Booklet 4 - Organizing the unorganized: informal economy and other unprotected workers

Promoting Gender Equality - A Resource Kit for Trade Unions

Gender Promotion Programme
International Labour Office
August 2001

Promoting Gender Equality - A Resource Kit for Trade Unions

Employment

Booklet 4. Organizing the unorganized: informal economy and other unprotected workers

Table of Contents

1. The challenge of the informal economy for trade unions

1.1. The growth of the informal economy
1.2. The challenge for trade unions

2. Organizing informal and other unprotected workers

3. Part-time workers

4. Homeworkers

5. Domestic workers

6. Migrant workers

7. Workers in export processing zones

References and additional reading

Additional examples and case studies

1. The challenge of the informal economy for trade unions

1.1. The growth of the informal economy

"Today the reality of a restructured and fragmented economy and the individualization of employment relationships makes trade union organizing more difficult. Organizing does not mean just recruiting new members in the workplace and providing them with services. It is equally about connecting with current members, potential members and other groups in society who share less and less a commonality of interests in order to build a strong social movement. Organizing therefore means that unions need to refocus on workers, regardless of their employment status or link to a particular workplace".⁽¹⁾
"Organizing the informal sector should be a priority for unions in view of the ever increasing number of workers in the sector, both in developing and industrialized countries. Strategies are needed to defend and promote the rights of the ever-growing number of informal sector workers - the majority of whom are women - and to get them to become members of and fully integrated into the trade unions". ⁽²⁾

One of the greatest challenges facing trade unions today is the growth of the informal economy. A large and growing share of the world's labour force, especially in developing countries and especially the female section of the labour force, is working in the informal economy, marginalized or excluded from the mainstream economy and not covered by labour law and regulations.

Workers in the informal economy face serious deficits in decent work - they are engaged in poor quality jobs, with low productivity and incomes, poor working conditions and occupational health and safety standards and limited access to knowledge, technology, finance and markets. Although not a homogeneous group, the common bond of informal workers is that they are usually low paid, low status, and they have little job, employment or income security and are vulnerable to abuses of workers' rights. Since they are normally outside a country's framework of laws and regulations and are not covered in official statistical enumeration, they are unrecognized, unregistered, unprotected and socially excluded. Their problems are compounded by their lack of organization and voice at work.

Women are much more likely than men to be in the informal economy. In developing countries, the majority of economically active women work in the informal economy. For example, the relative proportions by sex of the non-agricultural labour force in the informal economy between 1991/97 were 97 per cent female to 83 per cent male in Benin, 97 to 59 per cent in Chad, 83 to 59 per cent in Kenya, 74 to 55 per cent in Bolivia, 67 to 55 per cent in Brazil, 91 to 70 per cent in India, 88 to 69 per cent in Indonesia. ⁽³⁾

The Resource Kit uses the term "informal economy" rather than "informal sector". The term "informal sector" is, in fact, increasingly inaccurate or even misleading because:

"Sector" gives the notion of a specific kind of economic activity (for example, the agricultural sector or the tourism sector). But the economic activities and workers in the informal "sector" are very varied in both rural and urban areas - they range from mostly survival-type to some dynamic activities, from street vendors to "disguised wage workers" (where an employer treats a worker as being self-employed or own-account who really should be treated as an employee) and other unprotected workers to micro entrepreneurs;
There is no simple dividing line between formal and informal economic activities. The production of goods and services is increasingly outsourced or subcontracted by large, formal firms to smaller or micro enterprises, household-based production units and homeworkers;
The line between formal and informal activities is also increasingly blurred because enterprises often operate by using a small number of formal workers with full labour rights together with a growing proportion of workers with informal employment arrangements and limited or no labour rights;
Individual workers in many poor countries often have more than one job with different employment or contractual status. They combine formal and informal work to make a living.

The earlier expectation that the informal economy would be progressively absorbed by the formal economy through economic growth has been proven wrong. Today, the informal economy is expanding rapidly in nearly every corner of the globe, not only in developing countries but also in industrialized and transition economies. The informal economy is no longer a residual or temporary phenomenon.

The growth of the informal economy can be attributed to a lack of, or decline in economic growth, to jobless growth, to barriers and constraints on workers' access to the formal job market, to impoverishment and household survival strategies. National policy reforms and global developments in recent years have contributed to the expansion of the informal economy. For example, structural adjustment programmes in most developing countries have slowed down aggregate demand, cut back public sector employment and severely contracted employment in the formal economy. Processes of trade liberalization and technological developments have prompted the adoption of new production systems and the increased use of more flexible employment arrangements. Increasing numbers of jobs are outsourced or subcontracted by formal firms to smaller enterprises, household-based production units and homeworkers in the informal economy.

Enterprises and workers may be "informal" because they are outside the legal and regulatory framework. But the reasons can be very different and need to be clearly distinguished. Enterprises may be informal because:

they find commercial law or the administrative procedures for business registration too difficult or costly or unsuitable in the context of new information and communications technology;
the taxation system or social security system is too cumbersome;
they see no benefit in registering their business;
the labour code is too restrictive or burdensome for small or micro enterprises to operate profitably; or
they outright intend to not observe labour standards in order to reduce labour costs.

Workers in certain types of work may be informal because:

they are working in such informal enterprises;
they are outside the coverage of current labour legislation because:

- labour law has failed to keep up with changes in the labour market or economic organization, eg. new types of employment relationships and forms of atypical work may not be adequately provided for in traditional labour legislation;
- the law does not apply because it has not been tested in a given situation, eg. where an employer treats a worker as being self-employed who really should be treated as an employee.

the enforcement mechanisms are lacking or too weak to register, inspect or protect them.

1.2. The challenge for trade unions

In principle, unions are concerned with all workers, regardless of employment status or link to a particular workplace. However, the heterogeneity of the workforce and employment relationships in the informal economy pose a number of challenges to unions attempting to organize and represent such workers because:

Such workers do not represent a uniform group and may have obvious differences of interests;
They may not share common interests with the bulk of current union members. For example, ethnic, family and kinship ties may be stronger among such workers than working class solidarity;
They are often so caught up in the daily struggle for survival that they are not inclined to join in collective action, especially since they cannot see how such action or membership in a union can help them solve their practical problems and basic needs;
The highly precarious nature of their work means that they are often too worried about losing their jobs to join a union;
They are often not covered by existing labour legislation;
Informal workers, especially homebased workers and those in micro enterprises, may be hard for unions to contact and to mobilize - organizing drives can be costly and difficult and time and resource consuming;
Unions may find that it is hard to retain such workers as members because of the precariousness of their employment, and would, therefore, have to consider whether it is an efficient use of their human and financial resources to try to organize such workers;
Many unions do not have tested strategies for organizing them;
Current union members may not see the rationale for organizing such workers and may object to the necessary changes in policies and resource allocation required to reach out to such workers. The challenge is for the unions to reach out to new groups without undermining their traditional support base.

In spite of these challenges, more and more unions are recognizing the importance of organizing informal workers - not only in the workers' interests but also for strengthening the trade union movement as a whole. Women trade unionists have played a leading role in bringing up informal economy issues and pressing for the definition of a clear trade union position on these issues.

Mandated by the 17^th. ICFTU World Congress in Durban in 2000, a Task Force on Informal or Unprotected Work, composed of ICFTU affiliates from the different regions, from the ITSs and Secretariat staff, was set up to develop stronger and more effective strategies to help vulnerable workers help themselves and to "respond to the deterioration of conditions and protections and informalization of the economy in the context of globalization".

2. Organizing informal and other unprotected workers

"The central issue in organizing is the effective protection of the right of all workers to organize. It is up to workers themselves to decide whether they want to form their own trade unions or other organizations or join existing unions, but it is wrong and counter-productive to confuse the right of workers to organize with the obligation of trade unions to organize" ⁽⁴⁾

Freedom of association is a protection of the right to organize of people who perform work. Rights are to be guaranteed to workers not trade unions. If the right of workers to organize is violated, it is not the fault of trade unions if workers are unable to form or join their own organizations. Therefore, it is important to properly frame the responsibilities of trade unions in the area of organizing in the informal economy.

