FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND ...white.lim.ilo.org/spanish/260ameri/oitreg/activid/proyectos/actrav/... · Globalization and informalization of employment: challenges

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION, COLLECTIVE BARGAININGAND INFORMALIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT:

SOME ISSUES

Manuela Tomei

International Labour OfficeGeneva

Table of contents

Introduction 1

Globalization and informalization of employment: challenges and opportunitiesFor industrial relations institutions 1

The changing faces of informality 3

Changing relations between the State, the market and the civil society:Towards greater democracy and equity? 5

Overcoming gender inequalities through women’s empowerment 7

Redressing imbalances along the production chain 8

Networking and representation: Strategies of growth of micro-entrepreneurs 11

Conclusions 12

Bibliography 14

Annex: table 1 - Neo-informal scenarios

Freedom of Association, Collective Bargaining and Informalization of Employment: Some issues 1

Introduction

Dramatic changes in the world of work challenge the legitimacy and strength of traditionalindustrial relations institutions. Nonetheless, work remains the primary access to social integration andsocial identity; its absence, or poor quality, the primary cause of social exclusion, segregation and/ordestitution. Work defines one’s status as an insider or outsider. One’s dignity, self-respect and right toparticipate in society continue to depend on having a job. Never has work and its caliber been so intrinsicto quality of life and so determinant in the construction of an equitable and cohesive society.

The content of work, its organization, and the type and number of labour and social relations, isbeing reshaped. This evolution, however, should not obscure the significance and continued need forcollective representation of workers’ interests. Institutions able to act and negotiate collectively on behalfof an increasingly diverse work force are crucial for equality, social cohesion and democracy. But thesuccess of such institutions requires making “visible” the “invisible”, that is, giving them “voice” throughnew forms of representation or by bringing them into the mainstream of the more traditional representativebodies. Their visibility, in turn, reaffirms the legitimacy and economic value of collective bargaining andsocial dialogue at the local, national and global levels.

This paper traces the contours of the new institutional developments and examines theirimplications in terms of gender equality, distributive justice, social cohesion and democracy. The paperargues that the recognition and promotion of the rights of freedom of association and collective bargainingfor all workers, regardless of employment status and type of activity, are essential if globalization is tobring opportunities for all. It also claims that decentralization, in this case meaning the devolution ofpowers and responsibilities to local governments, gives people more control over their lives throughincreased participation in decision-making, thereby providing, under given conditions, an enablingenvironment for representation and organizational processes.

Globalization and informalization of employment: challenges and opportunities forindustrial relations institutions

Two dominant drives - the globalization of the economy and economic liberalization - are shapingthe content of work, its social and economic significance (Abramo, 1999) and the institutions built aroundit. The opening of national economies, the intensification of financial and trade flows, and theunprecedented advances in information and communication technologies have increased competitiveness.This competitiveness has led to the fragmentation and relocation of production processes, throughoutsourcing and subcontracting, the deregulation of the labour markets, and the informalization ofeconomic activities.

As a consequence, non-standard forms of employment have surfaced and grown, labour relationshave become atomized, whilst the overall quality of employment has deteriorated.1 Neither “atypical”forms of employment nor the “informal” sector can be viewed as residual categories anymore; they arerather integral to the overall development dynamics. Quality of employment varies along a continuumwhich does not follow the dichotomy formal/informal. Not all jobs in the informal sector are necessarilyof poor quality nor do all formal sector jobs qualify as good jobs. Insecurity of tenure, job precarity andirregularity, lack of or limited social protection are increasingly common features of formal activities aswell. 1 The concept of quality of employment was coined to take into account in a more systematic fashion dimensions other thanjust the level of income and to acknowledge the importance of those other dimensions for the well-being of workers and fora better understanding of the labour market. Quality of employment is a multidimensional index influenced by a whole rangeof components: wage, non-wage benefits, regularity of employment, job security, social protection (health, unemployment,pension), representation through trade unions or other means, working time, intensity of work, occupational risks, possibilityof career advancement of skills’ upgrading, job satisfaction etc.


A new model of employment where a core of secure, stable and protected workers coexist witha peripheral workforce lacking security of tenure and long-term career prospects in, for the most part,precarious and poorly protected jobs, has strong gender dimensions. More women than men are employedin, and at an increasing pace, temporary or casual work, multiple part-time, sub-contracting and informalself-employment (Marshall, 1999). Even in the formal sector manufacturing workforce in the exportindustries, women are concentrated in the lower occupational ranks with lower pay and less securecontractual arrangements (Marshall, 1999). The implications for gender inequalities of women’s increasedconcentration in wage labour are open to debate. The key question is whether the new developmentprocesses are reproducing gender inequalities through terms and conditions of employment.

The changing composition and increased flexibility of the labour force have affected the traditionalindustrial relations institutions. Labour rights have been increasingly seen as “costs” hamperingcompetitiveness and encouraging non-registered or “black” work (Bronstein, 1997). As a result,significant changes in collective and individual labour relations have been introduced. But enhancedlabour flexibility, aside neither boosting employment nor reducing the size of the informal sector, hasweakened the role of collective bargaining processes in defining the terms and conditions of work. Inparticular, the legitimacy and bargaining power of trade unions have been undermined. Trade unionmembership has declined almost everywhere over the past decade (ILO, 1997) (although, in somecountries, this trend has been counteracted by the affiliation of retired workers and non-employedmembers). The decline in union membership confirms the loss of strength and bargaining power of tradeunions in the workplace. This decline has been compounded by the widespread decentralization ofcollective bargaining to plant or company level in effect, bypassing trade unions.

