TOC Image: Organization & Representation
Organization & Representation
Problem Statement
The poorest segments of the working class – those working in the informal economy and especially women – are the least able to make their voices heard by policymakers, governments, employers, international agencies and others with the power to affect their lives. Generally lacking powerful organizations and without strong support from trade unions, the ability of the working poor in the informal economy to effectively challenge their conditions is very limited.
Informal workers need to organize to build the confidence and power to take collective action, to gain recognition, and for effective voice and representation. They need to organize to change the hostile economic, policy and legal environment in which they work. They need to organize if they are to change their lives.
This is why WIEGO has a programme to support the organization and representation of workers in the informal economy, and also makes this an essential component of all our work. In particular, we support the development of membership-based organizations (MBOs) – trade unions, associations, cooperatives – that are democratic and representative, as well as national and international alliances and networks.
Progress in Organizing
Despite the enormous obstacles to organizing informal workers, progress is being made. Small, localized associations are uniting into larger alliances in cities, countries, regions and internationally.
- In Asia MBOs, groups of home-based workers and supportive NGOs have joined together to form national and regional HomeNets (HomeNet South Asia and HomeNet South East Asia).
- In Africa, Asia, and Latin America and in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, street and market vendor associations are combining into larger organizations, and the number of affiliates to StreetNet International, the international alliance of street and market vendors, is growing.
- In several Latin America countries waste picker/recycler cooperatives have combined into national alliances for example, Movimento Nacional dos Catadores de Materiais Recicláveis or National Movement of Collectors of Recyclable Materials in Brazil, and there is a growing Latin American and Caribbean Waste Picker Network, Red Latino-americana de Recicladores.
- Most recently organizations of domestic workers have formed the International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN) with support from the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) which provides its organizational base.
WIEGO has played a role in supporting these developments, including by: facilitating networking; helping to raise funds; providing capacity-building and technical support; and providing research and policy analysis.
The trade union movement has recognized the need for informal workers to organize. In some cases new unions of informal workers are being formed, or informal workers are joining existing unions. In 2006, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA ) the largest organization of informal women workers, was accepted as an affiliate of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) now the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). In 2010, the ITUC Congress unanimously elected the General Secretary of SEWA as one of its Vice Presidents. Click here for an interview with Renana Jhabvala, national coordinator of SEWA and chair of WIEGO’s board: The ITUC Must Encourage Organizing of Informal Workers.
The challenge for informal worker organizations is how to build on, strengthen and sustain these positive developments.
Goals & Objectives
WIEGO’s long term goal is for the working poor in the informal economy, especially women, to have in place strong, democratic organizations in all sectors of the informal economy, and through these organizations to acquire visibility, voice and power.
Our Organization and Representation Programme aims to make a contribution to the development of:
- strong organizations of informal workers, linked together in sector networks, and to the trade union and cooperative movements
- international recognition and effective informal worker representation in national and international forums that affect their work and lives
- confident and effective women leaders in all sectors of the informal economy
- substantial knowledge and understanding of informal worker organizations through the development of a data base and case studies
- more and better workers’ education, capacity building, support activities and materials for informal workers
- more awareness of how law impacts on informal workers, and more favourable and accessible laws for informal wage and own account workers
Current & Planned Activities
The Organization and Representation Programme works closely with other WIEGO programmes to help make links between the policy-oriented programmes and MBOs, and with the global projects coordinated by WIEGO (Inclusive Cities and Women’s Economic Empowerment as well as with institutional members and partners.