A common mistake begins by thinking of trade unions as already established institutions and not as something workers can bring into existence themselves through a process. It is up to workers themselves to decide whether they want to form their own trade unions or other organizations or join existing unions. There are many examples of how informal operators and workers have themselves mobilized and organized in one way or another, at grassroots or community level, in self-help groups or in trades-based organizations. It is also worth remembering that the history of the trade union movement is one of unprotected workers joining together to affirm their rights before employers and governments.

Organizing strategies would, therefore, differ, depending, for example, on whether workers are setting up their own new membership based organizations or existing trade unions are reaching out to organize and represent them. Even when an existing union is not directly organizing informal workers, it can still assist informal or unprotected workers in several ways. The strategies required would of course also depend on the specific groups of workers and their particular situations and needs. Subsequent sections in this booklet will focus on specific groups and will highlight measures particularly relevant for each. However, there are some general guidelines for organizing and protecting informal economy and other vulnerable workers:

special outreach;

awareness raising and education campaigns;

changes in union statutes and internal structures;

special services for informal and unprotected workers;

inclusion in collective agreements;

assistance to form own associations/unions and alliances and coalition building.

Special Outreach

One of the most difficult challenges is to reach informal or atypical workers. Some workers are homebased, others are scattered over small production units that are often invisible and hard to locate and contact. In practice, this means going out and looking for them:

Guidelines:

Promote the 'organizing model' of trade union organization in order to empower workers to find solutions to their problems. This approach devotes particular attention to empowering rank and file members to do the work of organizing their co-workers
[

Booklet 1 on the differences between the organizing and service models of trade unionism];

Keep track of unions members. In today's labour markets, workers are very likely to change jobs, employment, work status or workplace or become unemployed several times over their working life. Therefore, it is very important for unions to not lose touch with their members;

Make access to information about the location of workers and details of 'contracting out' a priority. Unions should establish mechanisms to systematically collect information that tracks the contracting out process and the flow of work along the production chain from the point of sale of the final product or service down to the basic unit of production. This information can be used by unions to identify potential members and also for media campaigns about the employment conditions of contract workers and homeworkers;

Use a community-based approach in conjunction with other proven 'shop-floor' organizing methods. With many types of atypical workers, their uncertain hours of work and their dispersed workplaces mean that the main point of access to them may be at the community level. This means working intensively in particular communities and linking with community organizations which have contacts with these workers. Building alliances with like-minded organizations and movements can be an important way of spreading trade union ideals and raising the trade union profile [

Booklet 6 on "community unionism"]. Community-level women's groups and NGOs can be very useful allies, both for establishing contacts with atypical workers and for joint action on a range of social and human rights issues. Some unions have also established community centres to provide advice, counselling and training services and thereby attract such workers;

Build 'bridges' between the trade union movement and informal or unprotected workers. For example, trade union members who are employed in the formal economy but who have relatives or friends in the informal economy can serve as the link between the union and the workers concerned. The union experience of members and activists who have been forced out of the formal economy into atypical work should be capitalized on;

Take care to ensure that the places and times of activities to reach out to informal workers suit their heavy and uncertain work schedules. Often this may mean holding evening sessions or on Sunday afternoons, and it may also mean organizing informal child care where necessary.

Awareness raising and education campaigns

Once contact is made, unions need to motivate informal or unprotected workers through:

Guidelines:

Awareness raising campaigns that focus not only on their legal rights but also, and very importantly, on the benefits of unionization. Especially since the most important reason why women do not join unions is that they do not understand how unions can help them, such sensitization activities are crucial. A comprehensive communications strategy is crucial; awareness raising campaigns and rallies, radio and television or announcements, street theatre, musical performances may be more effective than print media to transmit information to workers, especially women, in the informal economy;
Widely publicize union successes in improving the position of such workers;
Use innovative ways of educating and mobilizing workers, bearing in mind that in some types of atypical work, women may have a low level of education and literacy. Trade unions in some African countries have indicated that alternative communication tools such as role playing, drama and songs are particularly effective communication tools within education programmes addressing women.

From 1987 to 1997, the IUF ran an education project with the IFPAAW and the ILO to increase the participation of rural women workers within affiliated unions in Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The education programme was initiated after IFPAAW drew attention to the total absence of women in leadership positions and their very low participation in union activities. An important and innovative approach was the use of songs, drama and role playing to teach rural (male and female) workers about trade union and gender issues. Group work at seminars included performances around given topics. Video recordings were made of the performances and used as a means of self-analysis and development. Drama groups were established to enable workers to explore subjects such as women's rights, labour laws, health and safety and environmental hazards. The evaluation found that the drama, songs and role play component enhanced the participatory effect and cost-effectiveness of the project. By the end of the project, female membership had increased in all the unions involved, as had the number of women office bearers.

Implement comprehensive education programmes, with the aim of developing real leadership potential among atypical and informal workers. A holistic education approach appears to work best - covering normal union issues such as collective bargaining and also other issues addressing the specific needs of such workers, such as legal literacy, how to apply for loans, etc.
Consider the choice of education techniques to use in dealing with informal workers. One method that has proved successful is study circles. Trade unions use study circles to enable informal workers to acquire skills in organizing training sessions and meetings, and this method has helped to build mutual respect, dialogue and unity among workers.
Participatory methods are also important. For example, soliciting the views of atypical women workers and listening to their concerns in women-only forums where they can express themselves freely can be a more effective strategy than merely informing them of their rights.

Changes in union statutes and internal structures

Some unions may not have the constitutional provisions and mandate to organise workers outside the formal economy. Changes in union constitutions and internal restructuring are often required to enable recruitment of workers outside the formal economy.

Guidelines:

Amend the union constitution or statutes to include informal or atypical workers. Such amendments may cover the right to membership, participation in negotiating teams, inclusion in collective agreements and, in many cases, the provision of special services. For example, to open up union membership to atypical workers unions could adjust subscription rates according to earnings of different types of workers. Unions can also adopt a policy not to differentiate between workers with different work patterns. They could change their rules on mutual health schemes and cooperatives to allow atypical workers to become members;

Conduct union campaigns directed at government to reform labour legislation or extend the scope of coverage to workers outside the traditional formal economy. Since there are often legal barriers, changes in labour legislation are necessary before unions can adequately represent atypical workers or include them in collective agreements. The union movement can play an important role in advocacy and lobbying of governments on this issue;

To more effectively mobilize and organize atypical workers, unions may need to change their internal structures, including creating special departments or units and having specific budget allocations.

The informal economy has become a reality within the Democratic Union of Workers of Senegal (UDTS). Since 1998, informal workers been represented within the national centre by an autonomous federation, the Informal and Rural Workers' Federation (FETRI).

Unions in Ecuador and Panama have established departments for rural and indigenous workers.

In Benin and Ghana, there are secretariats/full-time officials responsible for the informal economy.

The Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC) has set up a secretariat for self-employed workers.

In Canada, unions have appointed both male and female Special Programme Union Representatives (SPUR) with the mandate to organize atypical workers.

Women's sections in trade unions can also play a critical role in reaching out to informal and other unprotected workers. They can develop services that are relevant to such women workers, for example targeting young women who make up the bulk of new entrants into the labour market by assisting them to find jobs and offering workshops on issues such as sexual harassment and adjustment to working life.

After the mass-lays following the closure of many state institutions in Colombia during the mid-1990s, the Women's Department of the Single Confederation of Workers (CUT) devised strategies to retrain women for occupations in great demand. This led in 1995 to the creation of the Centre for Women Workers who are Heads of Households (Casa de la Mujer Trabajadora Jefa de Hogar). The Casa has launched a number of programmes to assist women complete secondary education, gain access to national programmes of apprenticeship, find employment caring for elderly people, etc. Universities and other training institutions have also extended their programmes to the Casa.

Source: ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities. 1999. Trade Unions and the Informal Sector: Towards a Comprehensive Strategy. Geneva: ILO. p.54

Funding is a critical issue for campaigns targeting workers outside full time formal work, and international trade unions can play an important role in assisting resource-strapped trade unions in the developing world.

