Freedom ofAssociation, Collective Bargainingand Informalization

of Employment:Some Issues

Manuela Tomei

Employment SectorInternational Labour Office

IntroductionIntroduction

The world of work has undergone dramatic changes that challenge thelegitimacy and strength of traditional industrial relations institutions. Work,nonetheless, continues to be the main form of social integration andconstruction of social identity; its absence, or poor quality, the main source ofsocial exclusion, segregation and/or destitution. Work defines one’s statusas an insider or outsider. One’s dignity, self-respect, and right to participatein society continue to rely on being in work. Never has work and its caliberbeen so intrinsic to the concept of quality of life and so determinant in theconstruction of an equitable and cohesive society.

The content of work, its organization and the type and number oflabour and social relations is being reshaped. This, however, should notobscure the significance and continued need for collective actors representingand advancing the interest of workers. Institutions able to act and negotiatecollectively, on behalf of an increasingly composite work force, are crucial toreduce inequalities, strengthen social cohesion and foster democracy. But thisrequires making “visible” the “invisible”, giving them “voice” through newforms of representation or bringing them into the mainstream of the moretraditional representative bodies, thereby restating the legitimacy andeconomic value of collective bargaining and social dialogue at the local,national and global levels.

This paper tries to trace the contours of the new institutionaldevelopments and to examine their implication in terms of gender equality,distributive justice, social cohesion and democracy. The paper argues that therecognition and promotion of the rights of freedom of association andcollective bargaining for all workers, regardless of their employment statusand type of activity, are essential if globalization is to bring opportunities foreverybody. It also claims that decentralization, e.g. devolution of powers andresponsibilities to local governments, by giving people more chances to shapetheir own lives, by raising their level of participation in decision-making,provides, under given conditions, an enabling environment for representationand organizational processes.

Globalization and informalization of employment: challengesGlobalization and informalization of employment: challenges and opportunities for industrial relations institutions and opportunities for industrial relations institutions

Two dominant drives, e.g. the globalization of the economy andeconomic liberalization, are reshaping the content of work, its social andeconomic significance (Abramo, 1999) and the institutions built around it. Theopening of national economies, the intensification of financial and trade flows,and the unprecedented advances in information and communicationtechnologies have led to increased competitiveness. The latter has resulted inthe fragmentation and relocation of production processes, throughoutsourcing and subcontracting, the deregulation of the labour markets, andthe informalization of economic activities.

As a consequence, non-standard forms of employment have surfacedand grown, labour relations have become atomized, whilst the overall qualityof employment has deteriorated1. Neither “atypical” forms of employmentnor the “informal” sector can be viewed as residual categories anymore; theyare rather part and parcel of the overall development dynamics. Quality ofemployment varies along a continuum which does not follow the dichotomyformal/informal. Not all jobs in the informal sector are necessarily of poorquality nor do all formal sector jobs qualify as good jobs. Insecurity of tenure,job precariousness and irregularity, lack of or limited social protection areincreasingly becoming common features to formal activities as well.

The emergence of a new model of employment where a core of secure,stable and protected workers, coexist with a peripheral workforce lackingsecurity of tenure and long term career prospects and, for the most part, withaccess to precarious and poorly protected jobs, has strong gender dimensions.Women are indeed disproportionately represented in the periphery. Morewomen than men are engaging, and at an increasing pace, in temporary orcasual work, multiple part-time, sub-contracting and informal self-employment. (Marshall, 1999) Even in the formal sector manufacturingworkforce in the export industries, women are concentrated in the loweroccupational ranks with the lower pay and least secure contractualarrangements.(Marshall, 1999) The implications for gender inequalities ofwomen’s increased access to wage labour are still a matter of debate. Thekey question is to ascertain whether the new development processes arereproducing gender inequalities through terms and conditions of employment.

The changing composition of the labour force and the increased labourforce flexibility have affected the traditional industrial 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 individuallabour relations have bee introduced . But enhanced labour flexibility, asidefrom not having boosted employment nor reduced the size of the informalsector, had weakened the role of collective bargaining processes in thedefinition of the terms and conditions of work. In particular, the legitimacyand the bargaining power of trade unions have been undermined. Trade unionmembership has declined in almost all parts of the world over the past decade.(ILO, 1997) In some countries, this trend has been counteracted by theaffiliation of retired workers and non-employed members. But this confirmsthe loss of strength and bargaining power of trade unions in the work place.This has been compounded also by the wide spread decentralization ofcollective bargaining to plant or company level, which has had the effect ofbypassing trade unions.

1The concept of quality of employment was coined to take into account in a more systematicfashion dimensions other than just the level of income and to acknowledge the importance ofthose other dimensions for the well-being of workers and for a better understanding of thelabour market. Quality of employment is a multidimensional index influenced by a whole rangeof components: wage, non-wage benefits, regularity of employment, job security, socialprotection (health, unemployment, pension), representation through trade unions or othermeans, working time, intensity of work, occupational risks, possibility of career advancementof skills’ upgrading, job satisfaction etc.

