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COOMIRAPID “FOR AN ORGANIZED INFORMAL ECONOMY”
Colombia is a country in which socio-economic conditions do not offer a guarantee of decent employment for most of its people. According to statistics from the National Administra-tive Department for Statistics (DANE), of the approximately 20 million people who are economically active, 61.7% are part of the informal economy and 14% are unemployed.
For example, in the city of Medellin, there is no information available on the current socio-economic condition of the population who earn a living in the informal economy. The last census was carried out by the municipality, as part of the "Security and Coexistence Social Program for the Recovery of Public Space". This ended with the relocation of informal markets. After eight years, there are new problems with infrastructure, organisation and contamination, and furthermore, the space which was vacated has been taken by other informal vendors.
There is a very high rate of unemployment, few work opportunities and a group of honest and hard working people who need to sustain their families. Informal traders sell cigarettes and sweets on buses, pirate copies of music and books, clothes, electrical appliances and other items. The most common is the sale of fast food.
A conflict arises in connection with the informal economy: On the one hand, the municipal authorities must look after the maintenance and good use of public space, and on the other hand, there are the informal vendors who resolve their economic situation by working as street vendors in the public spaces and streets. There is a lack of public analysis of the difficult situation that families who earn a living in the informal economy face. There are no proposals or solutions to replace the policy of confiscating vendors’ working tools and goods.
COOMIRAPID, a fast food cooperative, is being formed in this context in Medellin. The members will provide a service by selling food that is affordable and of the sort that is popular. The co-operative aims to provide an answer to the need for organisation and a socio-economic alternative to improve the vendors' life. The objectives of the organisation are to provide a means of improving vendors' stalls, consultancy to obtain credit, support in obtaining permits to operate, social security for members, marketing and recreation according to the needs of the members.
One of COOMIRAPID’s objectives is to act as an intermediary to facilitate dialogue with the local authorities to achieve solutions that are beneficial to both the authorities and street vendors. COOMIRAPID informal vendors are determined to look for joint solutions with the authorities, for the development of the city, and to reach an agreement on recognition of the informal economy as a valid means to solve the problem of unemployment.
COOMIRAPID as a cooperative also aims to develop and build informal economy trade unionism. If the organisation of the informal economy can be achieved by unionism, and some agreement reached, the street vendors, the local authorities and all the citizens will benefit.
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