Special services for informal and other unprotected workers

Interest representation, lobbying, advocacy and collective action remain at the heart of trade union activities. But to make themselves more relevant to the lives of atypical and informal workers, unions can provide or extend the range of "special" services as a tool to address the immediate economic and social needs of these workers and as a recruitment strategy:

"These services should not be regarded as a substitute for collective bargaining nor as a way to absolve governments from their responsibilities. Rather, the special services should be seen as a complementary organizing activity aimed at improving trade unions' leadership role in society at large and helping to raise their profile in civil society" ⁽⁵⁾.

Such special services can be:

establishing job placement centres, telephone helplines to assist such workers in job search or employment related problems;
helping such workers to regularize their employment status;
assistance to deal with bureaucracies, for example, assisting women in the informal economy to deal with banks, creditors and local authorities to obtain licenses, subsidies, market places, and so forth;
setting up of cooperatives: The organization of cooperatives is often a first step towards unionization. Cooperatives generally pursue both economic and social objectives and have proven to be successful in both empowering women and increasing their awareness of the benefits of unionization. "The big advantage of being a member of a trade union-cum-cooperative organization is that a casualized worker begins to perceive herself gradually as a proper `worker' entitled to rights similar to those that the State offers to workers of the organized sector" ⁽⁶⁾;
facilities for atypical workers, including medical insurance, health funds, unemployment benefits, educational grants, loans, community-based childcare facilities, etc.;
providing training for such workers, such as in legal literacy, occupational safety and health issues, family planning, etc.

To aid women in Burkina Faso's informal economy, the Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres (ONSL) created an integrated development centre at Ouagadougou in 1993. This centre offers women market traders engaged in weaving, dressmaking, embroidery, knitting and soap production the chance to join forces and to have better working conditions. The centre also offers literacy, hygiene and nutrition courses which have enabled women to keep a health record of their children - an essential element in a country where the mortality rate of children under 5 years is 50 per cent. The centre also runs training courses in basic accounting and administration. As a result of these activities, the women have organized themselves, formed a cooperative and joined ONSL.

Source: ICFTU, Claiming our rights - Women and trade Unions

ICFTU Website: http://www.icftu.org

Inclusion in collective agreements [ Booklet 3]

An important aim is for unions to include atypical workers or workers outside the formal economy in collective agreements. There can be two basic approaches:

Extension of collective agreements to cover atypical workers, so as to overcome some of the disadvantages suffered by such workers, such as exclusion from statutory benefits, unequal pay or lack of employment security.

In the United Kingdom, UNISON has been successful in getting specific reference to equal treatment for part-time and temporary workers in the local government `single-status' agreement. UNISON's "Positive Part-Time Campaign" has also been successful in negotiating recognition agreements with agencies employing such workers.

In Canada, part-time employees have their own bargaining unit or positions within the bargaining team of the union.

Bargain for the regularization of the employment status of atypical workers, so as to bring them closer to `core' union members.

The Swedish Union of Folk High School Teachers has a provision in its collective agreement for regulating how long workers can be employed on a temporary basis before becoming permanent.

The Zimbabwe Textile Workers Union has negotiated for contract workers to become permanent employees after renewing their contract more than three times over twelve months or after serving a contractor for twelve months.

Assistance to form own associations/unions and alliances and coalition building

Trade unions have different options for organizing informal or unprotected workers. Whatever option is decided upon should have the clear endorsement of current union members. These options are:

Guidelines:

Amend the trade union constitution or statutes to include informal or atypical workers as direct members. This means the union will have to widen its interpretation of the traditional trade union 'base' to include a broad spectrum of workers, regardless of their employment status. To broaden its organizational base through an expansion of membership, the union would have to consider:

how such workers should be integrated into existing union structures. For example, should such workers be able to play their part in the management structure on the same basis as other members?
whether such workers should pay regular membership fees. Since for many such informal workers the fees may be a constraint, the union should find alternative solutions, such as setting lower rates or offering a 'grace period'.

Help informal or unprotected workers to establish their own union-type, membership-based associations and forge close relations with them. Where there are major constraints to directly recruiting informal or unprotected workers as members, it may be more effective in the short term to provide guidance, training and other supports to enhance the capacity of such workers to organize themselves. The unions could then form close partnerships or affiliations with these self-organized groups. This kind of initiative can be instrumental in developing mutual trust and in overcoming reservations that atypical workers may have in joining existing unions. The related issues to consider are:

If these informal workers set up their own union, how should the new union be formally affiliated to the existing national structure?
If they establish other types of associations that are not formally affiliated to the national union structure, how can the existing trade unions forge linkages and close alliances with them? [ Booklet 6 on alliances and community unionism];
The importance of lobbying on behalf of these informal organizations and fighting for their recognition. Remember: Informal workers often organize with the help of unions or NGOs but after the initial stages, they face difficulties of sustaining and developing their organizations. A major problem is that these organizations usually remain unrecognized by those with whom they need to negotiate -- public authorities, contractors, employers, etc. Established trade unions have a critical role to play to assist these organizations to achieve recognition, bargaining power and legal protection.

In Benin, two federations, CSA-B and UNSTB with the help of the African Regional Organization (AFRO) and the ICFTU and with financial support from the European Union, launched a project in 1998 called "Support to Strengthen Unionization in the Informal Sector". Craftsmen, market vendors, farmers, butchers, delicatessen owners, mechanics, taxi drivers, dressmakers, barbers and hairdressers, artists, mattress makers, plumbers, bakers, photographers, unemployed graduates are often organized into either a cooperative or a local or regional association. These associations wish to become national groups but their development is often hampered by unstructured and inefficient organization, financial problems, failure on the part of members to pay their dues, lack of availability of certain officials or the low level of members' education. The project assisted these groups to better understand the validity of the trade union approach, form trade unions, negotiate with the authorities. Several of the informal groups reported "More solidarity, more exchanges, a better working method, payment of dues: in less than a year, people's behaviour has changed radically.......The method of training using study circles has enabled us to completely change our approach to human relations. More democracy, seeking consensus, tolerance .. this is a powerful method... Defending both the formal and informal sectors by giving a voice to the most interested parties".

Source: Natacha, D. 1998. Inventing trade unionism in the informal sector, Trade Union World, 1 September.

Build coalitions with appropriate informal economy organizations which already exist and which share the basic principles and objectives of the trade union movement. These groups can provide opportunities for organizational partnerships or integration with existing trade union centres.
Retain union identity as organizations of workers acting in defence and promotion of their interests, and, on this basis, build more general alliances with NGOs, religious groups and other civil society groups as one component of the overall campaign to organize and improve conditions for informal or unprotected workers. Issues-based alliances can be an effective measure [ Booklet 6].

3. Part-time Workers [ Booklet 3 on part-time work with benefits]

Part-time employment has been expanding relative to full-time employment. Women represent the majority of part-time workers, accounting for 80 per cent or more in several Western European countries. A key issue that unions should consider is whether part-time work is a "bridge" or a "trap" in terms of labour market participation.

Part-time work is a "bridge" when it facilitates gradual entry into, participation in or retirement from the labour market; and can be particularly important in offering women an effective way to divide their time between paid work, household responsibilities and child rearing. However, it can also be a marginalized form of cheap labour that entraps workers in precarious employment. This is especially the case where women go into part-time work because no full-time jobs are available and where missing out on training and promotion pushes these workers into a peripheral labour market in terms of qualifications and income, or lower lifetime accumulation of pension entitlements ⁽⁷⁾.

It is useful to distinguish three main categories of part-time work:⁽⁸⁾

contingent participants to the labour market who are not seen as prime or independent income earners. In many countries, such part-timers have restricted rights to unemployment benefits, pensions and/or sick pay, particularly when they fail to meet earnings or hours thresholds or when combining work with other activities such as education and caring;
continuous participants working reduced hours temporarily and voluntarily. This category consists mainly of women who reduce hours of work over the period of pregnancy and child-rearing while remaining permanent participants in the labour market. The right to work part-time is seen as a privilege. The employer or the State does not compensate for the gap in income between full and reduced hours;
part-time work for full-time continuous participants in the labour market. This may refer, for instance, to short-time work with earnings compensation to avoid redundancy, but is usually targeted at male manual workers. There are very few situations where women would receive compensation for hours not actually worked.