Intermittent and contingent workers, such as part-time workers, homeworkers, including tele-workers, temporary and casual labourers, are indeedless likely to join or stay in trade unions. This state of affairs is due toseveral factors. Prominent among them are the legal ambiguity whichcharacterizes these forms of employment, fear of dismissal or of not gettingfurther assignments if they unionize, and skepticism about the advantageswhich might derive from joining trade unions. The latter proves particularlytrue for women workers who have traditionally been under-represented intrade unions. At the same time, trade unions confront objective difficulties inreaching out to these categories of workers and integrating them within theirstructures. (ILO, 1999)

Another phenomenon, which is shaking the grounds of the traditionalindustrial relations system and is related to the fragmentation of productionprocess and the growing reliance to outsourcing and subcontractingarrangements, is the spectacular dynamism of micro and small-scaleenterprises in terms of absorbing labour. Every where in the world theyaccount for the generation of a significant proportion of the new jobs. Asidefrom being highly unstable, as epitomized by their high mortality rate, theseunits often operate, especially in developing countries, on the fringes offormality, and are owned and operated by individuals with little labour andcapital. The labour they resort to often comprises unpaid family members,apprentices, and a few wage labourers. Relatives and friends supply, to a largeextent, the manpower. Kinship ties, friendship and ethnic loyalties tend toprevail over class consciousness, thus hampering the propensity of theseworkers to engage in collective action to redress problems related to the worksphere.

It is equally obvious that, in a globally integrated production system, thetraditional mechanisms, trade unions have relied on to exert pressure, proveless effective. Trade unions have to contend with fragmented groups ofworkers displaying dissimilar patterns of labour participation and advancing,consequently, different needs and demands. As a consequence, the sense ofcommunity which trade unions used to instill in their members and keep themunited, is vanishing as is the representation security deriving from it. This isnot to say that representation security has become irrelevant. On the contrary.Never has the need for independent collective bodies, capable of representingand advancing the interests of such an heterogeneous workforce, been soimportant to obtain distributive justice. As Standing puts it, the absence of astrong and legitimate collective “voice” entails the risk of curtailing otherforms of labour security (Standing, 1999).

The challenge is to devise an institutional basis of representation whichproves more suitable for more flexible forms of labour and highly fragmentedproduction processes. Another challenge lies in the search of modalities ofoperation which complement interventions at the local, national and globallevels.

Trade unions are aware of the inevitability of a serious review of theirorganizing and alliance-building strategies, institutional structures, andpressure mechanisms to recuperate social legitimacy and strength. Some

encouraging, though still patchy and small scale, efforts have been madealready in this direction. But new collective actors are springing up and pavingthe way for the emergence of new forms of labour regulation and new spacesof negotiation. Two important and very dynamic actors are coming to thefore. These are: the transnational corporations (TNC) and the varied andmulti-faceted interest groups and organizations of the civil society, have cometo the fore. The TNC, the driving forces of globalization, are increasinglybecoming a major employer of women, exporting new cultural values, anddeveloping new devices to counteract mounting criticism from pressure groupsconcerning the poor working conditions in their establishments. Nongovernmental organizations have been instrumental in providing anorganizational basis for women workers, especially in the informal sector.They also play a non-negligible role in delivering social services to thedisadvantaged and the poor, and in substituting or complementing traditionalState responsibilities. They are also increasingly involved in the monitoring ofTNC’s abidance to their own social codes of conduct. Also membershipassociations, including trade or area-based organizations, associations ofmicro-entrepreneurs and occupational groups have came to life, dispellingconventional beliefs about the unorganized character of informal sectoroperators.(ILO, 1997)

The changing faces of informalityThe changing faces of informality

Over the past three decades, the “informal sector”, what itencompasses, its relationship with the “formal sector”, and the factorsresponsible for its existence and performance, has been at the centre of heateddiscussion and controversy. The continued interest of academics and policymakers in this “sector” relates to its persistence and steady growth in thedeveloping world, and its rising significance in the industrialized world aswell.

According to recent ILO estimates, Sub-Saharan countries displayed thehighest rates of informal sector employment to total employment, whereasCentral and Eastern Europe and the former USSR showed the lowest ones.(ILOa, 1999). However, the shares of informal sector employment vis-à-vis non-agricultural employment proved significant also in other African countries, aswell as in other regions. Informal sector employment accounted, in fact, formore than 50% of urban employment in nine African countries (CameroonCote d’ Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Kenya, Mali, United Republic ofTanzania and Uganda), in three Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombiaand Peru) and in one country in Asia (Pakistan). (ILO a, 1999).

Since the early 1990s, the share of informal employment in totalemployment has known a steady growth in virtually all countries in LatinAmerica, except for Ecuador (table1). Out of every 100 new jobs generatedduring the period in question, only 15 corresponded to the formal sector, whilethe remaining 85 were in the non-structured sector. (ILOa,1997)

More recently, however, the relevance of the concept of “ informalsector” to the current realities and the soundness of the foundations of the

different schools of thought have been questioned. Many authors argue thatthe growing flexibilization and informalization of production processes andorganization of work are blurring the frontiers between the formal andinformal economies and the way they interrelate, rendering obsolete thetraditional dichotomy formal/informal. Such dichotomy, by qualifying theinformal sector only in terms of how it is not like the formal

Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (1999).

sector, fails to capture the mobility of workers between them and the fact that“atypical” is becoming increasingly the standard form of employment. (Lundand Srinivas, 1999) As a result, it is meaningless to label the formal sector as“modern” and the informal sector as “non-modern” (WIEGO, 1999). This isconsistent with the fact that informality is no longer confined to developingcountries, but is acquiring growing relevance in the industrialized world aswell. As a result, the use of the word “informal sector” is being replaced bythe expression “informal economy”. (ILOb,1999).

