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CNTS: Report on litigation and collective bargaining activities in Senegal, 2007

After the StreetNet workshop on collective bargaining and litigation for workers in the informal economy in Saly, Senegal, leaders of CNTS met to look at strategies to adopt for the implementation of experience acquired in Saly. 

New programmes 

Given that CNTS had already 2200 members who are informal economy actors, who are affiliated and up to date with their dues in various unions, we called a general meeting of the informal economy workers for us to report back and also to prepare the ground for future work such as:

• New recruiting strategies of informal economy workers and methods to improve;
• Train the trainers seminars that will be organised in future;
• Evaluation of the implementation of signed agreements between local authorities and street vendors;
• Management of new conflicts;
• What new services should we imagine in order to attract street vendors to union activity.

New activities 

A) Existing commissions were reinforced in order to:

      1.  Recruit new members who are informal economy actors.

      2.  Assist street vendors’ organisations in their negotiations with the authorities.

      3.  Motivate street vendors to unionise for a better protection. 

B)  The union department in charge of training and education has organised a three-day seminar from 16-18 May 2007 at Faidherbe hotel of Dakar for capacity building of women informal economy leaders. 

C)  The commission in charge of recruitment has done a great work as it managed to recruit 800 new members in a period of one month of sensitisation and information (general meeting of 1^st May at Sandaga market which is one of the biggest markets in Dakar). 

D)  The monitoring commission has assisted street vendors of Sandaga Market in many negotiations with local authorities (the Director of Halls and Markets as well as Mayors of communes d’arrondissement.for) for better management of the situation of market and street vendors who trade in the main arteries of the city without authorisation. 

The negotiations have ended positively as the municipal authority of Dakar has allowed vendors to occupy temporarily streets and arteries of Sandaga but must not disturb the pedestrians and vehicles’ circulation. They must also not obstruct shop fronts of formal businesses. 

Thereafter, the municipal authority has shown us a way forward to avoid further confrontations with the municipality, when it might decide to evict vendors. 

It advised us to contact the Crédit municipal of Dakar which is the financial institution of the city of Dakar; and to open a savings blocked account in order to get cubicles and souks that are built by the municipality. In this way, all vendors who have an account with that financial institution are recorded and the municipality has put them in contact with promoters who have already started to allocate trading spaces in commercial centres that are being built throughout the city.

What is very important is that displaced vendors receive a subsidy from the municipality and only have to make small deposits to qualify for souks (5% of their value). The remaining amount has to be paid little by little according to the signed agreement with the promoter.

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