To organize part-time workers, some specific guidelines are:

Guidelines:

Negotiate for permanent status for workers who are hired on a continuous basis or in a job that is not temporary in nature;

Extend the general conditions (pay, benefits, leave, rights with respect to termination of employment) of full-time workers to part-time workers to the greatest extent possible;

Avoid thresholds built into eligibility requirements and qualifying conditions, such as minimum number of hours worked or earnings;

Ensure that training opportunities are open to part-time workers so that they can improve their employment status and enrich their jobs;

One union that has made significant headway in recruiting part-time workers is UNISON in the United Kingdom. Of its more than 1.3 million members working in the public services and utilities, more than half work part-time.

The success of UNISON's campaign is based on a strategy of portraying part-time work as a positive choice, and one where workers are entitled to equal treatment and all the rights and benefits of full-time work. Through its Positively Part-Time campaign, the union has achieved numerous victories for part-timers including equal rights for:

equal pay
shift allowances
bank holidays
maternity rights
pensions
sick pay
redundancy rights
bonuses and other pay enhancements
access to quality training and protection
employment protection

Through negotiation and legal action, the union deals with many types of individual problems and grievances, and in some cases has taken the issues right through to the House of Lords and the European Court of Justice.

The union uses posters, brochures and other publicity materials to disseminate information about its work and services. UNISON believes that its success in recruiting atypical workers is a result of offering its members who are working part-time the same benefits as its other members, including career training and education, free legal advice for problems at work or outside, reduced insurance rates for homes and cars, lowered mortgage rates, confidential help and financial assistance from its welfare officers, and a range of information from their experts on employment law, social security and bargaining agreements. One of the most effective strategies to encourage membership of the union has been the policy of linking membership fees to earnings, so that, in effect part-time workers may pay less but still receive full benefits.

Source: UNISON's "Positively Part-Time" campaign pamphlet.

Relevant ILO standard:

Part-time Work Convention, 1994 (No.175)

Article 4

Measures shall be taken to ensure that part-time workers receive the same protection as that accorded to comparable full-time workers in respect of:

(a) the right to organize, the right to bargain collectively and the right to act as workers' representatives;

(b) occupational safety and health;

Measures appropriate to national law and practice shall be taken to ensure that part-time workers do not, solely because they work part-time, receive a basic wage which, calculated proportionately on an hourly, performance-related, or piece-rate basis, is lower than the basic wage of comparable full-time workers, calculated according to the same method.

Article 7

Measures shall be taken to ensure that part-time workers receive conditions equivalent to those of comparable full-time workers in the fields of:

(a) maternity protection;

(b) termination of employment;

(d) sick leave

It being understood that pecuniary entitlements may be determined in proportion to hours of work or earnings.

4. Homeworkers

Home-based work has been expanding, especially as a consequence of developments in information and communications technology. Homebased workers are in an extraordinary diversity of occupations, payment systems and contractual arrangements, in a wide range of service and manufacturing industries. Industrial-type homework covers the traditional sectors such as textiles and clothing and also newer activities such as sorting, cleaning, packaging and labelling of high-technology manufacturing and electrical, plastic and light metal goods. Such work is labour-intensive and is often contracted out on a piecework basis. Homework in the service sector is also expanding, especially in teleworking and "back offices" for word and data processing, invoicing, editing and translating.

Women account for 70 to 80 per cent of homeworkers in both developed and developing countries; they make up an "invisible" and "captive" workforce, often tied to the home because of family responsibilities. Homeworkers are often migrant or ethnic minority women who are unable to find work outside their homes, because of discrimination or prejudices against migrants or barriers such as lack of knowledge of the host country's language.

Homeworking generally involves low pay, invisibility, long hours and poor working conditions. Compared with in-factory workers, who produce goods of the same quality and quantity, homeworkers are paid considerably less. Most have no networks or other organizational basis for bargaining or comparing the current wage rates. They are subject to insecurity of work availability, receiving income only when work is available. There is also the danger that homebased workers may use their children as part of the family labour force and withdraw them from school. Health and safety conditions may be poor in the home. Access to social benefits and protection is also a problem, since homeworkers normally are not covered by the national labour legislation.

Homeworkers were traditionally seen as "outlaws or scab labour" by the unions, so that the early response was to advocate a total ban of homework. But now many unions have moved towards organizing such workers. Instead of blaming homeworkers for the growth of homework, many unions have tried to understand the reasons why women take up homework and to help these women. Union can:

Checklist:

Establish contact with homeworkers. Conventional methods may not be effective. Unions may need to:

work intensively in some communities with community organizations, including migrant community organizations, to contact such workers at their homes;
organize special events which allow homeworkers to come out of their isolation, come into contact with each other, make factory visits, etc. ;
establish a telephone hotline or free inquiry line so that homeworkers have a contact point where they can seek advice;
set up information or support centres at the community level:

In the Netherlands, the Women's Union set up independent Home Work Support Centres (HSCs) to provide advice and support service to homeworkers and, through their contacts, collect information and develop policy about homework. The HSCs were funded by the national government but worked closely with the unions, and were successful in bringing some homeworkers into union membership. For example, the HSC liaised with relevant trade unions where possible, in order to build contacts between homeworkers, the organized workforce within the factory and the relevant trade union; and to persuade the unions to adapt some of their practices to encourage homeworkers to join, eg. by having some flexibility in membership dues.

Source: Martens, M.H. and S. Mitter (eds.), Women in Trade Unions Organizing the Unorganized. Geneva: ILO, pp.83-88.

Collect information about homeworking, once contact has been established. Since most homework is invisible, information can be collected only through contact with the workers themselves.

Publicize the information, carry out campaigns to make homework visible and to generate support for activities to improve the situation of homeworkers.

The Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia (CATU) organized a major publicity campaign in 1986 to directly inform outworkers about the union's policies on homework. It used the "ethnic media" ie. both newspapers and the radio to reach such workers. It also collaborated with the state government to set up a multilingual hotline for advice and help to outworkers, and to produce thousands of leaflets in 14 different languages. The union also employed a project worker to deal with inquiries from outworkers. In a period of about 1 year, over 6000 workers contacted the union for advice. "Prior to this information campaign being implemented, the union scarcely heard from any outworkers"

Source: Martens, M.H. and S. Mitter (eds.), Women in Trade Unions Organizing the Unorganized. Geneva: ILO, pp.67-73.

Lobby for legal reform for homework. Especially where homeworkers are not covered by labour legislation, such reform is a pre-condition for improving their situation. It is important to lobby for recognition of the "employee status" of homeworkers since this enables them to have the same rights and to be covered by the same awards as in-factory workers in the same industry, rather than being treated as "independent contractors".

In Australia, the initial step was to advocate the legalization of homework by campaigning for the permit system to be changed to enable homeworkers to come forward. It was then followed by a major campaign for employment rights for homeworkers. Once the move to establish legal rights was successful, the Clothing and Allied Trades Union (CATU) was able to fight numerous claims on behalf of homeworkers. Its successes were widely publicized.

Organize the homeworkers - either by recruiting them directly as members of the union (eg. through keeping membership dues low enough to be accessible to homeworkers) or by encouraging them to set up their own associations that are affiliated with the union.

Include homeworkers in the terms of the collective agreement.

Relevant ILO Standard:

Home Work Convention, 1996 (No.177)

Home Work Convention, 1996 (No.177)

Article 1

For the purposes of this Convention:

(a) the term "home work" means work carried out by a person, to be referred to as a homeworker;

(i) in his or her home or in other premises of his or her choice, other than the workplace of the employer;
(ii) for remuneration;

(iii) which results in a produce or service as specified by the employer, irrespective of who provides the equipment, materials or other inputs used,

unless this person has the degree of autonomy and of economic independence necessary to be considered an independent worker under national laws, regulations or court decisions.