The world economic crisis and economic recession, which since the mid-1980s pushed many countries to adopt stabilization policies and engage ineconomic restructuring, and the way production is organized by transnationalcapital are responsible for these changes. Growing inequalities in earnings andprofit-making capacities in the urban economy has been invoked as a powerfulfactor for the informalization of the economy in the advanced economies.(Sassen, 1997)

Changes in the way formal and informal economies interact has abearing on the composition and heterogeneity of the latter. This phenomenonhas been referred to by some authors (J.P.Pérez Sáinz, 1998) as “neo-informality”. According to this concept, the informal sector would comprisethree distinct scenarios (see table 2). The first would encompass urbaneconomic activities characterized by a simple division of labour and operatedby the proprietor alone or with the help of unpaid family members. Theseactivities constitute a means of survival and may be seen as synonymous ofpoverty. They are clearly excluded from the globalization process. This sectorwould comprise both the chronic poor, as well as the “new” poor, e.g thoseimpoverished by the structural adjustment process.

The second scenario consists of activities subordinated to the newtradable sectors, through sub-contracting arrangements. These activities arelinked to the globalization process and make part of an entrepreneurial strategy aimed at reducing labour costs and achieving enhanced productionflexibility. Opportunities for growth and modernization of this sector woulddepend on the type of links established with the new tradeables sector.Disguised wage labour tends to prevail, although own-account work is alsoassociated with this segment of informality. The third scenario which is alsothe most promising one, refers to the agglomeration of small businesses withvarying degrees of formality/informality which operate in a given territorywhich is socially and culturally organized. In this case, chances of growthwould depend on the actual distinction between production activities andsupport services. Specialization would in fact ignite innovation by competitionand cooperation which would also strengthen local social ties, henceenhancing the communal identity. The relative magnitude of each segmentwould vary across countries and regions, depending on the pattern ofeconomic restructuring and participation in the global economy

The suggested “stratification” of the informal economy has directbearings on the types of policies that might prove more suitable to address thespecific problems and upgrade the potential of each segment. (See table 2) Subsistence-type of economic activities need to be addressed within the

framework of poverty-alleviation programmes and social policies. Economicundertakings linked to globalization processes, through sub-contractingarrangements, may require, depending on the employment status of theproducer, different measures, ranging from paralegal training and moreeffective law enforcement systems to low-cost and adequate business supportservices. For micro and small enterprise with higher potential and dynamism a“modernization” strategy might prove more suitable The latter would aim atcorrecting the supply constraints of these units, through technologicalupgrading, enhanced access to information and to marketing outlets, whileimproving their compliance with fiscal and labour regulations. (ILOa, 1997)2

But a clear understanding of the new heterogeneity of informality isalso useful from an industrial relations point of view. The type of informalitywhich an individual or an economic unit might be part of influences, in fact,his/her/its labour identity and labour relations. This, in turn, determines therole and scope for involvement of trade unions, business organizations, andthe State, as we shall examine in the following pages.

Table Table 1: Neo-informal scenarios1: Neo-informal scenarios

ScenarioScenario ContextContextType ofType of

informalityinformality ResourcesResources ChallengesChallenges IdentitiesIdentities

Economy ofpoverty

Exclusion Subsistence Very limited Equity at thesocietallevel

Individualistic andcompetitive

Provision ofinputs orsubcontracting for thetradeablesector

Globalization

Subordination

Limited Relations withthetradeablesectorbecominginstitutionalized;incentivesforinnovation

Atomized

Agglomeration of smalldynamicbusinesses

Globalization

Dynamic Socio-territoriality

Specialization: technicalandorganizationalinnovation

Local

2Tokman argues that non-observance is a “cost” and as a barrier to the acquisition of fulleconomic citizenship. (Tokman, ). While cognisant that abidance by certain labour laws issubject 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,irrespective of their economic situation . These core labour standards comprise, inter alia, theright of micro and small enterprises’ proprietors and workers to organize and associate.

Source: Pérez Sáinz (1995).

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

Structural adjustment policies and programmes led many governmentsto embark on a wide range of reforms. The decline in public employment andthe consequent transfer of responsibility for the provision of social services toNGOs and for-profit businesses, the privatization of state-owned enterprises,and the decentralization of administrative services are but a few examples.Performance by private operators of certain functions previously exercised bythe State, decentralization and good governance are viewed as instrumentalfor enhanced efficiency and effectiveness, as well as for a more democraticuse and allocation of local resources and assets.

