employment, are offered higher salaries in place of social insurance coverage. By contrast, company-owned seafarers are paid less, though enjoy social insurance arranged by agencies. This strategy serves to segment the seafarer labour market, conceal the level playing field and help agencies recruit seafarers cost-effectively, though in violation of labour rights. This paper argues that this strategy grows out of the competitive landscape co-shaped by the national regulatory and institutional settings and the global structure of the shipping industry.     

Sailing together from different shores: labour markets and inequality on board merchant ships

In this study, we analyse the consequences of the conditions of the labour‐market contracts for working on board merchant ships. More specifically, we examine how seafarers hired on different contracts work together. Seafarers’ conditions of work differ considerably: some, mainly workers in the West, have permanent contracts with a shipping company, are paid a relatively high monthly wage and can go ashore every second month, whereas others performing the same tasks may have to stay at sea for more than six months at a time, and work for less money on temporary contracts. Drawing on the economic sociology of markets and institutional theory, in this article we present the institutional conditions of globalized labour markets for seafarers and analyse unique data derived from observations and interviews on board merchant ships. We argue that the notion of market is a key explanatory factor for how the work is conducted on board. Theoretically, our elaboration on markets allows us to conceptualize and address global and transnational markets.     

In the wake of the wave: globalization,networks, and the experiences of transmigrant seafarers in northern Germany

Abstract In this article we highlight the plight of workers trapped at the interface between the national and the global: able to participate in global labour markets but marginalized within nation‐states and excluded from local communities. We employ ethnographic field work to explore the experiences of transmigrant seafarers who travelled to northern Germany between the 1960s and 1980s in search of work aboard German flagged vessels. We describe how the economic benefits associated with an international labour market for seafarers initially attracted and benefited them but then left them stranded as the labour market changed and became globalized. In the article we draw on Massey's concept of power‐geometry to interpret the dual processes of globalization and exclusion.     

Government inspectors and ‘ethical’ buyers: regulating labour in Moradabad's metalware industry

This paper is based on fieldwork for a doctoral thesis on the metalware cluster of Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. I present two different ways by which labour standards are regulated in the city: first by the state labour administration and second, by the market of global buyers implementing codes of conduct. In the context of debate over state versus market-based and voluntary regulation, I discuss the text of each regulatory regime and how this is interpreted, used, subverted and applied in the city's export firms. I show how enforcement of laws and corporate ‘ethical’ codes is undermined not only by limited capacity to survey units deep inside the city, but also by the incentives of enforcement agents. The regulatory regime of the state is revealed to be morally ambivalent, where justice for workers depends on patronage inside the labour department, and on an opaque and complex legal code which keeps employers vulnerable to inspector harassment. By contrast, the regulatory regime of the market is shown to be morally incoherent, where code compliance officers are sidelined by their commercial colleagues and efforts to establish ‘ethical’ purchasing practices are routinely undermined by the imperative to fast-feed goods onto the shelves of retail giants.     

Working conditions in the export industry of northern Morocco: Legal framework and situation on the ground

Companies in northern Morocco that export manufactured goods and services run on a production system characterized by high pressure, flexible use of labour, strict supervision and the challenging of certain labour rights. This article studies the conditions of work at these enterprises on the basis of the theoretical model of the “localized global economy”, drawing distinctions based on types of enterprise, industry and occupational categories. The results show how changes to the labour law in 2004, which adopted the standards contained in international conventions, have given more power to multinational enterprises.     

Making Coolies, (Un)making Workers: “Globalizing” Labour in the Late‐19th and Early‐20th Centuries

This paper explores the social relationships of wage labour formed or stabilized in British merchant shipping in the course of “off‐shoring” employment in the late‐19^th century. It argues that Asian wage‐workers were mobilized for employment on British merchant vessels as “coolies”, i.e. nominally free but mediated labouring subjects who could only be stabilized through legal, penal, social, debt, or other forms of coercion. Once introduced “coolie” relations were not confined to Indian crews. They also affected wage labour relations more generally in British shipping. While occurring against the backdrop of anti‐colonial struggles, the seafaring coolie's transformation into maritime worker was closely mediated by employers and the colonial state and produced hybrid outcomes. The creation of the modern seafaring “coolie” and the nature and context of his transformation into a “worker” thus shed interesting light on wage labour relations in the modern and contemporary global economy.     