Article 4

1. The national policy on homework shall promote, as far as possible, equality of treatment between homeworkers and other wage earners, taking into account the special characteristics of home work and, where appropriate, conditions applicable to the same or a similar type of work carried out in an enterprise.
2. Equality of treatment shall be promoted, in particular, in relation to:

the homeworkers' right to establish or join organizations of their own choosing and to participate in the activities of such organizations;
protection against discrimination in employment and occupation;
protection in the field of occupational safety and health;
remuneration;
statutory social security protection;
access to training;
minimum age for admission to employment or work; and
maternity protection.

The Homeworkers' Code of Practice

Fair Wear Code of Practice

The Homeworkers' Code of Practice was developed by the TCFUA together with representatives of the textile and clothing retail and manufacturing industries. The Code is a self regulatory system that intends to regulate and monitor the production chain from the retailer to the homeworker. It also attempt s to simplify the reporting requirements of manufacturers, building solidly on award entitlements to workers. There are two parts to the Code:

Part I is relevant to retailers: The Statement of Principles regarding Homeworkers' Wages and Conditions:

This includes ten principles that outline the intent of the parties to the Agreement;

The acceptable work conditions and pay rates homeworkers should receive;

Parties to the agreement will ensure that manufacturers comply with these standards;

Retailers who purchase products not produced by exploited labour may identify these products with a logo or other sign of compliance;

Retailers commit not to sell products which have been produced by exploited labour, this may include terminating a relationship with a supplier;

The Code will lead to garments carrying a sign that they are manufactured ethically and shops will carry a logo if they stock such clothing. Retailers may promote the fact that they only deal with accredited manufacturers who do not exploit homeworkers.

Part II The Code of Practice: this part sets out the criteria for participating manufacturers:

A Code of Practice Committee will oversee the setting up and ongoing management of the Code;

It involves an accreditation procedure whereby manufacturers who give work to contractors or directly to homeworkers seek accreditation.

The accreditation process will ensure that from the retailer down to the homeworker the chain is transparent;

This will be achieved by the following steps:

Retailers signatory to the Code will provide to the union lists of their suppliers;

Retailers will require their suppliers in their purchase contracts to comply with all laws and regulations including payment of the sewing garment rate relevant to homeworkers;

Manufacturers or suppliers to retailers will seek accreditation;

Accredited suppliers will provide documentation to the Code Committee verifying that the subcontractors they use are keeping all appropriate documentation and paying their homeworkers according to the agreed garment sewing time manual standard.

Pay rate for homeworkers:

The Code introduces a timing manual for classifying the sewing of garments into three levels of complexity and for setting the standard for fixing sewing time rates translated into pay rates for homeworkers.

The minute sewing time per garment provided to the homeworker to sew will be adjusted with percentages for annual leave and public holidays. Homeworkers must receive with each batch of work, documentation which identifies that the homeworker is being paid correctly according to the standard.

The code also specifies the minimum garments (total amount of work ) as well as the maximum work load a homeworker can receive from a contractor over a two week period.

Manufacturers will risk losing accreditation and contracts with retailers if their contractors fail to pay homeworkers correctly.

Code of Practice Committee:

The Committee will undertake an education and information programme to educate and inform manufacturers, homeworkers and consumers about the Code.

Source: http://vic.uca.org.au/fairwear/cop.html

5. Domestic Workers

One of the most hidden forms of work is domestic service. Isolated in individualized situations in other people's homes, the labour of domestic workers goes unrecognized, unseen, undervalued and not covered by a country's labour inspection system. There are no proper job descriptions for domestic work and no recognition of necessary skills or qualifications. Since the majority of domestic workers are migrants from rural areas or even other countries, they stay in the employers' home where they are often expected to be on demand for any chore at any time of day or night, and are trapped by the employers' argument that since they are housed and fed they need only a minimum wage. Domestic work is normally characterized by low wages, excessive hours of work with no extra pay, overwork, lack of benefits or social security, unfair termination of employment and employer abuse. Sexual harassment of domestic workers is a common complaint.

As early as 1965, the International Labour Conference adopted a Resolution which considered it an "urgent need to provide for domestic workers in all member countries the basic elements of protection which would assure them a minimum standard of living, compatible with the self-respect and human dignity which are essential to social justice". In 1967, on the basis of a worldwide survey, the ILO concluded that domestic workers the world over were underpaid and unprotected. The Report of the Committee of Experts stated that "it would be unadvisable from the standpoint of social policy to ignore the problem of domestic workers and permit this sector to remain a forgotten one".

The most vulnerable domestic workers tend to be women who are migrants and especially illegal migrants from other countries. Many migrant women, because they cannot find other jobs, work as domestics. Asian women - from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka - have been heavily involved in international contract migration to work as domestics in developed countries . Their vulnerability to exploitation by unscrupulous employment agents in both sending and receiving countries and by employers is well-known.

Most domestic workers tend to be young and unmarried, to be from rural areas, and in many countries include child workers. Child labour in domestic service has been identified as one of the worst forms of child labour under the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999 (No.182).

Unions in several countries have successfully organized domestic workers and defended their rights. Organizing is essential to obtain protection for domestic workers through legislation, to inform the public of their conditions, and to provide them with an understanding of their rights as workers and a sense of dignity in their occupation. In the case of child domestic workers, unions have been supporting the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) efforts to work towards the elimination of this hazardous form of child labour.

Guidelines:

Organizing domestic workers who are isolated by the nature of their work and who may have no awareness of belonging to a specific labour group is an obvious challenge but can be tackled by:

Working with other civil groups - women's associations, religious groups, social assistance organizations, NGOs - to encourage and assist domestic workers to come together to form their own associations (Many of the most active organizers of unions for domestic workers have been domestic workers themselves).
Providing special services for domestic workers, including employment exchanges, telephone support networks, a place to congregate on days off, counselling and advisory services (both legal and general advice).

The Jamaica Household Workers' Association (JHWA) has established a drop-in centre at its central office for domestic workers and employers to voice complaints or concerns. Based on this, the JHWA is compiling a database on workers and their employers. It also provides counselling services and makes referrals to the crisis centre and other organizations dealing with domestic violence and sexual abuse. A hotline for domestic workers has also been established and the JHWA also runs an employment agency which seeks to provide employers with trained helpers and domestic workers with responsible employers.

Source: Pargass, G.1997. Desk Review Domestic Workers in the Caribbean. Port of Spain: ILO Caribbean Office.

Ensuring that domestic workers can easily contact the union.

With the help of COSATU, the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) has rapidly managed to organize thousands of domestic workers. "One has to know how to approach them, speak to them in a friendly tone, because at the end of the day they are very tired. We discuss things with them, and we give them literature on their rights and a membership form to fill in. Most of them phone us within a couple of weeks. My phone is ringing all the time, here at the office and at home, day and night. People are angry, they are very motivated to build a stronger union that will make things change". In practice, the method consists in setting up one committee per street with one representative per committee who meets up with the union to discuss the problems of all the domestic workers in that street.

Source: ICFTU website: http://www.icftu.org

Conducting publicity and media campaigns to make domestic workers aware of their rights and to sensitize the public to the exploitation of such workers.

The National Union of Domestic Employees of Trinidad and Tobago (NUDE) has received extensive media coverage of its efforts to draw attention to the low income of domestic workers. NUDE called for enforcement of the Minimum Wage Order in which domestic workers are the lowest paid and also for their inclusion in the National Insurance Scheme. The exposure of NUDE in newspapers, radio and television led to an increase in membership.

Source: Pargass, G.1997. Desk Review Domestic Workers in the Caribbean. Port of Spain: ILO Caribbean Office.

It is crucial to lobby for national legislation to cover domestic workers. Unless domestic workers are officially recognized as employees, they would be excluded from the operation of labour laws and would not be able to use the services of labour administration or the industrial court to resolve disputes.

The National Union of Domestic Employees of Trinidad and Tobago (NUDE) has been campaigning for the recognition of domestic workers within the Industrial Relations Act so that they will have full protection of the labour legislation and be able to resort to the industrial court where necessary.