Key Areas of Ongoing Work
1. Support for the Development and Strengthening of Informal Worker Organizations and Networks, and for Recognition and Representation
Domestic Workers: WIEGO, in partnership with the IUF, assisted domestic workers to form their network, IDWN, and provides ongoing technical support for the IDWN in its organizing and campaign work. Support includes advising on strategy, facilitating meetings, providing research and capacity building, and assistance with fund-raising. We provided extensive support for domestic workers to represent themselves at the International Labour Conference (ILC) negotiations around a Convention and Recommendation in 2010 and 2011 (for more, see The Campaign for a Domestic Workers' Convention). A WIEGO staff member, Karin Pape, was seconded to the IUF as the Interim International Coordinator of the IDWN during this campaign. With the appointment of a new International Coordinator, Elizabeth Tang, Karin will now provide the link between the IDWN and the ILO and with the Domestic Workers’ Research Network, launched in June 2011, as well as helping to facilitate the development of a European Domestic Workers’ network. See more about Domestic Workers. Read about the International Domestic Workers’ Network.
Waste Pickers/Recyclers: WIEGO and partners are supporting waste pickers/recyclers to network globally, develop common policy positions and represent themselves in global forums. WIEGO employs a Sector Specialist and two Regional Coordinators to assist waste pickers build organizations, network and form alliances in their countries and regions. We are supporting the participation of waste pickers in the United Nations (UNFCCC) negotiations on climate change so they can make policy makers aware of their vital role in recycling solid waste, and advocate for alternative financing mechanisms that are inclusive of waste pickers/recyclers. Waste pickers/recyclers participated in the negotiations in Bonn, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009 and Cancun, Mexico, Cochabamba, Bolivia and Tianjin, China in 2010 with the support of WIEGO, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives/Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance (GAIA), and the AVINA Foundation.
A Common Vision for WIEGO's Work with Waste Pickers across all regions has been developed.
See more information about waste pickers in the occupational groups section of the informal economy.
See also waste pickers on the Inclusive Cities website.
Home-Based Workers: WIEGO is providing organizational development and capacity-building assistance to HomeNet South Asia, HomeNet South East Asia and some of their national affiliates such as HomeNet Thailand. We are working with the SEWA Learning Hub of the SEWA Academy. In particular WIEGO is providing specialist support on developing democratic MBOs amongst home-based workers and is assisting HomeNet South Asia to run country workshops; the first was held in Nepal in September 2010. With the Global Labour Institute (GLI) we are supporting a Campaign for the Ratification of ILO Convention 177 on Homework, including supporting the development of a campaign manual.
Street and Market Vendors: WIEGO supports organizational development and the worker education activities of StreetNet International on request.
WIEGO also provides technical and strategic support for promoting the organization and representation of informal workers within the international trade unions and cooperative movements. WIEGO is an associate member of the International Co-operative Alliance. Also, through WIEGO’s Regional Advisor in Europe, we are working with the union movement and NGOs to encourage the organization of informal workers in Central and Eastern Europe.
2. Research and Dissemination on Member-based Organizations of Informal Workers
Data Base: WIEGO’s interactive data base of organizations of informal workers is now available online. This is an ongoing project and you are invited to participate. Visit the WIEGO Organization and Representation Database (WORD).
Organizing Models and Strategies: Our research and documentation on MBO organizing models and strategies seek to expand our knowledge base and to provide information to assist informal worker organizations. Current work includes development of a guide to the classification of informal worker MBOs, papers on models and strategies, and worker education activities.
3. Worker Education and Capacity Building
WIEGO helps build the organizational and management capacity of its member/partner organizations and to develop worker education materials and skills on organizing and policy issues. We do this with partner organizations such as SEWA Academy and SEWA Learning Hub.
4. Law and the Informal Economy
Building on pilot projects in Colombia and India, WIEGO instituted a new two-year project in late 2010 entitled “Legal Empowerment of the Working Poor.” Working with country partners, we are carrying out a series of case studies on law and the informal economy. These will focus on different groups of informal workers, such as domestic workers, home-based workers, street vendors and waste pickers/recyclers in three countries: Ghana, Peru, and Thailand. We are also continuing to build up an observatory of useful laws and policies affecting informal workers.
Visit WIEGO's microsite on Law and the Informal Economy
