Kelly Pike, Assistant Professor of Industrial Relations in the School of Human Resource Management, is a member of a team of researchers working on the project on Decent Work Regulation in Africa. DWR-Africa is a collaboration between Durham University in the UK, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and York University. A central aim of the Project is to establish a regional network of researchers and policy-makers with an interest in effective labour regulation, with a particular focus on the garment sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The DWR-Africa team engages with on-the-ground stakeholders to identify strengths and weaknesses in the current national labour legislation, and gaps in factory compliance with the legislation in order to move towards improving working conditions for employees. As part of the broader DWR-Africa Project, Professor Pike is co-leading a pilot project on enforcing labour laws in Southern Africa. The project aims to better understand the limitations and strengths of multi-stakeholder models in South Africa and Lesotho, and whether these models provide a better way to enforce labour rights.
Watch this video to learn more about the work of DWR-Africa: Rethabile’s Story.