The accountability of government authorities to the organizedcommunity, the greater transparency with regard to the development optionsavailable, and the establishment of mechanisms for local consultation andnegotiation should favour the enhanced participation of local interest groupsin decision-making and monitoring. In reality, decentralization and thechanging relations between State-market and civil society can reproduce andeven reinforce unbalanced power relationships and unfair distributivepractices. The main challenge is to avoid that privatization becomes anothersource of marginalization of the poor majority, that the survival strategies ofthe low-income urban groups rely on self-provisioning, and that NGOs becomesurrogates for the local State.

No matter how competent and committed NGOs might be, it isunquestionable that the State has certain fundamental responsibilities, thatcannot be down loaded to the former. This holds particularly true in contextswhere poverty and inequitable distribution are severe. This is why it is so vitalthat both state and market operate in such a way as to ensure thatemployment is generated, rights are enforced, and interests adequatelychannelled. (Reilly, 1998).

These trends reiterate the significance of genuine and strongrepresentative groups capable of bargaining the terms and conditions of theirparticipation in decision-making, and in wealth production and distribution.They also point out to the need for a regulatory and political environmentwhich values and strengthens the creation of membership groups, by inter alia investing in the development of their capacities, without coopting them.

In the field of social policy, joint ventures and partnerships between theState, local-based private institutions, and the business sector, are beingconceived and tested. Compensatory or social funds, which have proliferatedin developing countries and economies in transition (Berar, 1997) exemplifythe new division of labour and responsibilities between these three actors. Thegoals, target groups and targeting mechanisms, scope of operations andprogramme components, and degree of dependence on domestic/externalfunding, change from one social fund to another, and over time. They,nonetheless, share some common characteristics. These include: a highpolitical visibility; a new approach and culture of social service delivery; and

demand-driven operations based on the principle of subsidiarity. Buildinglocal level capacity in governance is another common feature.(Lund andSrinivas, 1999)

Social funds seek to enhance the capacity of both intermediaryorganizations, which range from public and private institutions to universitiesand NGOs, and the target groups themselves. In Chile, for instance, theprincipal aim of the Social Investment and Solidarity Fund (FOSIS) is tostrengthen the skills and capacities of the poor to engage in organized action,including formulating and negotiating proposals to promote local developmentinitiatives responsive to local requests and priorities. (Tomei, 1997) Severalauthors, however, have signalled the failure of social funds in reaching out tothe poorest segments of the target population (Tomei, 1997; Vivian, 1995) andtheir preference for physical rather than human capital development ( Reilly,1998). Other criticisms relate to their perpetuating partisan politics, throughthe creation of new clientelism (Vivian, 1995), and their furthering genderinequalities. Berar highlights the difficulties that women confront inexpressing their preferences and in getting their priorities through the multi-stage approval process. She also points to the unequal distribution of benefitsand obligations between women and men. Access to wage labour, whenavailable, is, in fact, largely restricted to men, whereas women’sparticipation tends to prevail in voluntary work. (Berar, 1997) Often, whenwomen’s groups have the possibility to submit their own initiatives, these tendto conform to a similar pattern, reflecting either the preference of the supportorganization, or the perception which women have of what is likely to befinanced (Raczinsky et al, 1996).

It can be argued that this state of affairs is not to be ascribed toshortcomings in the conception of the funds themselves, but rather to the factthat the basic assumptions were wrong. It was believed in fact that by simplyproviding opportunities and incentives, intermediary organizations wouldchannel resources and supply services in a competent and effective fashion. Atthe same time, it was deemed that by soliciting group-based beneficiaries todesign and submit, for funding, local development initiatives, the latter wouldreflect local needs and correct social and/or gender imbalances. Such a beliefomitted the fact that, in many developing countries, a market of privateorganizations (non-profit and for-profit) delivering social services simply didnot exist. In other cases, the antagonism, grounded on ideological divergences,that had traditionally characterized the relationship between the governmentand the NGO world hampered the shift to a relationship of cooperation.Moreover, the poor, if not properly assisted, are the least equipped toarticulate and engage in innovative actions for change. Experience has shown,however, that, if adequate incentives are provided in the form of trainingopportunities as well as monetary recognition of the tasks performed to thebenefit of the community, the outcome can be very encouraging (Tomei, 1999). The latest generation of social funds is indeed trying to redress theseproblems by allocating more time and resources to building the capacities ofthe civil society.

In spite of mixed evidence on the social impacts of social funds, it isunquestionable that they have paved the way for the establishment of a new

relationship between the State and the civil society, and provided a newmechanism through which the poor can solicit services and obtain recognition.Perhaps their most important contribution has been in showing the value ofinvesting in the mobilization and organization of the destitute and thedisadvantaged, giving them a “face”, a “voice”, and an opportunity tointeract with other actors and institutions on a different footing. For manyassociations of beneficiaries, access to social funds has been instrumental inobtaining support from other entities, thus strengthening their commitment toorganized action.Overcoming gender inequalities through women’s empowermentOvercoming gender inequalities through women’s empowerment

Increasingly, informal employment arrangements, e.g. without regularwages, benefits, employment protection and so on, are institutionalized withinthe formal sector and more women than men are affected by this trend. It hasbeen argued, in fact, that the informalization of employment across the worldhas stimulated the increase of female labour force participation andemployment 3.(Standing a, 1999). It is being debated whether increased accessof women workers to paid work is contributing to the improvement ofwomen’s social and economic status and to the narrowing of genderdifferentials. Cash earnings do not necessarily improve women’s bargainingpower within households, if they do not retain control over the allocation anduse of income. (Elson, 1999) Furthermore, the extra costs associated withengaging in remunerated work may offset the transfer of non market sources,from the fathers of women’s children, for instance, and reduce the actualincome available to meet their needs and those of their children. (Elson, 1999).