城市经济转型与上海国际航运中心建设

“十二五”时期是上海经济转型的重要时期。上海大力发展航运业,建设国际航运中心有利于促进城市产业规模的提高,带动城市产业升级与经济转型,实现腹地城市之间的互动发展;同时也会带来城市环境污染、交通拥挤和港口非良性竞争等负面效应。因此,上海国际航运中心建设需要借鉴国际经验和惯例,通过先行先试,不断创新体制、机制和政策,必须从过去单纯追求“量”的外延式增长转变为注重“质”的内涵式发展,由传统意义的货物集散中心迈向现代意义的资源配置中心。为此,上海港口与航运服务业必须率先转变发展方式、调整产业结构、创新服务功能、实现错位异构发展。在上述分析基础上,提出上海城市转型时期国际航运中心建设的主要对策。     

MARKET POWER AND COLLUSION IN THE OCEAN SHIPPING INDUSTRY: IS A BIGGER CARTEL A BETTER CARTEL?

The regulatory structure of the ocean shipping industry allows carriers to enter into joint pricing agreements (conference agreements) that are free from antitrust scrutiny, and requires freight rates to be published and policed by a government agency. We test whether this regulatory structure leads to the exercise of market power, and identify whether that market power resides with conferences themselves or requires the participation of carriers outside the conference. The results suggest that liner conferences are not particularly effective cartels although some market power may exist in ocean shipping. Market concentration may be a contributing factor to this market power. (JEL L12, L43, L92, K21)     

国际航运中心建设对上海经济发展的贡献度研究

科学分析结果表明,国际航运中心建设为上海创造的直接、间接和波及贡献占全市GDP总量的15%以上,对上海的经济发展做出了重要贡献。上海在未来的国际航运中心建设中,应保持航运装备中心事业的优势,完善高端生产服务业;发展航运金融,加强国内航运金融衍生品研发;拓展航运服务产业链,优化航运市场发展环境;加强综合试验区建设,发挥航运中心的辐射效应;加强长三角地区港口合作,提高航运中心对区域经济的贡献度。     

金融与上海国际航运中心联动研究

金融与航运之间关系是互融、互动和互推关系。金融政策、投资、创新、服务等推动航运发展。上海国际航运中心的金融服务领域由环节向整个产业链不断拓宽,手段由传统方式向新方式不断创新,区域由上海向长三角地区不断延伸,政策由限制性向鼓励性不断深化,市场由单一向全面综合不断扩大,机构由＂点＂向＂团＂不断集聚。要抓住中央给予上海的先行先试政策和国际航运金融等服务业向上海转移的机遇,创新金融体制机制和金融服务手段,大力发展航运金融、物流金融,着眼于服务整个航运产业链,努力在离岸金融、保险与再保险等领域中有所突破,在提升金融综合服务水平中推动上海国际航运中转和高端航运服务业发展。     

The trade–labour relationship in the light of the WTO Appellate Body's embrace of pluralism

Labour lawyers have raised concerns that the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has the potential to limit member States' ability to respond to violations of (international) labour rights/standards, both at home and abroad. But its Appellate Body has interpreted WTO law to “permit pluralism”, preserving Members' right to regulate. This jurisprudence has carved out “policy space” for Members, broadened the scope of doctrinal exceptions and blunted the force of disciplines that seek deep integration through regulatory coordination/coherence. These moves mean that numerous labour-protecting measures are likely to be legal under WTO law, diminishing the potential conflict between multilateral trade law and labour law.     

