Bangkok, Thailand
Photo by: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Reportage
On October 13th to 15th, 2017, leaders of the Federation of Informal Workers (FIT) representing four occupational sectors (home-based workers, domestic workers, street vendors and motorcycle taxi drivers) met for negotiations and collective bargaining training sessions, in Bangkok, Thailand. Jane Barrett, Director of WIEGO's Organization and Representation project, Rhonda Douglas, Programme Strategy Advisor, Bangkok Focal City coordinator, Sarah Reed, and WIEGO’s copy editor, Megan McLeod, coordinated the activity.
The training sessions with informal workers sought to improve negotiations skills in order to negotiate successfully. Elements such as how to keep all the members involved in the negotiations process; how to follow-up negotiations; how to draft an agreement to consolidate what has been agreed in the negotiations; and how to enforce negotiated agreements were some of the themes discussed during the activity.
The session also debated the ILO Convention 177 and Recommendation 204 and discussed how we should push for implementation in Bangkok, as well as how to develop a programme of action for collective negotiations in Bangkok going forward and how to develop the confidence of the participants to be able to share what they learned with other leaders in their organization.
More information
Visit the WIEGO's Organization and Representation programme page
Blog: Strategies for Successful Collective Negotiations, by Chris Bonner
Collective Bargaining in the Informal Economy Street Vendors