3The characteristics of these employment patterns are regarded as consistent with women’sattitude towards work, e.g. irregular participation in the labour force, propensity to work forlower wages and to engage in low-skilled and low- status jobs.

This has led many authors to argue that the promotion of increasedaccess to wage employment may be an important but not sufficient conditionto redress gender imbalances. It needs to be accompanied by anempowerment strategy geared towards enabling women to make their owndecisions, articulate their needs and priorities, compete with other actors foraccess to material and non-material resources, and shape creatively othersocial relations. (Carr et al., 1996) The empowerment approach recognizesthe political dimension of development and advocates that the main problemwomen confront is the lack of power vis-à-vis the State, within households,and in relation to the political and economic fabric of society. It is the lack ofpower which hinders women’s ability to achieve a more equal gender divisionof labour. To remedy this situation, it is suggested to increase their self-reliance and internal strength. (Wieringa, 1994). Women’s empowermentbegins at the local level within institutions affecting their daily lives, such asthe household, local markets, and local government. But for purposes ofsustainability, it needs to be reinforced by consistent and wider changes at thepolicy level. The existence of a political regime which is conducive to “theworking of democratic participation and the operation of political incentives”is equally crucial if women’s groups or associations are to influence policiesand institutional choices. (Sen, 1999)

The Task forces on Gender issues in the World of Work set up inZimbabwe and Tanzania in 1998 are a good example of this. Established tocarry out action plans adopted at two national tripartite workshops held withILO’s support, these bodies have become an integral part of the nationalmachinery addressing employment and gender issues. The Task Forces, thatbring together a wide spectrum of government agencies, workers’ andemployers’ organizations, women’s associations, researchers andacademics, as well as local non-profit organizations, have put in place aformal process of discussion, information exchange and networking amongsocial partners. (ILOc, 1999) The main merit of this process has been itshighlighting of the failure of the policy debate to tackle the gender dimensionsof economic crisis and economic restructuring. The attention to costs borne bywomen had focussed on women’s reproductive and household maintenanceroles, whilst their needs as workers and producers had been overlooked. TheTask forces showed that men and women possess different capacities toparticipate in market activities and are affected, and respond to negative andpositive incentives differently. The Task Forces have acquired nationalcredibility, developed a spirit of partnership and common perspective amongconventional and less conventional actors, and built up their coordinating andnegotiating skills. New issues and policy areas have been identified, includingurban informal sector, small entrepreneurship development, and women rolemodels. Most importantly, in the current process of labour reform in the twocountries, the Task Forces, thanks to the active work of women lawyersassociations’ members, have been able to point out the gender implications ofemployment-related legislation and engage in lobbying with nationalparliaments.

The establishment of national steering committees to focus on a specificpolicy area can also enhance the public recognition and consolidation ofmembership associations. In the Philippines, PATAMABA, an umbrellaorganization of home workers’ organizations and a member of the NationalSteering Committee on Home Work set up by the Department of Labour andEmployment (DOLE) in 1991 , was instrumental in bringing about significantchanges in the policy and institutional setting concerning this category ofworkers. Based on the Declaration of Homeworkers’ Rights and the MagnaCharta of Homeworkers adopted by PATAMABA during its founding Congress,the implementing rules of the Labour Code provision pertaining to home workwere amended. Prominent among the revised rules, was the provision forsimple and low cost procedures for homeworkers’ organizations to obtainlegal personality. As a result of its participation in the Committee, whichcomprised also the Ministry of Labour, the Trade Union Congress of thePhilippines, and a few NGOs, PATAMABA was also able to enlarge its networkof contact organizations, thus acquiring access to new sources of technical andfinancial assistance. In the same vein, PATAMABA built alliances with keyactors also outside the Philippines. PATAMBA joined, in fact, HomeNetInternational, an international reseau of homeworkers’ associations,supportive trade unions, and other sympathetic organizations.

Created in 1994 to promote North-South cooperation, it pursues thetwin objectives of creating and strengthening homeworkers’ associations atthe grassroots level and building links 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 ILO’sConvention No. 177 on Home Work and has shown its practical value forpolicy-making and standard-setting purposes at the country level (ILOd, 1999).Interestingly enough, the Convention, which focuses on home-based dependentwork, has been used by Home Net to advance and protect also the interestsand demands of own-account workers labouring at home. (ILOd, 1999)

Redressing imbalances along the production chainRedressing imbalances along the production chain