Books Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Gender, growth and trade: The miracle economies of the postwar years Le travail dans l'histoire de la pensée occidentale New frontiers of democratic participation at work Recent books: Des bancs de l'école aux postes de travail … Chronique d'une ségrégation annoncée Flexibilité et performances. Stratégies d'entreprises, régulations, transformations du travail L'organisation de la production et du travail: vers un nouveau modèle Santé mentale et travail. L'urgence de penser autrement l'organisation New ILO publications: A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all A fair globalization: The role of the ILO Application of international labour standards, 2004: Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations Promoting employment: Policies, skills, enterprises Application of international labour standards, 2004: Information document on ratifications and standards-related activities Best practices in work-flexibility schemes and their impact on the quality of working life in the chemical industries Conditions of work in the fishing sector: A comprehensive standard (a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation) on work in the fishing sector Economic security for a better world Jobs after war: A critical challenge in the peace and reconstruction puzzle Key Indicators of the Labour Market Key Indicators of the Labour Market Organizing for social justice Philosophical and spiritual perspectives on decent work Policies for small enterprises: Creating the right environment for good jobs Preventing and responding to violence at work Record of proceedings Security in ports: ILO and IMO code of practice Social funds: Lessons for a new future Sources and methods: Labour statistics—Companion to the Yearbook of Labour Statistics. Volume 3: Economically active population, employment, unemployment and hours of work (household surveys) Volume 4: Employment, unemployment, wages and hours of work (administrative records and related sources) The global seafarer: Living and working conditions in a globalized industry Towards a fair deal for migrant workers in the global economy Women seafarers: Global employment policies and practices Workplace violence in services sectors and measures to combat this phenomenon: ILO code of practice     

New governance of labour rights: the perspective of Cambodian garment workers’ struggles

Globalization has implied the transfer of industrial work to countries of the Global South, where labour rights are seldom effectively protected by legal frameworks. New forms of governance that go beyond state-centred legal regulation are presented as an alternative to fill in ‘governance gaps’. This paper analyses ‘new governance’ from the perspective of Cambodian garment workers and labour movements’ struggles. Drawing on the literature on governance and private regulation and research data from Cambodia, it argues that a technocratic approach makes governance initiatives ignore the economic conflict between labour and capital but also the possible political conflict between labour and government. By ignoring trade union rights, power-blind initiatives might end up weakening both the labour movement and democratic accountability, instead of complementing state’s regulatory roles. This might serve the overlapping interests of the powerful actors both in Cambodia and internationally.     

Rethinking the governance of labour standards in South–South regional value chains

The growth of intra‐regional trade in the Global South begs the question of whether frameworks developed for the study of North–South global value chains can be used to study labour standards in emerging South–South networks. Critical of the structuralist approaches characterizing the literature, in this article I tackle the question of how formal and informal institutions interact to shape labour standards in South–South regional value chains. This is achieved in two stages. In the first part of the article, I build on Habermas's theory of communicative action to frame labour standards as the outcome of agents’ interactions within and across firms, politico‐administrative institutions and workers’ private and public spheres. Drawing on this framework, in the second part of the article I compare labour standards across the Kenya handbag and footwear sectors. While, in the former, interaction across informal institutions favoured an inclusive and consensual debate between workers and employers; in the latter, an overwhelming process of marketization and bureaucratization failed to provide an interactive space for workers’ concerns to be voiced and negotiated.     

从产业发展演进探索上海产业转型

"创新驱动发展、经济转型升级"是上海产业发展应遵循的总方针。行业比重处于扩张期的、对国民经济拉动作用大于社会平均水平的行业属于未来需要重点关注和发展的行业。上海未来产业发展要关注:提高新一代信息技术产业、新能源产业的能级;进一步做强上海高端制造业品牌;提升金融、贸易、航运、信息等服务业水平;发挥旅游业对上海经济的带动作用;调整、转型,发挥重化工业在上海经济中的作用;不可忽视建筑业、房地产业在经济发展中的作用。     

‘It's kind of saving them a job isn't it?’ The consumption work of household recycling