Intermittent and contingent workers, such as part-time workers, home workers (for example, tele-workers) and temporary and casual labourers, are indeed less likely to join or stay in trade unions.Membership is discouraged by the legal ambiguity which characterizes these forms of employment,workers’ fear of dismissal or of not getting further assignments if they unionize, and skepticism about theadvantages of joining trade unions. This last – skepticism about the advantages of union memberships- is particularly true of women workers who have traditionally been under-represented in trade unions.At the same time, trade unions confront methodological, organizational and institutional difficulties inreaching out to these categories of workers and integrating them within their structures (ILO, 1999). Informal and “atypical” workers are dispersed in the territory and engaged in “invisible work”.Conversely, trade unions have traditionally mobilized and organized workers’ labouring within formalenterprises. Declining membership is also undermining the trade union’s capacity to cater to the needs ofa composite workforce, whilst at the same time meeting the needs and expectations of regular trade unionmembers.

Another phenomenon which is shaking the grounds of the traditional industrial relations systemand is related to the fragmentation of the production process and the growing reliance on outsourcing andsubcontracting arrangements is the spectacular dynamism of micro and small-scale enterprises inabsorbing labour. All over the world, such companies account for the generation of a significantproportion of the new jobs. Apart from their instability, as epitomized by their high attrition rate,micro/small firms often operate, especially in developing countries, on the fringes of formality and areowned and operated by individuals with little labour and capital. Their labour force is often comprisedof unpaid family members, apprentices and a few wage labourers. Kinship ties, friendship and ethnicloyalties tend to prevail over class consciousness, thus hampering the propensity of these workers toengage in collective action.

It is equally obvious that, in a globally integrated production system, traditional mechanismswhich trade unions rely on to exert pressure prove less effective. Trade unions must now contend withfragmented groups of workers displaying dissimilar patterns of labour participation and, consequently,with different needs and demands. The sense of community trade unions used to instill in their members


is vanishing, as is the representation security derived from it. This is not to say that representation securityhas become irrelevant. On the contrary, never has the need for independent collective bodies, capable ofrepresenting and advancing the interests of such an heterogeneous workforce, been so important inobtaining distributive justice. As Standing puts it, the absence of a strong and legitimate collective “voice”entails the risk of curtailing other forms of labour security (Standing, 1999).

The challenge is to devise an institutional basis of representation more suitable to flexible formsof labour and highly fragmented production processes. Another challenge lies in the search for modalitiesof operation which complement interventions at the local, national and global levels.

Trade unions know they are due for a serious review of their organizing and alliance-buildingstrategies, institutional structures and pressure mechanisms to recuperate social legitimacy and strength.Some encouraging, although still patchy and small-scale, efforts have already been made in this direction.But new collective actors are paving the way for the emergence of new forms of labour regulation andspaces of negotiation. Two important and very dynamic actors are now coming to the fore: thetransnational corporations (TNC) and the varied and multi-faceted interest groups and organizations ofthe civil society (NGOs). The TNC, the driving force of globalization, are becoming a major employerof women, exporting new cultural values and developing new devices to counteract mounting criticismfrom pressure groups concerning the poor working conditions in their establishments. NGOs areinstrumental in providing an organizational basis for women workers, especially in the informal sector.They also play a non-negligible role in delivering social services to the disadvantaged and the poor, andin substituting or complementing traditional State responsibilities. They are also increasingly involved inthe monitoring of TNC’s conformity to their own social codes of conduct. Membership associations,including trade or area-based organizations, associations of micro-entrepreneurs and occupational groupshave also come to life, dispelling conventional beliefs about the unorganized character of informal sectoroperators (ILO, 1997).

The changing faces of informality

Over the past three decades, the “informal sector”, its scope, its relationship with the “formalsector” and the factors responsible for its existence and performance, have been at the centre of heateddiscussion and controversy. The continued interest of academics and policy makers in this “sector” relatesto its persistence and steady growth in the developing world and its rising significance in the industrializedworld as well.

According to recent ILO estimates, sub-Saharan countries display the highest ratio of informalsector employment to total employment, whereas Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR showthe lowest (ILOa, 1999). The ratio of informal sector employment vis-à-vis non-agricultural employmentalso proved significant in other African countries, as well as in other regions. Informal sector employmentaccounted, in fact, for more than 50 per cent of urban employment in nine African countries (Cameroon,Côte d’ Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Kenya, Mali, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda),in three Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia and Peru) and in one country in Asia (Pakistan)(ILOa, 1999).

Since the early 1990s, the share of informal employment in total employment has known a steadygrowth in virtually all countries in Latin America, except for Ecuador (Annex - table1). Out of every 100new jobs generated during the period in question, only 15 corresponded to the formal sector, while theremaining 85 were in the non-structured sector (ILOa,1997).


More recently, however, the relevance of the concept of “ informal sector” has been questioned.Many authors argue that the growing flexibilization and informalization of production processes andorganization of work are blurring the frontiers between the formal and informal economies and the waythey interrelate, rendering obsolete the traditional dichotomy formal/informal. By qualifying the informalsector only in terms of how it is not like the formal sector, such a dichotomy fails to capture the mobilityof workers between them and the fact that “atypical” is becoming increasingly the standard form ofemployment (Lund and Srinivas, 1999). As a result, it is meaningless to label the formal sector as“modern” and the informal sector as “non-modern” (WIEGO, 1999). Moreover, informality is no longerconfined to developing countries but is acquiring growing relevance in the industrialized world as well.As a result, the use of the word “informal sector” is being replaced by the expression “informal economy”(ILOb,1999).

The world economic crisis which, since the mid-1980s, has pushed many countries to adoptstabilization policies and engage in economic restructuring, combined with the new organization ofproduction by transnational capital, is responsible for these changes. Growing inequalities in earnings andprofit-making capacities in the urban economy have been invoked as a powerful factor in theinformalization of the economy in the advanced economies (Sassen, 1997).

Changes in the way formal and informal economies interact have a bearing on the composition andheterogeneity of the latter. This phenomenon has been referred to by some authors (J.P. Pérez Sáinz, 1998)as “neo-informality”. According to this concept, the informal sector comprises three distinct scenarios (seetable 2). In the first, urban economic activity is characterized by a simple division of labour and performedby the owner alone or with the help of unpaid family members. This activity is a means of survival andmay be seen as synonymous with poverty; it is clearly excluded from the globalization process. Thisscenario includes both the chronic poor, as well as the “new” poor, for example, those impoverished bythe structural adjustment process.

The second scenario consists of activities subordinated to the new tradable sectors, through sub-contracting arrangements. These activities are linked to the globalization process and are part of anentrepreneurial strategy aimed at reducing labour costs and achieving enhanced production flexibility.Opportunities for growth and modernization of this sector depend on the type of links established with thenew tradeables sector. Disguised wage labour tends to prevail, although own-account work is alsoassociated with this segment of informality.

The third scenario, which is also the most promising one, refers to the agglomeration of smallbusinesses with varying degrees of formality/informality operating in a given territory which is sociallyand culturally organized. Chances of growth depend on the actual distinction between production activitiesand support services. Specialization would, in fact, ignite innovation by competition and cooperationwhich would also strengthen local social ties, hence enhancing the communal identity. The relativemagnitude of each segment varies across countries and regions, depending on the pattern of economicrestructuring and participation in the global economy.

The suggested “stratification” of the informal economy has implications on the types of policiessuitable to the specific problems and potential of each segment (see table 2). Subsistence-type economicactivities need to be addressed within the framework of poverty-alleviation programmes and socialpolicies. Economic undertakings linked to globalization processes through sub-contracting arrangementsmay require, depending on the employment status of the producer, different measures, ranging fromparalegal training and more effective law enforcement systems to low-cost and adequate business supportservices. For micro and small enterprises with higher potential and dynamism, a “modernization” strategymight prove more suitable. The latter would aim at correcting the supply constraints of these units, throughtechnological upgrading, enhanced access to information and to marketing outlets, while improving theircompliance with fiscal and labour regulations (ILOa, 1997).2

2 Tokman argues that non-observance is a “cost” and a barrier to the acquisition of full economic citizenship. (Tokman, 1992).


But a clear understanding of the new heterogeneity of informality is also useful from an industrialrelations point of view. The type of informality which an individual or an economic unit is part ofinfluences, in fact, his/her/its labour identity and labour relations. This, in turn, determines the role andscope for involvement of trade unions, business organizations and the State, as we shall examine in thefollowing pages.

Table 2: Neo-informal scenarios

Scenario ContextType ofinformality Resources Challenges Identities

Economy ofpoverty

Exclusion Subsistence Very limited Equity at thesocietal level

Individualistic andcompetitive

Provision ofinputs orsubcontractingfor the tradeablesector

Globalization Subordination Limited Relations withthe tradeablesectorbecominginstitutionalized; incentivesfor innovation

Atomized

Agglomerationof smalldynamicbusinesses

Globalization Dynamic Socio-territoriality

Specialization:technical andorganizationalinnovation

Local

Source: Pérez Sáinz (1995).

Changing relations between the State, the market and the civil society:Towards greater democracy and equity?

Structural adjustment policies and programmes led many governments to embark on a wide rangeof reforms. The decline in public employment and the consequent transfer of responsibility for theprovision of social services to NGOs and for-profit businesses, the privatization of state-owned enterprisesand the decentralization of administrative services are but a few examples. Performance by privateoperators of certain functions previously exercised by the State, decentralization and good governance areviewed as instrumental for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness, as well as for a more democratic useand allocation of local resources and assets.

The accountability of government authorities to the organized community, the greater transparencywith regard to the development options available, and the establishment of mechanisms for localconsultation and negotiation should favour the enhanced participation of local interest groups in decision-making and monitoring. In reality, decentralization and the changing relations between State-market andcivil society can reproduce and even reinforce unbalanced power relationships and unfair distributivepractices. The main challenge is to avoid privatization becoming another source of marginalization of the

While cognizant that abidance by certain labour laws is subject to the level of productivity and consolidation of the business,he holds that there exists a “social floor” which all economic micro and small economic ventures should observe, irrespectiveof their economic situation. These core labour standards comprise, inter alia, the right of micro and small enterprises’proprietors and workers to organize and associate.


poor, that the survival strategies of low-income urban groups come to rely on self-provisioning and thatNGOs become surrogates for the local State.

No matter how competent and committed NGOs maybe, it is unquestionable that the State hascertain fundamental responsibilities that cannot be unloaded on to the former. This responsibility holdsparticularly true in contexts where poverty and inequitable distribution are severe. It is vital that both stateand market operate in such a way as to ensure that employment is generated, rights are enforced andinterests adequately channelled (Reilly, 1998).

These trends reiterate the need for genuine and strong representative groups capable of bargainingthe terms and conditions of their participation in decision-making and in wealth production anddistribution. They also expose the need for a regulatory and political environment which values andstrengthens the creation of membership groups, by inter alia, investing in the development of theircapacities without co-opting them.

In the field of social policy, joint ventures and partnerships between the State, local-based privateinstitutions and the business sector, are being conceived and tested. Compensatory or social funds, whichhave proliferated in developing countries and economies in transition (Berar, 1997) exemplify the newdivision of labour and responsibilities between these three actors. The goals, target groups and targetingmechanisms, scope of operations and programme components, and degree of dependence ondomestic/external funding, change from one social fund to another and over time. They nonetheless sharesome common characteristics. These include: high political visibility; a new approach and culture ofsocial service delivery; and demand-driven operations based on the principle of subsidiarity. Buildinglocal level capacity in governance is another common feature (Lund and Srinivas, 1999).

Social funds seek to enhance the capacity of both intermediary organizations, ranging from publicand private institutions to universities and NGOs, and the target groups themselves. In Chile, for instance,the principal aim of the Social Investment and Solidarity Fund (FOSIS) is to strengthen the skills andcapacities of the poor to engage in organized action, including formulating and negotiating proposals topromote local development initiatives responsive to local requests and priorities (Tomei, 1997). Severalauthors, however, have signalled the failure of social funds to reach out to the poorest segments of thetarget population (Tomei, 1997; Vivian, 1995) and their preference for physical, rather than human, capitaldevelopment (Reilly, 1998). Other criticisms relate to their perpetuating partisan politics, through thecreation of new clientelism (Vivian, 1995), and their furthering gender inequalities. Berar highlights thedifficulties that women confront in expressing their preferences and in getting their priorities through themulti-stage approval process. She also points to the unequal distribution of benefits and duties betweenwomen and men. Access to wage labour, when available, is, in fact, largely restricted to men, whereaswomen’s participation tends to prevail in voluntary work (Berar, 1997). Often, when women’s groupshave the possibility to submit their own initiatives, these tend to conform to a similar pattern, reflectingeither the preference of the support organization or the perception which women have of what is likelyto be financed (Raczinsky et al., 1996).

It can be argued that this state of affairs is not to be ascribed to shortcomings in the conception ofthe funds themselves, but rather to the fact that the basic assumptions were wrong. Indeed, it was assumedthat by simply providing opportunities and incentives, intermediary organizations would channel resourcesand supply services in a competent and effective fashion. At the same time, it was assumed that bysoliciting group-based beneficiaries to design and submit local development initiatives for funding, suchinitiatives would reflect local needs and correct social and/or gender imbalances. These assumptionsignored the fact that in many developing countries a network of private organizations (non-profit and for-profit) delivering social services simply does not exist. In other cases, the antagonism, grounded onideological divergences, that has traditionally characterized the relationship between governments andNGOs hampered the shift to a cooperative. Moreover, the poor, if not properly assisted, are the leastequipped to articulate and engage in innovative actions for change. Experience has shown, however, that


if adequate incentives are provided in the form of training as well as monetary recognition of the tasksperformed to the benefit of the community, the outcome can be very encouraging (Tomei, 1999). Thelatest generation of social funds is indeed trying to redress these problems by allocating more time andresources to building the capacities of the civil society.

In spite of mixed evidence on the social impact of social funds, it is unquestionable that they havepaved the way for the establishment of a new relationship between the State and civil society, andprovided a new mechanism through which the poor can solicit services and obtain recognition. Perhapstheir most important contribution has been to show the value of investing in the mobilization andorganization of the destitute and the disadvantaged, giving them a “face”, a “voice”, and the opportunityto interact with other actors and institutions on a different footing. For many associations of beneficiaries,access to social funds has been instrumental in obtaining support from other entities, thus strengtheningtheir commitment to organized action.

Overcoming gender inequalities through women’s empowerment

Increasingly, informal employment arrangements, for example,e without regular wages, benefits,employment protection and so on, are institutionalized within the formal sector and more women than menare affected by this trend. It has been argued, in fact, that the informalization of employment across theworld has stimulated the increase of female labour force participation and employment.3 (Standing a,1999). The current debate is whether increased access of women workers to paid work is contributing tothe improvement of women’s social and economic status and to the narrowing of gender differentials.Cash earnings do not necessarily improve women’s bargaining power within households, unless theyretain control over the allocation and use of income (Elson, 1999). Furthermore, the extra costs associatedwith engaging in remunerated work may offset the transfer of non market sources, from the fathers ofwomen’s children, for instance, and reduce the actual income available to meet their needs and those oftheir children (Elson, 1999).

3 The characteristics of these employment patterns are regarded as consistent with women’s attitude towards work, e.g. irregularparticipation in the labour force, propensity to work for lower wages and to engage in low-skilled and low- status jobs.

This has led many authors to argue that the promotion of increased access to wage employmentmay be an important but not sufficient condition to redress gender imbalances. Increased access to wageemployment needs to be accompanied by an empowerment strategy geared towards enabling women tomake their own decisions, articulate their needs and priorities, compete with other actors for access tomaterial and non-material resources and shape creatively other social relations (Carr et al., 1996). Theempowerment approach recognizes the political dimension of development and advocates that the mainproblem women confront is the lack of power vis-à-vis the State, within households and in relation to thepolitical and economic fabric of society. It is the lack of power which hinders women’s ability to achievea more equal gender division of labour. To remedy this situation their self- reliance and internal strengthneeds to increase (Wieringa, 1994). Women’s empowerment begins at the local level within institutionsaffecting their daily lives, such as the household, local markets and local government. But for purposesof sustainability, womens’ empowerment needs to be reinforced by consistent and wider changes at thepolicy level. The existence of a political structure conducive to “the working of democratic participationand the operation of political incentives” is equally crucial if women’s groups or associations are toinfluence policies and institutional choices (Sen, 1999).

The Task Forces on gender issues in the world of work set up in Zimbabwe and Tanzania in 1998are a good example of such a political structure. Established to carry out action plans adopted at twonational tripartite workshops held with the ILO’s support, these bodies have become an integral part ofthe national machinery addressing employment and gender issues. The Task Forces, bringing together awide spectrum of government agencies, workers’ and employers’ organizations, women’s associations,researchers and academics, as well as local non-profit organizations, have put in place a formal processof discussion, information exchange and networking among social partners (ILOc, 1999). The main merit


of this process has been to highlight the failure of the policy debate to tackle the gender dimensions ofeconomic crisis and economic restructuring. The debate over costs borne by women had tended to focuson women’s reproductive and household maintenance roles, whilst their needs as workers and producershas been overlooked. The Task Forces showed that men and women possess different capacities toparticipate in market activities and are affected by and respond to negative and positive incentivesdifferently. The Task Forces have acquired national credibility, developed a spirit of partnership andcommon perspective among conventional and less conventional actors and built up their coordinating andnegotiating skills. New issues and policy areas have been identified, including urban informal sector, smallentrepreneurship development and women role models. Most importantly, in the current process of labourreform in the two countries, the Task Forces, thanks to the active work of women lawyers who areassociations’ members, have been able to point out the gender implications of employment-relatedlegislation and engage in lobbying with national parliaments.

The establishment of national steering committees to focus on a specific policy area can alsoenhance the public recognition and consolidation of membership associations. In the Philippines,PATAMABA, an umbrella organization of home workers’ organizations and a member of the NationalSteering Committee on Home Work set up by the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) in1991, was instrumental in bringing about significant changes in the policy and institutional settingconcerning this category of workers. Based on the Declaration of Homeworkers’ Rights and the MagnaCharta of Homeworkers adopted by PATAMABA during its founding Congress, the implementing rulesof the Labour Code provision pertaining to home work were amended. Prominent among the revised rules,was the provision for simple and low cost procedures for homeworkers’ organizations to obtain legalpersonality. As a result of its participation in the Committee, which comprised also the Ministry ofLabour, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and a few NGOs, PATAMABA was also able toenlarge its network of contact organizations, thus acquiring access to new sources of technical andfinancial assistance. In the same vein, PATAMABA built alliances with key actors also outside thePhilippines. PATAMBA joined, in fact, HomeNet International, an international network of homeworkers’associations, supportive trade unions and other sympathetic organizations.

Created in 1994 to promote North-South cooperation, HomeNet International pursues the twinobjectives of creating and strengthening homeworkers’ associations at the grassroots level and buildinglinks within and across countries, and advocating and lobbying for favourable policy initiatives. (ILO,1997) HomeNet International has been one of the most active promoters of the Home Work Convention,1996 (No. 177) of the ILO has shown its practical value for policy-making and standard-setting purposesat the country level (ILOd, 1999). Interestingly enough, the Convention, which focuses on home-baseddependent work, has been used by HomeNet to advance and protect also the interests and demands ofown-account workers labouring at home (ILOd, 1999).

Redressing imbalances along the production chain

Home work is an old, flexible form of dependent work which, according to many sources, isacquiring a new impetus in the current environment of more flexible production and economicglobalization. Homeworkers are placed at the end of sub-contracting chains within and between countries.Traditionally confined to labour-intensive industries, such as clothing and footwear manufacturers, it istoday emerging in cutting-edge sectors including micro-electronics and the car industry and in the servicesector (Di Martino, 1999). Although not all home work is precarious and low-productive (Tomei a, 1999),it continues to absorb principally non-organized and low-skilled female labour, often migrant women, invery exploitative, unsafe and insecure working conditions. One of the main characteristics of home workis its invisibility (ILO, 1995). National censuses fail, in fact, to record it due to confusion about the natureof home working and the most appropriate methodologies to measure it. The major difficulty lies inestablishing whether or not a homeworker is carrying out a paid or dependent job. The boundaries withfamily work or self-employment are ill-defined: many homeworkers engage in salaried as well as own-account work in different periods of the year or during the course of a single day. Another problem relates


to the employers’ demand that homeworkers register as autonomous labourers as a precondition for paidlabour so as to avoid granting them any social benefits. In still other instances, workers may declarethemselves to be inactive or unemployed, out of fear losing the work or some benefits (Labour Directorate,Department of Labour Studies, National Statistics Institute, Chile, 1998).

Finally, homeworkers often do not consider themselves to be workers, which reflects the littlevalue attributed by society to the economic importance of women’s productive activities. In manycountries, the law is silent or ambiguous on this form of employment; when covered by labour legislation,law enforcement is unsatisfactory (Tomei a, 1999). The declining effectiveness of labour inspectionservices and the inviolability of the home, a constitutional right in many countries, constitute a majorobstacle to adequate monitoring.

Another major feature of homeworkers is their isolation and lack of organization. They are mostof the time unaware of their rights and ways to enforce them, often having no knowledge of what a unionis or, if they do, showing skepticism or distrust. Organizing homeworkers is a daunting task entailing along-term, patient and costly effort which trade unions have been traditionally reluctant to engage in. Itinvolves rethinking labour unions’ methods, structures and organizing strategies. The biggest challengelies in identifying these jobs and charting the underground network of contracting and homeworking.Often, it means challenging trade unions’ position and policy towards apparel homeworking. This is thecase of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) which, despite its ban on industrialhomeworking, allowed its Ontario region to launch an organizing campaign for homeworkers, allegingthat home work had been legal for many years in Canada (Dagg, 1996). The ILGWU had also to contendwith the legal impediment for homeworkers to join a trade union and bargain collectively. To overcomethis barrier, the ILGWU pushed for legislative reform through political lobbying and an educationalcampaign run in cooperation with a coalition comprising a range of community organizations, women’sorganizations and church groups. At the same time, it set up a pre-union association in the Chinese-speaking community in Ontario which supplied the bulk of home workers. The rationale was to enablelocal associate members to keep a formal tie with the union, whilst waiting to become “full” members ofthe Union. This pre-union association responded to the realization that legislative reform, to be effective,has to involve the concerned workers.

As a consequence, the Homeworkers’ Association (HWA) originated. Despite the initial resistanceof in-factory union members to invest staff time and declining union resources in home workers, exposureto them made possible the development of a cohesive union approach to the changing structure of thegarment industry in Canada (Dagg, 1996). The HWA experience also reinforced ILGWU’s realization ofthe need for the labour movement to expand beyond its traditional base, in order not to become aperipheral force in the Canadian economy, and to propose innovative organizing techniques andinstitutional structures. This experience has led some to contend that community unionism, for example, the involvement of unions within their communities and in the formation of coalitions, may be the answerto some of the new challenges entailed by the changing nature of work (Dagg, 1996).

This community unionism has yielded encouraging results in contexts characterized by innovativeand committed local governments and progressive enterprises. In Brazil, the Regional Chamber of theABC Paulista (see Box 1) is a good example of how trade unions have been able to restructure theiridentity and regain legitimacy by broadening their agendas and constituencies. Community unionism alsoreflects the changes affecting the world of work and the emerging institutionality encompassing not onlythe sphere of work, but other crucial dimensions including the environment.

Box 1: The Regional Chamber of the ABC Paulista : promoting productivity and social cohesion throughsocial dialogue.

The ABC Paulista is a very important industrial region in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Comprising sevenmunicipalities, it hosts car and car spare parts industries, electrochemicals, pharmaceutics and a large and qualifiednetwork of small and medium firms supplying goods and services to the former. One of the main features of this


region is its high institutional density. Strong and representative trade unions with long bargaining experience coexistwith modern industries, as well as committed and innovative local government authorities and a sophisticatededucational and vocational training infrastructure.

Since the mid-1990s this region has undergone severe economic crises, as epitomized by its high unemploymentrates, especially in the car industry, and the relocation of industrial activities to regions with no comparable industrialand trade union tradition.

The Regional Chamber of ABC Paulista has surfaced as a pluri-institutional response to this process of economicand social disarticulation. It challenges the argument that the ABC region is “costly”, by showing the advantages ofa high institutional density and a long industrial tradition, including the existence of a highly qualified labour force,of experienced trade unions able to devise and negotiate new arrangements; and a well-grounded culture of tri- andmulti-partism. Its main goal is to promote the sustainable development of the region by increasing productivitythroughout the production chain and by improving the capacity of each and every stakeholder to contribute to thiscollective undertaking. The aim is to build solidarity ties within the inter-firm chain, to enable the weakest segments,for example, the micro and small entreprises, to pursue competitiveness in a more predictable and secure economicenvironment. The search for increased competitiveness is not confined to the reduction of labour costs. It also includesinvestments in the transportation infrastructure and transport system, in health and primary education and invocational training.

The Regional Chamber of ABC Paulista retained the distinct features of the Car Industry Chamber, aninnovative tripartite negotiation meant to address the crisis and future options of the car industry. The novelty of thelatter lay in the fact that it covered the entire production chain and not just the large car factories, thus bringing to thenegotiation table new actors, aside from the State and the enterprise, adding new issues and problems to the agenda.

The actors comprising the ABC Chamber range from the local and State governments to the large enterprisesand their representative asssociations, organizations advancing the interests of small and middle entreprises, the maintrade unions, univerisities and technical schools, civil society institutions and the legislature.

A number of important agreements have been signed since its creation. The development of a technologicalupgrading programme targetting micro and small enterprises and the establishment of a Guarantee Fund to facilitateaccess to financial services providers make up part of these deals. Equally important is the proposal to qualify andrequalify manpower in the petrochemical industry with a view to attracting plastic industries of the third generation.On the social front, literacy programmes for children and adults and a social assitance plan for street children and teenagers have been established.

It is obvious that the wide range of issues dealt with by the Chamber itself and the actors involved risk increasingthe number and complexity of problems and conflicts at stake. But this experience clear shows the relevance of theprinciples of collective representation and collective bargaining as an effective means to work out new forms of labourrelations regulation within and between enterprises , while preserving the social fabric and the environmental integrityof the region. The most salient achievement of the ABC Chamber has been to turn a crisis situation into anopportunity to devise and further a regional development paradigm which, while pursuing growing competitivenessand dynamism, is more equitable socially, more environment-friendly and more participatory.

Source: Laís Abramo, Mercado de trabajo, flexibilización y nuevas formas de regulación, pp. 71-96, inSindicalismo, Género y Flexibilización en el MERCOSUR y Chile. Inserción Laboral Femenina, (Jaime Ensignia ySonia Yañez, editores), Centro de Estudios de la Mujer (CEM), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Santiago de Chile, 1999.

Without overlooking the importance and pivotal role of governments and societies withinStates, trade unions increasingly realize the need to acquire a global understanding of work andworking relations to face the challenges of promoting decent work in an economically globalizingworld. Recent initiatives by the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation(ITCGLWF) in relation to SA8000, a global system adopted by the main world retailers wherebycompanies monitor their social accountability, mirrors this new orientation. The idea is to ensurecodes of conduct reflect key labour standards, including the right to freedom of association andcollective bargaining. Another objective is that an independent and effective monitoring andverification of the code compliance system is set up to make sure that these rights are respected atall points along the chain of production.(ILO, 1999) The ITCGLWF is encouraging its nationalaffiliates to include, in their codes of conduct, provisions protecting home workers. It believes thatits involvement in the shaping of the companies’ social behaviour, and in the correspondingmonitoring procedures and mechanisms, would encourage governments to innovate in theenforcement of workers’ rights, regardless of their work site (see Box 2).


Box 2:In 1997, the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) signed a Homeworkers Code

of practice, regarding the elimination of exploitation of homeworkers with the Australian Retailers Association(ARA). The parties signatory to the Code agree to cooperate in good faith to ensure that the Code workseffectively to each other’s satisfaction. They also commit themselves to promote public sensitization aboutadherence to the Code by signatory retailers and manufacturers. As per the Code, retailers require suppliers tocomply with all applicable laws and regulations, including relevant wage rates, whilst the Union is responsiblefor enforcing compliance. To this end, the ARA, on the Union’s request, supplies the names and addresses ofthe retailers adhering to the Code and their corresponding suppliers. Whenever the TCFUA can prove theexistence of exploitation, it is the retailer’s responsibility to investigate the matter with its supplier and ensurethat the problem is redressed. If not, the retailer has to terminate the affected purchase contract. In case of adispute between a retailer and the Union, it is the latter together with the ARA which decides how to resolveit.

Source: Homeworkers Code of Practice, Retailers and TCFUA (15 August, 1997).

Networking and representation: Strategies of growth of micro-entrepreneurs

Micro and small entreprises operate in a hostile environment. Collective action is beingundertaken whenever these enterprises are not able to overcome certain problems individuallyand/or the State is not able to address them. The reasons for engaging in collective efforts arenumerous and as varied as the forms they take (ILO, 1997). They range, indeed, from loosenetworks of individual entrepreneurs to officially recognized entrepreneurs’ cooperatives. The typeof organizational structure, as well as their recognition as legal entities, depends on various factors.These include, inter alia, the social prestige attached to a given institutional setting or the benefitsassociated with it in terms of fiscal exemptions or access to training and/or other facilities.

Rare are the cases, however, in which these organizations evolve into more settled andstructured institutions pursuing long-term and political objectives. Certainly, members’shortcomings, for example, restricted resources, lack of managerial and technical skills and theabsence of clearly specified financial and operational rules and procedures, play an important role.The opportunity cost, in terms of income-earning opportunities, which devoting time to theorganization’s activities entails, may also be a deterrent. Experience has shown that conflictingsignals by different levels of government can also undermine organizational efforts (ILO, 1997).The distrust and strong individualism characteristic of these operators have also been identified asreducing their propensity to become involved in organizational activities (ILOa, 1997). However,when the returns prove to be significant and worthy of the investment in time and energy, theseorganizations can flourish and help build a strong collective identity.

TUR-CASA provides an example of how organization can help obtain recognition and credibility,thus enhancing access to government-supplied support services, improving quality and efficiency andreaching out to a broader clientele. TUR-CASA is an association of women micro-entrepreneurs who offerfamily-style accommodation for tourists and students in Costa Rica. In 1991, they decided, to join forcesand create a franchise association to overcome the discrimination which small guest houses and family-runhotels usually suffer from government tourism promotion efforts (Bangasser, 1996). Their main concernwas to identify and consolidate a market niche for the TUR-CASA logo, upgrade and maintain theirquality and make their services more widely known. To this end, several standards of accommodationwere established and offered at set prices. Such standards also help classify the facilities of new applicants,providing the association a means to assess whether or not to accept them. TUR-CASA also introducedstandardized forms and methods for the detailed records and book-keeping requirements of the membersand established contacts with the National Tourism Board and the Chamber of Commerce. Membershipin TUR-CASA guarantees access to training in the operation of businesses and national and internationalsupport in attracting guests. Interestingly enough, this organization has deliberately retained its female-


only membership, while establishing business links with mixed “partner organizations” in which fathers,spouses and sons are actively involved. Its female orientation is part of TUR-CASA’s marketing strategy.

Associations of micro and small entrepreneurs are increasingly regarded as key players in theconsolidation of democracies and as partners in the channelling of public services and resources the roleof the State as service deliverer declines. For instance, the Committee of Central American micro-entrepreneurs (COCEMI), a non-profit, regional organization comprising seven national committeesembracing the interests of various associations, is involved along with other sectors, including employersand workers’ organizations, women’s and indigenous peoples associations, in regional debates on CentralAmerican integration. One of COCEMI’s goals is to promote micro-enterprise development throughregional networking. This networking takes the form of trade fairs, as well as the provision of informationservices on market performance and financial and technical facilities to help members make informeddecisions at a reduced cost. The establishment of an information system supplying data on members’businesses, as well as on sectoral situations and trends, is also part of the networking effort of theConfederation of West African Artisans (CAAO).

The internal organization of micro-entrepreneurial associations and the institutional setting devisedto enable crafts associations to participate in consultations and negotiations with the government shouldbe responsive to the associations’ own patterns and logic. Otherwise, their registration as legal entitiesmight be regarded as a means to enhance State control, rather than as a channel for enhanced access togovernment authorities and services and for their recognition as interlocutors and/or partners inprogramme implementation. Legal recognition is, in other words, the conditio sine qua non for theacquisition of economic citizenship, for example, clearly-defined and enforced rights and responsibilitiesbefore the State. Furthermore, by ensuring stability and internal cohesion, a suitable institutional settinghelps enlarge the usually limited geographical coverage of these associations.

The National Federation of Artisans of Mali (FNAM), one of the founding institutions of CAAO,is a good case in point. Representing 450 grass-root organizations, for a total of 20,130 members, FNAMhas put in place a solid and articulate structure national in scope ( FNAM, 1999). A distinct feature of thisstructure is the importance attached to the development at the local, regional and national levels ofnetworks and occasions for members interaction, so as to build a strong territory-based collective identityand define area-specific needs and priorities, and to the various layers of government. At the same time,contacts and links are established and nurtured through ordinary and extraordinary meetings and eventsas well as ad-hoc services between members and the different associations they belong to across the wholestructure. An Animation and Advisory Network, established in 1994, acts as liaison between theFederation and its associations and supplies the support services required by the members. In this way,FNAM is able to advance the common and general interests of the federation, for example, by proposingand lobbying for amendments to the legislation pertaining to fiscal issues and to the creation andautonomy of the trade chambers (chambre de metiers), while responding to the specific demands ofmember associations at a more decentralized level.

Conclusions

The transformations taking place on a global scale in the production and work processes arechanging the nature and typology of labour and social relations, undermining traditional, individual andcollective labour identities. The complexity and variety of relations, levels of interaction and actorsinvolved pose challenges both conceptually and in terms of strategies and practical actions.

Well-established employment categories and concepts are increasingly unable to capture the scopeand pace of changes occurring in the world of work. So far, attempts to assess the new phenomena havehighlighted them in purely negative and residual terms compared to standard contractual arrangementsand forms of employment. This bias hampers our ability to move forward in understanding the scope andimplications, for policy-making purposes, of emerging realities in the labour market. It is obvious that


more imagination is required.

At the same time, the role of the State and workers’ and employers’ organizations is beingredesigned. External factors, such as the pressure to redress chronic fiscal imbalances and to increasecompetitiveness and productivity, are the main impetus for these changes. Nonetheless, the new functionsof these actors and their corresponding economic and social outcomes will depend, to a large extent, onthemselves. Their ability to “reinvent” themselves, while preserving their original mandate and raisond’être and to open up to new institutions and new forms of solidarity are crucial. Some of the casesmentioned earlier in this paper show that this is not only possible but desirable. They also show thepractical value of ILO labour standards beyond ratification.

Thanks to alliances between workers’ organizations, NGOs and other civil society actors, the ILOConvention on Home work, for instance, has been able to influence national policies to provide protectionto a large and growing segment of the workforce, for example, home-based producers. It has also beensuccessful in orienting multinational practices and has paved the way for the development of a globalsystem of compliance with international labour standards.

But, certainly, the future of the industrial relations institutions and the possibilities of a moredemocratic, just and inclusive society depend on their capacity to defend and promote the principles ofright of association and collective bargaining. This contingency means, among other things, broadeningthe spheres of life and the types of actors to which these principles may be applicable. Work cannot beseen in isolation from other fundamental dimensions, such as the environment, social equity and genderequality.

It also requires investing in social capital. A culture of democracy and dialogue cannot beimprovised. Rather, it is the result, among other things, of incremental improvements in a society’sinstitutional density and quality. Otherwise, there is a risk of an asymmetric allocation of resources andopportunities which perpetuates social exclusion and inequality.


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