Homework is an old, flexible form of dependent work which, accordingto many sources, is acquiring a new impetus as a result of the current processrelating to more flexible production and economic globalization. Homeworkers are placed at the end of sub-contracting chains that straddle withincountries and between countries. Traditionally confined to labour-intensiveindustries, such as the garment, clothing and footwear manufactures, it isemerging, today, also in cutting-edge sectors, including micro-electronics andthe car industry, and in the service sector. (Di Martino, 1999) Although not allhome work seems to be precarious and low-productive (Tomei a, 1999), itcontinues to absorb principally non-organized and low-skilled female labour,often migrant women, in situations of over-exploitation, unsafe workingconditions, and insecurity. One of the main characteristics of home work is itsinvisibility. (ILO, 1995) National accounts fail, in fact, to seize it. This is owingto the confusion on the nature of homeworking and on the most appropriatemethodologies to measure it. The major difficulty lies in establishing whetheror not a home worker is carrying out a paid or dependent job. The boundarieswith family work or self-employment are ill-defined. The difficulty arisesfrom the fact that many home workers engage in salaried as well as own-account work in different periods of the year or during the course of a singleday. Another problem relates to the employers’ request to homeworkers toregister as autonomous labourers as a precondition in obtaining paid labour,so as to avoid granting them any social benefits. In still other instances,workers may declare themselves to be inactive or unemployed, out of fearlosing the work or some benefits. (Labour Directorate, Dept.of LabourStudies, National Statistics Institute, Chile, 1998)

Finally, home workers often do not consider themselves to be workers,which reflects the little value attributed by society to the economic importanceof women’s productive activities. In many countries, the law is silent orambiguous on this form of employment; when covered by labour legislation,law enforcement is dissatisfactory. (Tomei a, 1999) The decliningeffectiveness of labour inspection services and the inviolability of home, aconstitutional right in many countries, constitute a major obstacle to adequatemonitoring.

Another major feature of home workers is their isolation and lack oforganization. They are most of the time unaware of their rights and ways toenforce them, often having no knowledge of what a union is or , if they do,exhibit skepticism or distrust. Organizing home workers is a daunting taskentailing a long-term, patient and costly effort which trade unions have been

traditionally reluctant to engage in. It involves rethinking labour unions’methods, structures and organizing strategies. The biggest challenge lies inidentifying them and charting the underground network of contracting andhomeworking. Often, it means challenging trade unions’ position and policytowards apparel homeworking. This is the case of the International Ladies’Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) which, despite its ban on industrialhomeworking, allowed its Ontario region to launch an organizing campaignfor home workers, alleging that home work had been legal for many years inCanada.(Dagg, 1996) The ILGWU had also to contend with the legalimpediment for home workers to join a trade union and bargain collectively.To overcome this barrier, the ILGWU pushed for legislative reform throughpolitical lobbying and an educational campaign run in cooperation with acoalition comprising a range of community organizations, women’sorganizations and church groups. At the same time, it set up a pre-unionassociation in the Chinese-speaking community in Ontario which supplied thebulk of homeworkers. The rationale was to enable local associate members tokeep a formal tie with the union, whilst waiting to become “full” members ofthe Union. This responded to the realization that a legislative reform to beeffective had to have the concerned workers alongside.

As a consequence, the Homeworkers’ Association originated. Despitethe initial resistance of in-factory union members to invest staff time anddeclining union resources in home workers, exposure to them made possiblethe development of a cohesive union approach to the changing structure of thegarment industry in Canada. (Dagg, 1996). The HWA experience alsoreinforced ILGWU’s realization of the need for the labour movement toexpand beyond their traditional base, in order not to become a peripheralforce in the Canadian economy, and to propose innovative organizingtechniques and institutional structures. This has led some to contend thatcommunity unionism, e.g. the involvement of unions within their communitiesand in the formation of coalitions, may be the answer to some of the newchallenges entailed by the changing nature of work.(Dagg, 1996).

This is an approach that has yielded encouraging results in contextscharacterized by innovative and committed local governments and progressiveenterprises. In Brasil, the Regional Chamber of the ABC Paulista (see Box 1) isa good example of how trade unions have been able to restructure theiridentity and regain legitimacy by broadening their agendas and constituencies.It also shows that the changes affecting the world of work and the newinstitutionality which is emerging require encompassing not only the sphere ofwork, but other crucial dimensions including the environment.

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

The ABC Paulista is a very important industrial region in the State of SaoPaulo, Brasil. Comprising seven municipalities, it hosts car and car spare partsindustries, electrochemicals, pharmaceutics, and a large and qualified network ofsmall and medium firms supplying goods and services to the former. One of the

main features of this region is its high institutional density. Strong andrepresentative trade unions with a long bargaining experience coexist with modernindustries, as well as committed and innovative local government authorities, and asophisticated educational and vocational training infrastructure.

Since the mid-1990s this region has undergone a severe economic crisis, asepytomized by its high unemployment rates, especially in the car industry, and therelocation of industrial activities to regions with no comparable industrial andtrade union tradition.