The South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) was active in lobbying for the new Labour Relations Act in South Africa which not only provides for compulsory employment contracts for domestic workers but also gives them the right to appeal to a court of arbitration.

Assist domestic workers to lobby for legislation to improve their terms and conditions of work, including:

stipulated hours of work;
a minimum wage, adequate to support basic living needs, with extra pay for skilled work such as childcare, taking care of the elderly and persons with disabilities, when in addition to housework;
additional pay for sleep-in domestics;
severance benefits;
sick leave, vacation pay and public holidays;
overtime pay;
maternity protection;
prevention, prosecution and compensation for sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal;
a requirement that employers enter into written contracts with domestic workers;
prevention, prohibition and abolishment of child labour in domestic work.

A legal requirement that domestic workers must have written contracts would help ensure their terms and conditions of work.

In Argentina, all domestic workers must have a work book (obtainable through the Ministry of Labour) containing their name, sex, age, photo, the governing legislative texts, their monthly wage, the place of residence of the household worker, dates of commencement of the contract, dates of weekly rest and annual leave, and the signatures of the employer and the worker. There is a requirement that the employer give the domestic worker notice and a length of service grant when terminating the contract, unless the domestic worker is guilty of a 'breach of obligations'.

In Denmark, once the worker has worked for the employer for at least six months, either party may request that the contract be put in writing with the wages, conditions of work and duration specified. The contract may not be longer than one year. A domestic worker may terminate without notice if the employer fails to pay wages, fails to provide time off, provides insufficient lodging, endangers her health, threatens physical violence, or changes residence. The domestic worker has the right to salary compensation.

Raise awareness of the link between unpaid domestic work and the low status of paid domestic work. Unpaid domestic work should be recognized as work and an accurate measure of the quantity and economic value of this work should be included in a country's gross domestic product using satellite accounts.
Provide training for domestic workers. Different types of training are required:

to improve their skill levels and standard of work through in-class and practical training and provide certification as a means of increasing their wages;
to help raise their self confidence and the dignity of their work;
to expose them to skills other than those related to domestic work so as to enhance their employment options.

6. Migrant workers

There are more than 120 million migrants around the world. Migrant workers are an increasingly important target group for union organizing drives. The protection of migrant workers is also part of the larger trade union fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The ICFTU No to Racism and Xenophobia! Plan of Action for Trade Unions has a section specifically devoted to migrant workers. In the United States, the AFL-CIO recently announced a new initiative to bring respect and dignity to immigrant workers. "All workers - immigrant, native-born, documented or undocumented - should have the full protection of our system of workplace rights and freedoms" [ AFL-CIO Website, http://www.aflcio.org]

The ICFTU No to Racism and Xenophobia! Plan of Action for Trade Unions

The ICFTU No to Racism and Xenophobia! Plan of Action has a section specifically on migrant workers that states that trade unions must:

urge governments to legalize undocumented workers;
lobby for legislation to protect those working in the underground economy;
work with communities to provide support and legal assistance for undocumented workers;
undertake special campaigns to organize migrant workers, including those who are undocumented;
be actively involved in shaping immigration and migration policies in order to protect the interests of working peoples and their families;
if from the sending and receiving countries, work jointly to protect and defend rights of migrant workers.

In permanent immigration countries, migrant women tend to be disproportionately represented in under- and un-employment. They may have inadequate education and training or their qualifications may not be recognised by the host country. Often they have inadequate command of the host language and may be subject to discrimination of grounds of not only sex but also nationality, colour, race, ethnic origin. Wives of immigrant male workers tend to be at a disadvantage, because they are cut off from networks of social support and information, do not have access to education and training facilities, may not have the right to work, etc. Many of these women then end up working illegally in 'sweatshops' for unscrupulous employers.

In the past, women moved as part of family migration. But increasingly, women are involved in temporary labour migration; they are migrating independently for overseas employment. However, the temporary female labour migrants tend to go into a very limited range of female-dominated occupations - often described as the '3D (dirty, dangerous and difficult) jobs': as domestic helpers, entertainers, helpers in restaurants and hotels, sales girls and assembly line workers in labour-intensive manufacturing.

Because of their marginalised and often illegal status, migrant women tend to be subject to exploitation by unscrupulous employment agencies and employers. In both sending and receiving countries, there have been countless cases of women cheated by recruitment agents promising fictitious jobs for a fee, withholding information or providing false information on the nature of the job and the conditions of employment, charging fees above the legal maximum and the real cost of recruitment. In the host countries, the jobs that the migrant women go into may not be covered by labour legislation. For example, those who go into domestic service are in individualized situations in homes where there is greater isolation and lower likelihood of establishing networks of information and social support. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, as compared to male migrants who commonly work in groups, such as on construction sites or agricultural farms.

Growing proportions of these women are illegal migrants who have been trafficked. Trafficking in women and girls has risen to such alarming levels that it is now high on the international political agenda.⁽⁹⁾ Many of those trafficked end up in forced prostitution and other forms of exploitative employment. Their situation has been described as: "a continuum ranging from slavery or slavery-like treatment of trafficking victims on one end to criminal exploitation of smuggled economic migrants including fair labour and safety standard violations on the other. In the worst cases of involuntary servitude, violence and human rights abuses, trafficked women work anywhere from sixteen to twenty hours per day, and often live in conditions of captivity. They are kept in situations of forced labour through sexual, physical or psychological abuse, threats of violence to themselves and/or their families, bonded labour, enforced isolation and/or seizure of their passports, travel or identity documents". ⁽¹⁰⁾

Migrant-sending countries

maintaining statistics on the number of women migrants who are members of the union
establishing a welfare fund for migrant workers and their families
promoting the education of children and other family members
encouraging the regular flow of remittances
improving access to national legislation on migrant workers
maintain close liaison with government
maintaining close liaison with other bodies dealing with migrant workers
negotiating for internationally accepted employment contracts for migrant workers
representing migrant workers at all fora at the national level
assisting returnee migrants
linking trade unions of migrant-supplying and migrant-receiving countries

Migrant-receiving countries

arranging for the reception of new entrants
promoting equal opportunities and elimination of discrimination at the workplace
promoting training and education services
ensuring desirable living conditions
promoting cultural identity
educating national workers about the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of the host country
improving access to national regulations on migrant workers
maintaining close liaison with government
ensuring that the legal rights of migrant workers are accepted and providing legal advice where necessary
developing a network with other organisations concerned with migrant workers
promoting ratification of ILO Conventions
promoting racial harmony and peaceful coexistence between nationals and migrants
representing migrant workers on all relevant platforms in the host country (not permitting language to be a bar)
ensuring equality of treatment and avoidance of discrimination at the national level

Source: Olney, S. et al. 1998. Gender Equality: A Guide to Collective Bargaining. Booklet 4, p.12.

In both sending and receiving countries, unions have established programmes to protect and organize these vulnerable workers. Some of the specific measures that unions can adopt to assist migrant workers, in particular female migrant workers, are:

Checklist:

Inform migrants of their rights and provide information materials in local languages;

Provide migrant workers a list of contacts/addresses, such as trade unions, NGOs and embassies, where they can seek refuge or assistance in the event of abuse or exploitation;

Establish networks between trade union organisations in the host countries and the countries of origin;

Provide vocational training for migrant women so that they can diversify their skills and have access to better jobs;

Include the concerns of migrant women in collective bargaining;

Condemn countries which exploit migrants, particularly host countries which ban the creation of unions by migrant workers;

Demand rigorous checks on the use of clandestine labour and the condemnation of employers using clandestine labour;

Negotiate equal pay for migrant workers;

Provide potential migrants with realistic information on working conditions overseas; Encourage governments to keep proper and strict checks on the activities of recruitment agents and employment agencies;

Help women migrants to form their own organisations in both sending and receiving countries; Lobby for the appointment of gender-sensitive labour attaches in host countries to help look after the welfare of the migrant women workers;

Lobby for changes in legislation to protect the rights of migrant labour.

