Organizing through Administrative Justice and R204

Activities

• Research on legal and urban governance context

  This work targets three key stakeholders: workers, lawyers, and public officials. To understand their needs and priorities, we undertake research on how workers’ activities are impacted by regulatory frameworks; urban governance institutions; and the implementation and enforcement of the law “on the ground”. We draw on participatory action research methods to centre the particular priorities and challenges of organizations of informally employed workers.

  For example, research we carried out with the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA) in July 2024 revealed a range of administrative and financial hurdles preventing vendors from obtaining trading licences; leaving them  exposed to arbitrary interference with their work.

• Empowering workers on Administrative Justice and R204

  A key goal is for worker organizations to know and use administrative justice and R204 when they negotiate with local authorities for better working conditions. To this end, we have developed a series of workshops that introduce workers to law, in general; explain administrative justice principles and the remedies they give rise to; and strengthen their collective bargaining skills.

  Since 2018, more than 170 worker leaders have participated in these workshops. Approximately one-third of participants have subsequently challenged local authorities’ decisions and actions. In Cape Town, the South African Informal Traders’ Alliance (SAITA) was able to reverse a decision to relocate traders to make way for a film crew and get a commitment from the local government that a new by-law be drafted in consultation with workers. In Mexico City, a shoe shiner used the training to challenge local authorities when they tried to evict his co-worker, who was able to return to his workplace within three days.

• Building alliances with lawyers

  We build relationships with lawyers to secure their commitment to assist worker organizations to challenge local authorities’ actions. Activities include:

  • Exposure dialogues: By living and working alongside worker leaders, lawyers are encouraged to engage critically with the legal framework that regulates their livelihoods. For example, in 2019, we arranged for nine lawyers in Dakar, Senegal, to shadow workers in public spaces for two full days.
  • Technical support: We build lawyers’ understanding of the informal economy and the laws that regulate informal work. For example, in 2019, we held a 3-day workshop with 15 lawyers from Legal Aid in Accra, Ghana, which included a legal clinic in the city’s main market.    
  • Education on movement lawyering: We explore what it means to work in deep collaboration with workers and what lawyers need to “unlearn” to do this effectively.

  In several cases, these activities have resulted in improved access to legal assistance for worker organizations. For example, in South Africa, the Socio-Economic Rights Initiative agreed to represent SAITA and the South African Waste Pickers Association on administrative law issues throughout the country, and in Mexico City, the Centro Mexicano Pro Bono signed an Memorandum of Understanding with WIEGO to provide free services to workers in informal employment.

  Publications & Resources

  • Publication Social Movement Lawyering: A Reflection on the Nature of Law and Lawyering Through the Lens of Informal Workers Read More
  • Publication Using Administrative Law to Secure Informal Livelihoods: Lessons from South Africa Read More
  • Resource Using South Africa’s Administrative Law to Protect the Rights of Informal Workers Read More

• Facilitating engagements between worker organizations and local authorities

  We engage with local authorities to debunk commonly held biases about street vendors and waste pickers, as well as to build their knowledge about the impact that laws and regulations have on workers’ livelihoods. This work includes:

  • A technical engagement for us to understand, from the perspective of public officials, the policy objectives of the different regulations that regulate the livelihoods of workers in informal employment.
  • Dialogues that include site visits or longer “exposure dialogues” for officials to understand workers’ living and working conditions.
  • Capacity building for local authorities on the principles of administrative justice, which includes a review of relevant regulations to assess whether they conform with the administrative law of the country.

  Mentoring local government officials, where possible, through local partners, such as Asiye eTafuleni in Durban, South Africa.