Lessons from experience: Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond

Abstract

FOCUS □ PRECARIOUS,INFORMAL ANDMIGRANT WORKERS Lessons from experience: Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyoiid At December our an Efforts' international 2003, in the Ahmedabad, conference International 'Combining India Co-ordiin our Efforts'in Ahmedabad, India in December2003,theInternational Co-ordinating Committee (ICC) on organising workers in theinformal economybrought together 60 participants from 35tradeunionsandother informal economy workers'organisations fromAfrica, Asia,theAmericas andEuropeengagedas direct practitioners in organising various sectorsof workersin the informal economy.The conference provideda unique opportunity forthese organisations to exchangeand consolidate their experiences. A second international 'Combining ourEfforts' conference was heldinAccra, Ghana in September 2006,with65 participants from 55 organisations in 22 countries, themajority again from theSouth.These international conferences showedthatthereis a lot ofworkin progress, especially in theSouth,bothwithin and outside thetradeunionmovement, on organising workersintheinformal economy. Commonproblemsand issues forinformal workers The majority ofinformal workers workforlow, irregular andinsecure income. Theyusually work inunhealthy, unsafeand insecure working environments , and have little (ifany)socialsecurity or protection, includinghealthcare, disability and deathinsurance, pension,maternity, unemployment , disaster etc.Manyhavelow education levelsand little accessto skillsdevelopment and training. Workers in theinformal economyare difficult to organise,and have been ignoredby trade unionsinthepast(so muchso that inIndiathey arereferred to as the'unorganised sector').As a result, fewworker rights existforinformal workersinpractice , suchas protective legislation, representation andvoice. Forown-account workers thereare additional problems, suchas: ■ Lackofcapitaland credit topurchase goods, rawmaterials, tools ■ Poor/no accesstofinancial services ■ Lackofaccesstowellpaying markets/customers ■ Competition - betweenthemselves and against formal sector ■ Notrecognised as workers - bysociety , unions,eventhemselves Keychallenges forunionsorganising informal workers Theseproblems haveoften prevented traditional tradeunions fromattempting to organisethe workers in theinformal economy.However,as informal economy workhas persisted, andgiven that thecorebusinessoftrade unionsisťoorganise and represent the mostexploitedworkers, many tradeunionsno longer regard itas a viable orsustainable optionto continue to turn a blind eye to the plightof informal workers.Trade unionsand other workers' organisations organisingworkers intheinformal economyfacemany organisational challenges.There is usuallyno legal framework or protection aroundwhichto organise and makegains,and no traditional collective bargaining forums. Sometimes (e.g. inthe case of own-account workers)thereis also no employment relationship. Wherean employment relationship exists, workplaces areoften so small thatprecariouswaged workerslack power to confront employers and make gains,and they often workfor harsh employers whoignore laws, so theyare easily dismissedwithlittleor no recourse tolegalremedies. In the informal economythereare different kinds of workplaces- scattered,sometimes mobile,sometimes people'shomesarealso their workplaces. Longhoursare sometimes worked, andtimeorganising canbe incomelostforinformal economyworkers. Manyare so poor that their primary focusis on survival. Manyworkers' organisations lackfinancial resources andexperience inorganising informal workers. Policies andthepolitical willofunionleadership areessential for sustaining organisation ofinformal workers. Without this, organisational efforts canbe easilyside-tracked by previous bad experiences, apathy andnotseeinganybenefit from organising informal workers. Recognition oftheneedtopersistandprioritisation byunionleadership arecentral to maintaining a strategic focuson organising workers intheinformal economy. Challenges and Priorities forwomen informal workers Forwomenworking in the informal economy, there areextraconstraints, e.g. ■ Discrimination and maledomination ■ Unequalaccesstohigher incomeearning occupations orsectors, andfinancial resources, including credit andbanking institutions ■ Lackoftime- evenlessthanmen,forcing focuson survival ■ Lackofmaternity leaveorincomeprotection during childbirth ■ Childand domestic careresponsibilities ■ Physical security and safety ■ Sexualharassment ■ Fear(husband/partners, maleco-workers, employers, community) ■ Lackofconfidence Inthe informal econonythere are different kindsof workplaces scattered , sometimes mobile, sometimes peoples' homes PAT HORN isInternational Co-ordinator of StreetNet www.streetnet.org.za Page 3 Volume 16Issue 3 2009 INTERNATIONAL union rights Streetvendors, informal market vendorsand hawkers are generallythe mostvisible workersinthe informal economy ■ Cultural and religious barriers ■ Maleattitudes insociety ■ Maleculture ofunionsand other organisations Patternsofinformality Streetvendors,informal marketvendors and hawkers aregenerally themostvisible workers in theinformal economy. Theyare foundthroughout the developingworld (Africa, Asia, Latin America& Caribbean,Central/Eastern Europe) and increasingly in the developedcountries of NorthAmerica and WesternEurope, where refugees and migrants turn to vendingin public spacesas a result oflackofaccessto theformal labourmarket. Home-basedworkis less visible,and is done mainlyby women withintheirhomes,where theirexploitation is hiddenfrompublic view. Home-basedworkers are generally unorganised orweaklyorganised intosmalllocalgroups, production , savings,or supportgroups.Sometimes unionsare hostileto themas theysee homeworkers as undermining their conditions andtakingawayjobs . NonGovernmental Organisations ('NGOs') operating as quasi-unions haveinsome cases taken up some space leftby unions, focusedon advocacyandwelfare andsometimes worker rights. Thereis a lot of informality in the transport industry, particularly in Africaand Asia, and almosteverywhere thegarment, retailand construction industries have informalised. Mainly in developingcountries, but even in developed countries thereare people who 'scavenge'for food,things torecycle and/or sell.Informal waste collectionand recycling is concentrated in big cities, and especially...