Consumers play an integral role in societal divisions of labour. Rather than simply consume, they frequently perform labour. Incorporating consumers into the division of labour poses a challenge to this foundational and enduring concept, given its traditional focus on the technical division of tasks/skills within a labour process. Yet, insofar as completion of a circuit of production, distribution, exchange and consumption is predicated on consumers undertaking work in order to/after they consume, analysis of the division of labour would be incomplete without their inclusion. This paper uses the case of household recycling to demonstrate the importance of ‘consumption work’ for the organization of the waste management industry in England. By sorting their waste, consumers initiate a new economic process, providing feedstock (such as metals, plastics and paper) which in turn creates jobs/profits within the recycling, processing and manufacturing industries. Consumers also reconfigure public and private sector responsibilities when they sort their recyclable materials from general household waste, revealing the interdependency of consumption work with labour conducted under different socio‐economic relations and across differing socio‐economic domains. This paper makes the case for a renewed conception of division of labour to account for transformations and interconnections between work of different forms within contemporary society.     

The moral economy of grades and standards

Although they are ubiquitous, grades and standards are usually considered to be merely convenient technologies for organizing and regulating markets so as to reduce transaction costs. In contrast, in this paper it is argued that grades and standards are part of the moral economy of the modern world. Grades and standards both set norms for behavior and standardize (create uniformity). Grades and standards standardize (1) things, (2) workers, (3) markets, (4) capitalists, (5) standards themselves, (6) those who make the standards, (7) consumers, and (8) the environment. Grades and standards may be established by (1) national and international governmental standards bodies, (2) industry and independent standards setting bodies, (3) industry leaders, (4) specialized standards setting bodies, or (5) purchasing agents. Who participates in setting the standards, the processes by which standards are set and what the consequences of setting the standards are have considerable impact on fundamental questions about who we are and how we shall live.     

Maritime labour,transnational political trajectories and decolonization from below: the opposition to the 1935 British Shipping Assistance Act

This article uses a discussion of struggles over attempts by the National Union of Seamen to exclude seafarers from the maritime labour market in the inter‐war period to contribute to debates at the intersection of maritime spaces and transnational labour geographies (cf. Balachandran 2012; Høgsbjerg 2013). By focusing on struggles engendered by the British Shipping (Assistance) Act of 1935, I explore some of the transnational dynamics through which racialized forms of trade unionism were contested. I argue that the political trajectories, solidarities and organizing spaces constructed by the alliances formed to oppose the effects of the act shaped articulations of ‘decolonization from below’ (James 2015). In this way, engaging with the political trajectories and activities of activists from organizations like the Colonial Seamen's Association can reveal new ways of understanding the spatial politics of decolonization and new accounts of who or how such processes were articulated and contested. I conclude the article by arguing that engagement with these struggles can help assert the importance of forms of subaltern agency in shaping processes of decolonization.     

Freedom of association in the Bangladeshi garment industry: A policy schizophrenia in labour regulation

The right to freedom of association is fundamental for the establishment of labour unionism as an institution. While the Government of Bangladesh requires enabling legal provisions for unionization in its garment industry, regulation to ensure the right to freedom of association has proved ineffective in upholding labour unionism. This article highlights the need for legislation capable of drawing on the complementary skills and resources of the Government, factory owners, labour unions and global brands to secure a sustained commitment and contribution towards the socio-economic and political dimensions of labour relations in Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry.     

Labour segmentation and outmigration in Japan: Evidence using firm–worker matching data

Determinants of foreigner outmigration from host countries have attracted considerable attention. However, minimal research examines the influence of firms’ working environments. Although the third largest economy, Japan's inability to attract skilled foreign labour remains a concern. This study is the first to investigate the effect of Japanese firms’ labour segmentation practices on foreign workers’ outmigration intentions. Segmentation refers to firms’ concentration on foreigner-specific skills, regarding foreign labour as complementary to local workers. This is widely practised because of immigration policy's avoidance of substituting Japanese labour or causing unemployment. The findings suggest that although foreigner-specific skills are highly valued in Japan, segmentation could significantly increase foreign workers’ outmigration intention. The lifetime employment system in Japan, job satisfaction and original migration motivations also affect outmigration. The results indicate that Japanese policies encouraging firms to employ foreign workers as complementary may harm its attractiveness to skilled foreign labour.