Informal Workers and Collective Action

and Martha A. Chen, Susan J. Schurman, E. Eaton Adrienne

Description

Informal Workers and Collective Action features nine cases of collective action to improve the status and working conditions of informal workers. Adrienne E. Eaton, Susan J. Schurman, and Martha A. Chen set the stage by defining informal work and describing the types of organizations that represent the interests of informal workers and the lessons that may be learned from the examples presented in the book. Cases from a diverse set of countries-Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Liberia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uruguay-focus on two broad types of informal workers: "waged" workers, including port workers, beer promoters, hospitality and retail workers, domestic workers, low-skilled public sector workers, and construction workers; and self-employed workers, including street vendors, waste recyclers, and minibus drivers.These cases demonstrate that workers and labor organizations around the world are rediscovering the lessons of early labor organizers on how to aggregate individuals' sense of injustice into forms of collective action that achieve a level of power that can yield important changes in their work and lives. Informal Workers and Collective Action makes a strong argument that informal workers, their organizations, and their campaigns represent the leading edge of the most significant change in the global labor movement in more than a century.ContributorsGocha Aleksandria, Georgian Trade Union ConfederationMartha A. Chen, Harvard University and WIEGO Sonia Maria Dias, WIEGO and Federal University of Minas Gerais, BrazilAdrienne E. Eaton, Rutgers, the State University of New JerseyMary Evans, Rutgers, the State University of New JerseyJanice Fine, Rutgers, the State University of New JerseyMary Goldsmith, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-XochimilcoDaniel Hawkins, National Trade Union School of ColombiaElza Jgerenaia, Labor and Employment Policy Department for the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, Republic of GeorgiaStephen J. King, Georgetown UniversityAllison J. Petrozziello, UN Women and the Center for Migration Observation and Social DevelopmentPewee Reed, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Republic of LiberiaSahra Ryklief, International Federation of Workers' Education AssociationsSusan J. Schurman, Rutgers, the State University of New JerseyVera Alice Cardoso Silva, Federal University of Minas Gerais, BrazilMilton Weeks, Devin Corporation

Sujets

• Industrial relations
• Activism
• Labour

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 03 avril 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501707964
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

INFORMALWORKERS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION

INFORMAL WORKERS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION AGlobalPerspective

EditedbyAdrienneE.Eaton, Susan J. Schurman, and Martha A. Chen

ILR PRESS ANIMPRINTOF CORNELLUNIVERSITYPRESS ITHACA AND LONDON

Copyright © 2017 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2017 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2017 Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Names: Eaton, Adrienne E., editor. | Schurman, Susan J., editor. |  Chen, Martha Alter, editor. | Container of (work): Hawkins, Daniel  (Daniel James). Port workers in Colombia. Title: Informal workers and collective action : a global perspective /  edited by Adrienne E. Eaton, Susan J. Schurman, and Martha A. Chen. Description: Ithaca : ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2017. |  Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016047013 (print) | LCCN 2016050096 (ebook) |  ISBN 9781501705564 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501705571 (pbk. : alk. paper) |  ISBN 9781501707957 (ret) | ISBN 9781501707964 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Informal sector (Economics)—Employees. | Informal sector  (Economics)—Employees—Labor unions—Organizing. | Employee rights. |  Labor movement. Classification: LCC HD2341 .I53425 2017 (print) | LCC HD2341 (ebook) |  DDC 331—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047013

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cover photographs: Top: Accra, Ghana (2015), photograph by Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images Reportage. Bottom: Bogota, Colombia (2015), photograph by Juan Arredondo/ Getty Images Reportage.

Contents

Par t I

Acknowledgments

Introduction:BroadeningLabor’sRepertoire? Adrienne E. Eaton, Martha A. Chen, and Susan J. Schurman

FORMALIZINGORREFORMALIZINGDISTANCED EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS 1. Port Workers in Colombia: Reinstatement as Formal WorkersDaniel Hawkins 2. Retail and Hospitality Workers in South Africa: Organized by Trade Union of Formal Workers to Demand Equal Pay and BenefitsSahra Ryklief 3. Haitian Migrant Workers in the Dominican Republic: Organizing at the Intersection of Informality and IllegalityJanice Fine and Allison J. Petrozziello 4. Domestic Workers in Uruguay: Collective Bargaining Agreement and Legal ProtectionMary R. Goldsmith 5. Beer Promoters in Cambodia: Formal Status and Coverage under the Labor CodeMary Evans 6. Informalized Government Workers in Tunisia: Reinstatement as Formal Workers with Collective Bargaining RightsStephen Juan King