The Italian trade union Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL) set up a department on migration policies in the late 1980s, in response to the increasing waves of immigration into Italy. The Department works closely with NGOs representing the immigrants. For example, it organized together with the associations of Filipino and Sri Lankan women a course to inform migrants about the national collective agreement on domestic work. In 1997, CGIL Lazio created a special committee for migrant women. In 1998, the CGIL developed a national initiative called the New Work Identity (NIDIL) to organise and protect the rights of various categories of workers including prostitutes, homosexual and transsexual workers as well as workers of different languages, religions, ethnic origins etc. 'Via Amica' is a project that the union developed to protect migrant prostitutes, involving NGOs and local and national authorities. NGOs work with the union and train special educators called 'Street Units' who work in the areas where prostitutes operate, making contact and winning their trust. Some of these educators are cultural mediators, meaning that they know the languages, cultural habits and ways of thinking of the nationalities and ethnic groups of migrant prostitutes. Migrant prostitutes are given information on healthcare, work and residency permits, and housing. They are taught hygiene and reproductive health and are provided with condoms. They are also provided with information on their rights under the law to prevent abuse and exploitation. CGIL also plays an important role mediating between the prostitutes and the local community, the public authorities and the police. The project offers shelter to those migrant prostitutes who want to change jobs, until they find new work and accommodation. While the goal is not to turn prostitutes into regular workers, the union does, when asked, assist the women to find new jobs. For example in 1998, 20 prostitutes were able to find other types of work including domestic service and the setting up of small businesses.

Convention concerning Migration for Employment (Revised), 1949 (No.97);

Recommendation concerning Migration for Employment (Revised), 1949 (No.86);

Recommendation concerning the Protection of Migrant Workers in Underdeveloped Countries and Territories, 1955 (No.100);

Convention concerning Migrations in Abusive Conditions and the Promotion of Equality of Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers, 1975 (No.143);

Recommendation concerning Migrant Workers, 1975 (No.151);

Convention concerning Equality of Treatment of Nationals and Non-Nationals in Social Security, 1962 (No.118).

7. Workers in export processing zones

Globalization has seen a dramatic growth in production chains which now stretch around the world. Export processing zones (EPZs) house many of the enterprises involved in these chains. Foreign investment is a crucial component of zone investment and governments are increasingly competing with each other in offering generous incentives and privileges to attract investors and entrepreneurs. Zone-operating countries hope that the EPZs will contribute to overall economic development and employment creation. However, they often encounter social and labour problems in the process, particularly in situations where investors have been allowed to depart from basic labour standards. ⁽¹¹⁾

There are very few countries which openly and officially exclude zones from the national labour legislation and system of labour-management relations. With a few notable exceptions, unions are legally permitted to operate in the zones, but their overall effectiveness is curtailed by subtle or explicit obstacles imposed by either governments or employers.

Unions face a number of challenges in their efforts to organize workers in the EPZs:

Some 27 million people work in at least 2,000 EPZs worldwide; between 60 to 90 per cent are women. They tend to be young (16-25 years of age) and in their first job and, therefore, have little experience or exposure to the labour movement;
There also tends to be high worker mobility; drop-out rates are often high and workers do not expect to develop careers in the zones - so unions may have problems retaining members;
The special characteristics of EPZs can make traditional collective bargaining difficult. Given the size and breadth of most large multinationals, unions in a developing country may find it impossible to gain access to the 'real decision makers'. Major decisions affecting local plants might be taken at head office several thousand miles away, without either union or local employer input;
Similarly, the 'footloose' nature of some multinationals can undermine union effectiveness. Faced with a strike, a company might threaten to relocate. Unions are forced to make tough concessions when faced with relocation or closure threats;
There have also been many reported cases of employer actions against union leaders, including intimidation, dismissals, black lists, and collective dismissals upon union registration or when union activities are noticed;
Lack of support from the government to enforce labour legislation weakens the credibility of the union movement and the capacity to organize.

Some governments may ban trade unions in the zones, or turn a blind eye when companies refuse to allow trade unions to operate in their factories. They use the argument that employment creation and economic development are more important for the country than the right to join a union or to strike. But such a view is short-sighted because banning unions has major long-term implications for the well-being and potential of a society's workforce. Banning trade unions is counter-productive because this may serve to attract "bad" companies that break other national laws or are interested only in short-term profits.

In the 1960s, when the country was mounting a strong campaign to attract foreign investments, Singapore still rejected international blue chip companies that refused to allow unions.

Some companies may argue that without unions, they can keep costs low and protect jobs. They may use strong-arm tactics to keep unions out, such as intimidation, blacklisting and dismissal of workers involved in unions. Some firms use more subtle union avoidance strategies, such as emphasizing firm-centric cooperation or worker representation teams. But a union-free zone often involves a sluggish, unfocused workforce. Unions can enhance worker motivation and satisfaction, translating into increased productivity and decreased worker turnover for most firms.

"Where governments of host countries offer special incentives to attract foreign investment, these incentives should not include any limitation of the workers' freedom of association or the right to organize and bargain collectively" ⁽¹²⁾

To deal with the power of multinationals - which is often greater than that of unions - at the negotiating table, unions can:

Guidelines:

Organize workers at the industry level and regional level, rather than at the enterprise-level:

Because of the problems related to the continuous formation and dissolution of enterprise-level unions resulting from collective dismissals, FUTRAZONA in the Dominican Republic has been forming unions at industry level by city through a process of mass affiliation. In addition to grouping existing unions in each city, FUTRAZONA has created Union Support Teams which work intensively in neighbourhoods where most women workers are concentrated.

Central American unions have also planned more concerted action through regional organization since many zone enterprises are present in more than one country.

Engage in company-wide labour coordination:

The IG Metall Union at the German Volkswagen firm has created the first global enterprise committee in the sector, in which some 30 delegates represent over 300,000 salaried employees based at 40 production sites worldwide. The new workers "solidarity without borders" raises the prospect of company-wide labour coordination, no matter where a production plant is located.

Source: Agence France Press in the Tribune de Geneve, 22 June 2000

Promote company-wide worker-management consultations and collective agreements:

Since 1988, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations (IUF) and the multinational Danone have agreed to commit themselves to promote four themes within the enterprises of the entire Danone group:

a training policy which allows employees to anticipate the effects of the introduction of new technologies or of industrial restructuring;
the transmission to unions and to representatives of the employees, information adequate for the purpose of reducing the existing disparities between one country and another or between one enterprise and another because of different legislative or contractual obligations;
equality between women and men in the enterprises of the Danone group, both in salaries and in working conditions and in respect of their equality of opportunity and chances for promotion;
implementation of trade union rights that take into account issues of the exercise of union rights in the different countries and of access to union training.

On these four themes, recommendations and guidelines are elaborated at the international level and taken back to the national level and to each enterprise of the group. Union and management representatives meet every year. The practice of regular meetings for information sharing and consultations was formalized by a written agreement in 1996.

Carry out high profile campaigns, together with consumer groups, NGOs, etc., to inform the public of companies that do not allow unions in their plants or do not observe proper working conditions. Such campaigns can include boycotts of the products of the companies [

Booklet 6 ].

Help companies develop, implement and monitor multinational codes of conduct [

Booklet 6 ]. Correctly applied and independently monitored, such codes of conduct can help prevent the more serious abuses of workers' rights and promote gender equality. Union involvement in such initiatives could help ensure that codes of conduct promote social dialogue and do not become a substitute for the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

In Nicaragua, the Maria Elena Cuadra Women's Movement started in 1993 a campaign around the rights of women workers in the free trade zones. In 1997, a mass meeting was held where women workers developed a Code of Ethics to introduce their main demands. There were training courses for women leaders and a massive information campaign so that workers would be aware of the demands and use them as instruments to press for their rights.

As a result, on February 1998, in front of an assembly of 500 women workers, the Minister of Labour of Nicaragua signed the Code of Ethics. The next day, the owners of all 23 factories in the zone agreed to comply. The Code obliges them to:

not discriminate on the grounds of pregnancy, race, religion, age, disability or political orientation;
guarantee work stability; pregnant and post natal women cannot be fired;
not engage in physical or psychological abuse;
have working conditions which guarantee health, hygiene, well-being and the reduction of risks;
register all workers on the national social security system;
respect working hours and overtime pay according to law;
allow workers to organize and negotiate collective agreements;
employ no workers under the age of 14.

