Reimagining Labor Governance in Global Value Chains: Lessons from the Mathadi Model for Adapting Wage Boards to Transnational Labor Governance

There is growing evidence that private corporate and multi-stakeholder initiatives— often termed ‘Supply Chain Solutions’—are failing to address the social and environmental challenges arising from the governance of Global Value Chains (GVCs). GVCs themselves challenge traditional labor laws and employment regulations due to their multi-tiered supply structures, the dynamics of private power, and the cross-border reach of contracting frms. These factors render traditional labor law tools largely inaccessible or irrelevant to workers in the lower tiers of GVCs. Efforts to regulate labor in GVCs, such as corporate Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) legislation, have fallen short. These top-down approaches, typically originating in the Global North, lack input from affected communities in the Global South, exclude meaningful worker participation, and often lack enforcement mechanisms. This raises a critical question: can labor law address the harsh working conditions created by GVC dynamics under supply chain capitalism? This Article explores whether localized tripartite models of labor regulation— specifcally wage boards that institutionalize bargaining between unions, employer associations, and state representatives to set working conditions, social security, and wages—could be scaled up to address the low labor standards in GVCs. One particularly promising model is the Mathadi Boards in Maharashtra, India, which have successfully improved the working conditions of informal workers who carry loads on their heads in markets, construction sites, industrial sites, and ports.<p></p>