Collective Bargaining in the Informal Economy: Street Vendors

Collective bargaining is usually understood as taking place between an employer(s) and employees. However, workers in the informal economy, including own account workers, are engaged in many different forms of collective negotiation with counterparts that are not employers.

This paper builds on recent work performed by WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing) for the Solidarity Center on collective bargaining in different sectors of the informal economy and by StreetNet International on collective bargaining in the street vending sector. Specifically, it explores the range of collective bargaining arrangements and experiences of street vendors in different countries, many of whom are affiliates of StreetNet International.