The Regional Chamber of ABC Paulista surfaces as a pluri-institutionalresponse to this process of economic and social disarticulation. It challenges theargument that the ABC region is « costly », by showing the advantages entailed by ahigh institutional density and a long industrial tradition, including the existence ofa highly qualified labour force, of experienced trade unions capable of devisingand negotiating new arrangements; and a well-grounded culture of tri andmultipartism. Its main goal is to promote the sustainable development of the regionby increasing productivity throughout the production chain and by improving thecapacity of every and each stakeholder to contribute to this collective undertaking.The aim is to build solidarity ties within the inter-firm chain, so as to enable alsothe weakest segments, e.g. the micro and small entreprises, to pursuecompetitiveness goals in a more predictable and secure economic environment. Thesearch for increased competitiveness is not confined to the reduction of labourcosts, it also includes investments in the transportation infrastructure andtransport system, in health and primary education and in vocational training alike.

The Regional Chamber of ABC Paulista retained the distinct features of the CarIndustry Chamber, an innovative tripartite negotiation experience meant toaddress the crisis and future options of the car industry. The novelty of the latterlay in the fact that it covered the entire production chain and not just the large carfactories, thus bringing to the negotiation table new actors, aside from the Stateand the enterprise and placing on the agenda new issues and problems.

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

A number of important agreements have been signed since its creation. Thedevelopment of a sensitization programme targeting micro and small enterprises topromote their technological upgrading, and the establishment of a Guarantee Fundto facilitate their access to a larger number of providers of financial services makeup part of these deals. Equally important is the proposal of qualifying andrequalifying manpower in the petrochemical industry with a view to attractingplastic industries of the third generation. On the social front, literacy programmesfor youngsters 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 andthe actors involved yield the risk of an increase in the number and complexity of

the problems and conflicts at stake. But this experience is a clear example of therelevance of the principles of collective representation and collective bargaining aseffective means to work out new forms of regulation of labour relations withinenterprises and between them, while preserving the social fabric and theenvironmental integrity of the region. The most salient achievement of the ABCChamber has been to turn a situation of crisis into an opportunity to devise andfurther a regional development paradigm which, while pursuing growingcompetitiveness and dynamism, is more equitable socially, more environment-firendly and more participatory.

Source: Laís Abramo, Mercado de trabajo, flexibilización y nuevas formas deregulación, pp. 71-96, in Sindicalismo, Género y Flexibilización en elMERCOSUR y Chile. Inserción Laboral Femenina, (Jaime Ensignia ySonia Yañez, editores), Centro de Estudios de la Mujer (CEM), FriedrichEbert Stiftung, Santiago de Chile, 1999.

Without overlooking the importance and pivotal role of governmentsand societies within States, trade unions are increasingly realizing the need foracquiring a global understanding of work and working relations in order todeal with the challenges of promoting decent work in an economically globalizing world. Recent initiatives by the International Textile Garment andLeather Workers’ Federation (ITCGLWF) in relation to SA8000, a globalsystem adopted by the main world retailers whereby companies monitor theirsocial accountability, mirrors this new orientation. The idea is to ensure thatthe content of codes of conduct reflects key labour standards, including theright to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Another objective isthat an independent and effective monitoring and verification of codecompliance system is set up to make sure that these rights are respected at allpoints along the chain of production.(ILO, 1999) The ITCGLWF is encouragingits national affiliates to include, in their codes of conduct, provisionsprotecting home workers. It believes that its involvement in the shaping of thecompanies’ social behaviour, and in the corresponding monitoring proceduresand mechanisms, would encourage governments to innovate in theenforcement of workers’ rights, regardless of their work site (see Box 2 ).

Box 2Box 2:

In 1997, the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) hassigned a Homeworkers Code of practice, relating to the elimination of exploitationof homeworkers, with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA). The partiessignatory 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 promotepublic sensitization campaign about adherence to the Code by signatory retailersand manufacturers. As per the Code, retailers require their suppliers to comply withall applicable laws and regulations, including relevant wage rates, whilst the Unionis responsible for enforcing compliance. To this end, the ARA, on the Union’srequest, supplies the names and addresses of the retailers adhering to the Code andtheir corresponding suppliers. Whenever the TCFUA can prove the existence of a case

of exploitation, it is the retailer’s responsibility to investigate the matter with itssupplier and ensure that the problem is redressed. If not, the retailer has to terminatethe affected purchase contract. In case of a dispute between a retailer and theUnion, it is the latter together with the ARA which decides how to resolve it.

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

Networking and representation: Strategies of growth of micro-Networking and representation: Strategies of growth of micro-entrepreneursentrepreneurs

Micro and small entreprises operate in a hostile environment. Collectiveaction is being undertaken whenever these enterprises are not able toovercome certain problems individually and/or the State is not able toaddress them. The reasons for engaging in collective efforts are numerous andas varied as the forms they can take. (ILO, 1997) They can range, indeed, fromlose networks of individual entrepreneurs to officially recognizedentrepreneurs’ cooperatives. The type of organizational structure, as well astheir recognition as legal entities, depends on various factors. These include,inter alia, the social prestige attached to a given institutional setting or thebenefits associated with it, in terms of fiscal exemptions or access to trainingand/or other facilities.

