Home       Back to 2nd StreetNet Congress 2007

Newsletter       French    Spanish

 

Senegal ILO/ICC workshop - Social Protection and the Informal Economy
By Chris Bonner, WIEGO, and Pat Horn, StreetNet International Co-ordinator

The workshop, "Combining our Efforts: Organising for Decent Work in the Informal Economy: The Way out of Poverty", was held from 25-27 October 2005, in Dakar, Senegal. It was funded mainly by the ILO, and planned as a joint ICC (International Co-ordinating Committee on organising workers in the informal economy), and ILO (International Labour Organisation) effort to bring together unions/worker organisations that are organising informal workers to exchange experiences, identify issues and develop organising strategies, with a special focus on social protection for informal workers. 

The objectives of this regional workshop were:

  • to better understand the lack, gaps and needs for the workers in the informal economy of social protection;
  • to develop strategies to intensify organisation of workers in the informal economy;
  • to discuss the role of workers' organisat- ions to improve social protection in the informal economy;
  • to discuss future co-ordination between organisations of workers in the informal economy, and develop mechanisms for such co-ordination;
  • to build links between Anglophone and Francophone countries in order to maximise the sharing of experiences and organising traditions between them in organising the informal economy;
  • to identify existing and new partners- hips and alliances;
  • to collect inputs for the organisers' manual which is being prepared as an ICC project;
  • regional preparation for the next international conference to be convened by the ICC in Ghana.

Participants

National union federations affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the WCL (World Congress of Labour) attended. The majority of delegates were from Francophone West African countries - Senegal, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Benin and Burkina Faso. English speaking participants from Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia attended.

The ICC was represented by Pat Horn, Kofi Asemoah (Ghana TUC), Linus Ukamba (Nigeria Labour Congress) and Mirai Chatterjee (SEWA). Chris Bonner and Francoise Carre from WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising) also attended. 

The ILO was represented by STEP (Social Protection) and ACTRAV (Workers' Bureau) representatives from the Dakar regional office as well as the ILO's Geneva office. There were representatives from OATUU (Organisation of African Trade Unions), Afro-ICFTU and ODSTA (Africa Regional Office WCL). 

The conference was opened by Senegal's Minister of Public Administration, Labour, Employment and Professional Organisations, Adame Sall; Executive Director of Social Protection of the ILO, Assane Diop; and Director of ILO sub-regional office for Sahel in Dakar, Ould Sidi. Abdoulaye Diallo, consultant to the ILO and formerly with ACTRAV for many years, was the overall facilitator.

Programme

ILO Project on organising in the informal economy: ILO and DANIDA (Danish Development Agency) have conducted a project across four countries - Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Senegal, going on to Phase Two in Niger and Burkina Faso. It was reported that in Niger there are now five trade unions of informal workers and a confed-eration of informal economy workers in which three federations are represented. In Senegal, three federations have people responsible for informal workers. In Burkina Faso there are 70 000 members in five unions of informal workers. Training modules have been developed for this project. 

Survey of organising in the informal economy: Prior to the workshop, a set of questions was sent out to the participating organisations. Twenty six organisations responded - 22 federations/unions, 18 of which were French speaking. 

The consolidated report provided an interesting overview of what was happening across the region. For example, 20 unions/federations reported that they had set up bodies/ structures for organising informal workers.

Social Protection:

Presentations were given by:

  • SEWA (Mirai Chatterjee);
  • Rakawin Lee (on Thailand);
  • ILO-STEP in the region, focusing on the mutuals as the main tool (500 systems in Francophone Africa with a million beneficiaries) and a new scheme for transport workers (formal/informal) in Senegal - ILO/union partnership project;
  • A network of credit and savings mutuals in Senegal (PAMECAS);
  • National Council for Rural Dialogue, Senegal, working with agricultural/ fisheries' workers in Senegal to put in place social protection for the rural population - especially women.

Organising workers in the informal economy: After an overview presentation by Kofi Asemoah, Ghana TUC, participants divided into discussion groups. The session was engaging, brought out a lot of information on what was happening, and the obstacles to organising and the opportunities.

Conclusions and final recommendations

  • More than 80% of workers are in the informal economy. Unions have a duty to organise mandates of solidarity;
  • The needs of workers in the informal economy provide an opportunity for development of trade unions;
  • Civil society organisations have already begun to organise. Unions can amplify what is being done by others;
  • Organising is a must - with or without unions;
  • Unions have experience in organising but not in the informal economy. They should use their formal economy experience and adapt to the informal economy;
  • Unions need new methods, strategies and attitudes;
  • Unions/federations need a special committee, department or desk;
  • Unions need to define their role in organising informal workers - collective bargaining, social dialogue, knowledge of labour law and, social protection methods;
  • They should play an active role in advocacy and as information conduits with governments and parliaments at national, local and provincial levels.

Programme of action

The following programme of action was proposed by participants:

  • Produce a brochure based on the workshop;
  • Produce a manual on organising in the informal economy for unions and workers;
  • Have information available at the ILC (International Labour Conference) 2006;
  • Hold a side event at the ILC 2006;
  • Work on advocacy and monitoring and keep regional trade unions informed.

Interestingly, this programme is very similar to the one developed by participants at the first international ICC meeting in Ahmedabad in December 2003 and the follow-up meeting in Geneva in June 2004. Organised workers are on the same track when it comes to being serious about combining efforts to extend the organisation of workers in the informal economy.

Home

Newsletter