Alliances across the formal-informal divide: South African debates and Nigerian experiences

Abstract:
This paper examines a potential merger between a trade union and an informal economy organisation in the Kaduna province in Nigeria. It takes the case of the Tailors‟ Union – an informal association that is not registered as a trade union – and the National Union of Textile Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN. Both the formal and informal garment sectors have shared interests in defending the local conditions for production, such as access to affordable water and electricity, as well as restricting foreign imports. The union needs to expand its membership numbers by organising in the informal economy in order to finance its operations as well as to maintain political strength. However, it is questioned whether the union would be able to integrate the people in complex labour arrangement in the informal economy; the small entrepreneurs and their employees and apprentices. The fact that the informal tailors are also part of an entrepreneurs association that offers them business development services further complicates their potential membership in an employees association. The paper provides an interesting case study for discussing how informal labour relations affect collective organising in the informal economy.