Regulating factory safety in the Bangladeshi garment industry

This paper examines how far the workplace inspection programme established under the 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety has served to improve safety in Bangladesh garment factories, and the extent to which its operation has been influenced by the factors that the literature suggests are important in shaping the outcomes of private regulatory initiatives. Its findings suggest that such regulation can generate positive outcomes, even in the absence of strong public regulatory support. They also caution against discounting the role of compliance-based enforcement strategies, while highlighting the importance of their adequate resourcing and transparency. Some support is also offered for the argument that such regulatory initiatives could directly influence the market dynamics that shape supplier working conditions

Infrared molecular fingerprinting of blood-based liquid biopsies for the detection of cancer

Recent omics analyses of human biofluids provide opportunities to probe selected species of biomolecules for disease diagnostics. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy investigates the full repertoire of molecular species within a sample at once. Here, we present a multi-institutional study in which we analysed infrared fingerprints of plasma and serum samples from 1639 individuals with different solid tumours and carefully matched symptomatic and non-symptomatic reference individuals. Focusing on breast, bladder, prostate, and lung cancer, we find that infrared molecular fingerprinting is capable of detecting cancer: training a support vector machine algorithm allowed us to obtain binary classification performance in the range of 0.78–0.89 (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]), with a clear correlation between AUC and tumour load. Intriguingly, we find that the spectral signatures differ between different cancer types. This study lays the foundation for high-throughput onco-IR-phenotyping of four common cancers, providing a cost-effective, complementary analytical tool for disease recognition

The capabilities approach and worker wellbeing

Recently, scholars have attempted to apply the capabilities approach, as advanced by Amartya Sen, to the realm of labour. They argue that it provides a philosophical justification for a ‘development’ approach to labour regulation, supports the design of policies that promote workers’ wellbeing and validates the institution of worker participation mechanisms. For labour proponents, this is an exciting prospect. This article argues that despite its promise for expanding workers’ capabilities, certain ambiguities potentially impede the approach’s utility, particularly in developing countries. We suggest ways in which it can be refined and developed to better serve the interests of labour in these contexts, notably by promoting collective and not merely individual capabilities

Workers’ Agency and Re-Working Power Relations in Cambodia's Garment Industry

This paper explores Cambodian garment factory workers’ collective voice and ability to negotiate a living wage. Workers’ agency is examined through a case study of a large-scale strike in September 2010 over national minimum wage negotiations, led by two Cambodian trade union federations. Analysis is centred on four structural impediments to workers’ wage demands. First, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) consolidated power in 2008. As a result, space for independent trade unions and civil society is decreasing. Second, Cambodia is not deemed ‘competitive’ as a global sourcing option in terms of price, quality and speed to market. As a result, low wages and a proliferation of unmonitored subcontract factories are increasingly becoming the industry’s competitive advantage vis-à-vis Bangladesh and Vietnam. Third, the proliferation of fixed-duration contracts in Cambodia means work is less secure, with attendant impacts on workers and unions’ negotiating strength. And fourth, the unusually high number of plant-level and national trade union federations makes it difficult for ‘genuine’ unions to promote the rights of their members, and workers’ agency potential is marginalized. The intersection of these four structural forces circumscribes workers and independent trade unions’ ability to rework power relations with the employers association, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC). Despite the challenges, workers and independent unions recognize themselves as the agents who must shape key demands, including on wages