The Code will be monitored by the women workers and the Network.

Source: Women workers and Codes of Conduct.

Website: http://www.poptel.org.uk/women-ww..._workers_and_codes_of_conduct

Because the majority of workers in export zones are young women, unions should emphasize their special concerns. These include long working hours, low wages, compulsory overtime, inability to obtain leave, severe norms of punctuality, toilet restrictions, insecure employment, easy dismissal and unreasonable production expectations. Workers are punished or humiliated for the smallest offenses. They often suffer health problems like respiratory ailments, urinary infections, headaches, allergies and burnout. There are also reports of toilets without doors, compulsory pregnancy testing and the use of sterilisation certifications in some zones. On the job training periods can be lengthy and workers are often not paid a regular wage during the training period.

The lack of advancement and the lack of job security for women in most zone operations often mean that women can never lift themselves out of grinding poverty. Not only do the zones not lead to job openings for women in higher skilled, higher wage positions but as soon as the work becomes more technologically intensive, women tend to be laid off in large numbers. Likewise, once women begin earning a higher wage, men often take over their jobs. Occupations tend to be segregated by sex, with women performing low skill, low wage jobs and men undertaking higher skill and better paid jobs. Women workers in EPZs are often relegated to boring, repetitive tasks requiring little skill or training. In the worst cases, a woman may only know how to sew one part of a garment, without ever learning how to assemble the entire garment. Without life-skill or job enhancement training, women rarely enjoy good work opportunities upon leaving EPZs.

To organize such workers, the following types of measures have been found useful:

Guidelines:

Approach workers away from the enterprise, through personal contacts. Especially in zones where employers are not receptive to unions, the strategy often used is to approach workers outside of the workplace.

In Costa Rica, FENATI approaches maquildora workers in their homes through friends and neighbours.

In the Dominican Republic, FENETRAZONAS has used raffles as a way of collecting workers' addresses and also approaches workers on buses.

In the Philippines, the TUCP has trained a group of organizers composed mainly of young women who go door to door after working hours to contact workers in the EPZs.

Establish linkages with neighbour associations or committees. The organization of workers in neighbourhood committees can be a strategy preliminary to or coordinated with the formation of unions in zone enterprises. This method of organizing near workers' homes facilitates the participation of women, is a way of informing workers of their rights and helps prepare them for unionization, especially in zones where there is no opportunity for such action in the enterprise. Before initiating such a strategy, it is necessary to identify which neighbourhoods have a concentration of zone workers. Unions should also identify organizations with which they can collaborate to reach the women, eg. youth organizations, daycare centres, religious groups, neighbourhood improvement groups, etc.

FENETRAZONAS in the Dominican Republic created EPZ Neighbourhood Women's Committees in various cities to group both unionized and non-unionized workers, with the objective of raising their union awareness and forming a platform for the development of unions.

Provide services for the zone workers. In many cases, unions have found that it is more effective to first respond to the immediate needs and concerns of the workers, without projecting the aim of forming unions in the short term. For example, the establishment of cooperatives is often a complementary organizing activity as well as a tool to address workers' economic needs. Savings and loans cooperatives as well as consumer cooperatives are popular among zone workers. Services enabling workers to better balance their work and families responsibilities can also be important, eg. collective laundry facilities, daycare centres, family planning and other health services, etc. Since zone workers tend to have few opportunities for low-cost recreation with their families, some unions have invited workers and their families to recreational centres and social events.

Unions can raise the following issues in gender equality bargaining for EPZ workers:

Checklist:

fair remuneration;

health and pension benefits;

job security;

enhanced job classification and regular opportunities for promotions and career advancement;

reasonable production targets;

voluntary overtime;

fully paid training periods;

vocational and life-skill training - perhaps by establishing a skills development fund based on payroll levies and establishing skills development centres linked to EPZs;

the abolishing of compulsory pregnancy tests, forced contraception and forced sterilization;

harassment-free and violence-free workplaces;

improvement of occupational health and safety facilities in the factories (eg. proper ventilation and lighting and access to unlocked exits);

proper toilet facilities with doors that can be locked;

improved zone infrastructure, including affordable and decent accommodation;

cheap and accessible transportation to the workplace.

It is important that unions recognize that there are EPZ companies, mainly in high-tech industries, that provide good working conditions and competitive pay and implement advanced human resource management policies. Managers in such companies understand the importance of workers agreeing with changes, improvements and new developments and realize the advantages of receiving employee inputs and ideas. The introduction of workers' participation at the level of work organization, the reduction of hierarchical levels and the resulting increase in worker responsibility, job enrichment and team work call for different responses on the part of trade unions. Many trade unions are not familiar with these employer practices, so that their organizing strategies are not tailored to such a context. In order to succeed in organizing zone workers in high-tech industries with modern human resource management policies, unions could:

Guidelines:

Investigate zone enterprises with more advanced human resource management and industrial relations policies, and learn from these;

Play the role of a valid interlocutor with the workers in day-to-day operations, as well as when the employer is introducing longer-term reforms, such as technological changes or modifications in pay structure;

Examine how they can contribute to these improvements at the enterprise level and develop a strategy to ensure that workers benefit;

Find good practices of labour relations at the firm level, and use the information to counter those who argue that the presence of unions is disruptive or adversely affects production or productivity or raises costs.

References and Additional Reading

Barwa, S.D. and Ali Ibrahim. 1996. Protecting the Least Protected: Rights of Migrant Workers and the Role of Trade Unions. Geneva: ILO.

Chen, M., J. Sebstad and L.O'Connell. 1999. Counting the invisible workforce: the case of homebased workers, World Development, Vol.27 No.3.

FNV Mondiaal. Organizing in the informal economy the role of trade unions.

Holman, K. 2000. Women Workers: Reaching for the Sky Trade Unions and the Beijing Platform for Action. ICFTU Website: http://www.icftu.org

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). 2001. Informal or unprotected work. Brussels: ICFTU, unpublished paper.

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). 2000. How do trade unions approach the 21^st century, Trade Union World, No. 5, May. Brussels: ICFTU.

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). 1996. Behind the Wire Anti-Union Repression in the Export-Processing Zones. Brussels: ICFTU.

International Labour Office 1999. Trade Unions in the Informal Sector: Finding their Bearings Nine Country Papers. Labour Education 1999/3 No.116. Geneva: ILO.

________________________ 1998. Labour and Social Issues relating to Export Processing Zones. Report for discussion at the Tripartite Meeting of Export Processing Zones-Operating Countries. Geneva: ILO.

________________________ 1997. World Labour Report Industrial Relations, Democracy and Social Stability 1997-98. Geneva: ILO.

International Labour Organization Bureau for Workers' Activities. 1999. Trade unions and the Informal Sector: Towards a Comprehensive Strategy. Background Paper for the International Symposium on Trade Unions and the Informal Sector. Geneva, 18-22 October.

Lim, L.L. 1996. More and Better Jobs for Women An Action Guide. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Lim, L.L. and N. Oishi. 1996. International labour migration of Asian women: distinctive characteristics and policy concerns, Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol.5 No.1.

Martens, M.H. and S. Mitter (eds.) 1994. Women in Trade Unions Organizing the Unorganized. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Natacha, D. 1998. Inventing trade unionism in the informal sector, Trade Union World, 1 September.

Olney, S.,E. Goodson, K.Maloba-Caines, F. O'Neill. 1998. Gender Equality: A Guide to Collective Bargaining. Booklet 4. Geneva: ILO.

O'Neill Richard, A. April 2000. International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime. DCI Exceptional Intelligence Analyst Program An Intelligence Monograph.

Pargass, G. 1997. Desk Review Domestic Workers in the Caribbean. Port of Spain: ILO Caribbean Office.

Rubery, J. 1998. Part-time work: a threat to labour standards? In O'Reilly J. and Fagan C. (eds). Part-time Prospects: An International Comparison of Part-time Work in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim. London and New York: R