Par t IITINGOCERGNIRUCESRIGHTSIONAND FOR THE SELFEMPLOYED 7. Minibus Drivers in Georgia: Secure Jobs and Worker RightsElza Jgerenaia and Gocha Aleksandria 8. Waste Pickers in Brazil: Recognition and Annual BonusSonia Maria Dias and Vera Alice Cardoso Silva 9. Street Vendors in Liberia: A Written Agreement With Authorities and a Secure Workplace Milton A. Weeks and Pewee Reed

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CONTENTS

Conclusion: Expanding the Boundaries of Labor Organizing and Collective BargainingSsunaJan,.Schurm Adrienne E. Eaton, and Martha A. Chen

Notes NotesonContributors Index

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239 273 279

Acknowledgments

TheresearchpresentedinthisvolumewasmadepossiblebyfundingtoRutgers University and the Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organiz ing (WIEGO) network as part of a grant from the United States Agency for Inter national Development (USAID) to the American Center for International Labor 1 Solidarity, commonly known as the Solidarity Center.The opportunity to con duct a study over multiple years and across diverse employment and geographic contexts is rare. It was feasible because we were able to work with the global contacts and relationships that have been created over many years by the Solidar ity Center’s global program, the networks of informal worker organizations sup ported by the WIEGO network, and Rutgers’ membership in the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations. These relationships enabled us to assemble a global research team and to gain access to the informal workers’ campaigns that are included in the book. They also allowed us to employ a mul tiple case study design in which we could develop detailed descriptions of each campaign in context and then analyze whether there are common elements that apply across the various contexts. Thepreliminaryresearchdesignforthenineindividualcasesthatarethecore of this volume emerged from the first year of work funded by the Solidarity Center in which both the Rutgers and WIEGO teams conducted broad literature reviews of organizing and campaigns by informal workers. Based on the findings of these reviews, and in consultation with the Solidarity Center staff, the Rutgers and WIEGO teams identified two themes to pursue in more depth and cases that fit within those themes. One, the focus of the Rutgers work, involved successful campaigns by traditional unions to organize subcontracted workers. The other, the focus of the WIEGO work, involved successful collective bargaining by orga nizations of informal workers. Rutgers and WIEGO then identified researchers with the necessary country or sectoral expertise and language skills to conduct the case studies using common sets of research protocols. The cases chosen also reflect, to some extent, focal countries for the Solidarity Center as required by 2 USAID. Byfocusingonsuccessfulcampaigns,ourgoalwastoinformbothothercam paigns by or for informal workers as well as policy and academic discussions about the role of collective action in improving the work conditions of informal workers. We think that the case studies presented here more than achieve this

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

goal. Each of the stories is inspiring, and together they demonstrate that informal workers are indeed engaging in collective action around the world, both organiz ing and negotiating. In our view, the campaigns described here indicate that the global labor movement has begun to understand that informal workers are an integral part of the twentyfirstcentury working class and that finding ways to help them be recognized, represented, and heard is essential to labor’s future. WearedeeplygratefultotheSolidarityCenterstaffforenablingustoconduct this research. In addition to providing us with the financial support to engage a talented and diverse team of researchers, the opportunity to interact with the staff and think through together the study design, implementation, and find ings was invaluable. In some cases, the staff facilitated the field research, assisting with identification of or outreach to research subjects. The opportunity for col laboration among such a diverse group of scholars and practitioners would not have been possible without the support of the Solidarity Center staff. By work ing together to supervise the development and analysis of these cases, we have learned much from each other and, hopefully, have been able to generate insights that will be useful to practitioners as well as contribute to ongoing theorizing about how informal workers can engage in collective action to improve their circumstances. Wealsowanttoacknowledgeandthankeachofthecontributingauthors. They each did an amazing job in the field, often confronting situations that were far more complex or ambiguous than originally expected. In addition, we thank the anonymous reviewer who provided us with excellent advice that has greatly improved the content and presentation of the book. Camille DiLeo did a marvel ous job editing all the notes in each chapter. And of course, we owe a deep debt of gratitude to all the leaders and activists in each of the campaigns for allowing us their valuable time and insights. They represent the future of social and eco nomic justice for workers!

INFORMAL WORKERS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION