The Promise and Perils of Private Voluntary Regulation: Labor Standards and Work Organization in Two Mexican Garment Factories

This paper is part of a larger project on globalization and labor standards organized by Professor Richard Locke of M.I.T.. In addition to the results presented in this paper (some of which appear as well in Monica Romis, "Beneath Corporate Codes of Conduct: What Drives Compliance in Two Mexican Garment Factories," (Masters Thesis, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, M.I.T., 2005)), the project entailed field research in China, Turkey, Europe and the United States as well as systematic analysis of Nike’s factory audits of working conditions in over 800 factories in 51 countries.What role can private voluntary regulation play in improving labor standards and working conditions in global supply chain factories? How does this system relate to and interact with other systems of labor regulation and work organization? This paper seeks to address these questions through a structured comparison of two factories supplying Nike, the world’s largest athletic footwear and apparel company. These two factories have many similarities - both are in Mexico, both are in the apparel industry, both produce more or less the same products for Nike (and other brands) and both are subject to the same code of conduct. On the surface, both factories appear to have similar employment (i.e., recruitment, training, remuneration) practices and they receive comparable scores when audited by Nike’s compliance staff. However, underlying (and somewhat obscured by) these apparent similarities, significant differences in actual labor conditions exist between these two factories. What drives these differences in working conditions? What does this imply for traditional systems of monitoring and codes of conduct? Field research conducted at these two factories reveals that beneath the code of conduct and various monitoring efforts aimed at enforcing it, workplace conditions and labor standards are shaped by very different patterns of work organization and human resource management policies

Seasonal changes in fungi colonies inhabiting black cherry stumps

Black cherry is an important invasive species in forest ecosystems in Poland. It developed mainly in Scots pine stands. The aim of the study was to identify microscopic fungi colonies inhabiting black cherry stumps. In the spring of 2017, wood samples were collected from stumps created after cutting in each subsequent month of 2016 in the Podanin Forest District (19°28'00'E, 52°04'00'N). Stumps up to 5 cm and more than 5 cm in diameter were selected for the study. In total, 72 discs from the first stage of the decomposition of wood were collected. The discs were drilled to obtain fine sawdust for further analysis. The trials were divided into four periods. DNA isolation was performed using the Plant Genomic DNA purification kit (ThermoScientific). The ITS1/2 rDNA region was used for species identification. The analysis was carried out using specific primers. The obtained product was purified and sequenced using the Illumina SBS technology. The resulting sequence was compared using the BLAST algorithm with reference sequences from the NCBI database. The communities of fungi inhabiting the black cherry stumps differed from each other. The highest number of taxa was identified in samples from stumps over 5 cm sheared in autumn and winter, while the lowest in stumps up to 5 cm sheared in spring and winter. Fungi belonging to the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Glomeromycota, Zygomycota and non−cultivable fungi and organisms belonging to other kingdoms were identified. Saprophytes from Menispora sp. dominated on the analysed stumps. The collection of fungi of larger stumps was more diverse and more numerous than on stumps with a smaller diameter. A greater diversity of taxa was distinguished by the stumps of tree fallen in the growing season. The majority of the analyzed samples were dominated by Ascomycota. Basidiomycota clusters dominated in the winter. The predominant share of saprotrophs shows the distribution of stumps. The most desirable effect of the research would be the indication of naturally occurring saprotroph, whose operation would reduce the black cherry’s yield strength. The applied method of sequencing based on the Illumina System was effective to determine the composition of the fungal population

Variability of Functional Groups of Rhizosphere Fungi of Norway Spruce (<i>Picea abies</i> (L.) H.Karst.) in the Boreal Range: The Wigry National Park, Poland

Rhizosphere microbial communities can influence plant growth and development. Natural regeneration processes take place in the tree stands of protected areas, which makes it possible to observe the natural changes taking place in the rhizosphere along with the development of the plants. This study aimed to determine the diversity (taxonomic and functional) of the rhizosphere fungal communities of Norway spruce growing in one of four developmental stages. Our research was based on the ITS region using Illumina system sequencing. Saprotrophs dominated in the studied rhizospheres, but their percentage share decreased with the age of the development group (for 51.91 from 43.13%). However, in the case of mycorrhizal fungi, an opposite trend was observed (16.96–26.75%). The most numerous genera were: saprotrophic Aspergillus (2.54–3.83%), Penicillium (6.47–12.86%), Pyrenochaeta (1.39–11.78%), pathogenic Curvularia (0.53–4.39%), and mycorrhizal Cortinarius (1.80–5.46%), Pseudotomentella (2.94–5.64%) and Tomentella (4.54–15.94%). The species composition of rhizosphere fungal communities was favorable for the regeneration of natural spruce and the development of multi-generational Norway spruce stands. The ratio of the abundance of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi to the abundance of pathogens was high and promising for the durability of the large proportion of spruce in the Wigry National Park and for forest ecosystems in general