Hughes, Alex, Brown, James A, Trueba, Mei, Trautrims, Alexander, Bostock, Ben, Day, Emily, Hurst, Rosey and Bhutta, Mahmood F (2022) Global value chains for medical gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic: confronting forced labour through public procurement and crisis. Global Networks. pp. 1-18. ISSN 1470-2266

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Abstract

This paper evaluates ways in which labour issues in global value chains for medical gloves have been affected by, and addressed through, the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on production in Malaysia and supply to the United Kingdom's National Health Service and draws on a large-scale survey with workers and interviews with UK government officials, suppliers and buyers. Adopting a Global Value Chain (GVC) framework, the paper shows how forced labour endemic in the sector was exacerbated during the pandemic in the context of increased demand for gloves. Attempts at remediation are shown to operate through both a reconfigured value chain in which power shifted dramatically to the manufacturers and a context where public procurement became higher in profile than ever before. It is argued that the purchasing power of governments must be leveraged in ways that more meaningfully address labour issues, and that this must be part of value chain resilience.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Global Health and Infection
SWORD Depositor:	Mx Elements Account
Depositing User:	Mx Elements Account
Date Deposited:	04 Jan 2022 09:45
Last Modified:	03 Mar 2022 12:42
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/103495

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