Rare are the cases, however, in which these organizations evolve intomore settled and structured institutions pursuing long-term and politicalobjectives. Certainly, the shortcomings their members suffer in theirbusinesses, e.g restricted capacity to mobilize resources, lack of managerialand technical skills, and the absence of clearly specified financial andoperational rules and procedures, play an important role. The opportunitycost, in terms of income-earning opportunities, which devoting time to theorganization’s activities entails, may be a deterring factor as well.Experience has also shown that conflicting signals by different levels ofgovernment can undermine organizational efforts. (ILO, 1997) The distrustand strong individualism which characterize these operators has also beenidentified as reducing their propensity to become involved in organizationalactivities (ILOa, 1997). When, however, the returns prove to be significant andworthy of the investment in time and energy, then, these organizations canflourish and help build a strong collective identity.

TUR-CASA provides an example of how organization can help obtainrecognition and credibility, thus enhancing access to government-suppliedsupport services, improving quality and efficiency, and reaching out to abroader clientele. TUR-CASA is an association of women micro-entrepreneurswho offer family-style accommodation for tourists and students in Costa Rica.They decided, in 1991, to join forces and create a franchise association toovercome the discrimination which small guest houses and family-run hotelsusually suffer from government tourism promotion efforts.(Bangasser, 1996)Their main concern was to identify and consolidate a market niche for theTUR-CASA logo, upgrade and maintain their quality and make their services

more widely-known. To this end, several standards of accommodation wereestablished and offered at standard prices. Such standards also help classifythe facilities of new applicants and thus decide whether or not to accept them.Standardized forms and methods for the detailed records and book-keepingrequirements of the members were also introduced. Contacts were sought andestablished with the National Tourism Board and the Chamber of Commerce.Membership guarantees access to training in the operation of businesses andnational and international support to attract guests. Interestingly enough, thisorganization has deliberately retained its female only membership, and hasestablished business links with mixed “partner organizations” in whichfathers, spouses and sons are actively involved. This may be ascribed to theirmarketing strategy.

Associations of micro and small entrepreneurs are increasinglyregarded as key players in the consolidation of democratic regimes, and aspartners in the channelling of public services and resources in a contextcharacterized by the declining role of the State as service deliverer. TheCommittee of Central American micro-entrepreneurs (COCEMI), for instance,a non profit, regional organization comprising seven national committeesembracing the interests of various associations, is involved along with othersectors, including employers and workers’ organizations, women’s andindigenous peoples associations, in regional debates about the way CentralAmerican integration is progressing. One of the main thrusts of COCEMI is topromote micro-enterprise development through regional networking. Thistakes the form of trade fairs, as well as the provision of information serviceson market performance, and financial and technical facilities so as to helpmembers take informed decisions at a reduced cost. The establishment of aninformation system supplying information on members’s businesses, as wellas on sectoral situations and trends, is also part and parcel of the networkingeffort of the Confederation of West African Artisans (CAAO).

The internal organization of micro-entrepreneurs’ association and theinstitutional setting devised to enable crafts associations to participate inconsultations and negotiations with the government need to be responsive tothe patterns and logic of association of the former. Otherwise, theirregistration as legal entities might be regarded as a means to enhance Statecontrol, rather than a channel for enhanced access to government authoritiesand services and for their recognition as interlocutors and/or partners inprogramme implementation. Legal recognition is, in other words, the conditiosine qua non for the acquisition of economic citizenship, e.g. clearly-definedand enforced rights and responsibilities before the State. Furthermore,suitable institutional settings, by ensuring stability and internal cohesion, areinstrumental for the enlargement of the usually limited geographical coverageof these associations.

The National Federation of Artisans of Mali (FNAM), one of thefounding institution of CAAO, is a good case in point. Representing 450 grass-root organizations, for a total of 20,130 members, it has been able to put inplace a solid and articulate structure which is national in scope.( FNAM, 1999)A distinct feature of the latter is the importance attached to the developmentat the local, regional and national levels, of networks and instances in which

members can relate to each other, so as to build a strong territory-basedcollective identity and define area-specific needs and priorities, and to thevarious layers of government. At the same time, contacts and links areestablished and nurtured, through ordinary and extraordinary meetings andevents, as well as ad-hoc services, between members and the differentassociations they belong to across the whole structure. An Animation andAdvisory Network, established in 1994, acts as liaison between the Federationand its associations and supplies the support services required by themembers. This way the FNAM is able to advance the common and generalinterests of the federation, e.g. proposing and lobbying for amendments to thelegislation pertaining to fiscal issues and to the creation and autonomy of thetrade chambers (chambre de metiers), while responding to the specificdemands of member associations at a more decentralized level.

ConclusionsConclusions

The transformations taking place, on a global scale, in the productionand work processes are changing the nature and typology of labour and socialrelations. They are undermining traditional, individual and collective labouridentities. The complexity and variety of relations, levels of interaction, andactors involved, pose challenges both conceptually and in terms of strategiesand practical actions.

Well-established employment categories and concepts are increasinglyunable to capture the scope and pace of changes occurring in the world ofwork. So far, the attempts aimed at gauging the new phenomena havehighlighted them in purely negative and residual terms compared to standardcontractual arrangements and forms of employment. This has hampered ourability to move forward in our understanding of the scope and implications,for policy-making purposes, of emerging realities in the labour market. It isobvious that more imagination is required.

At the same time, the role of the State, workers’ and employers’organizations is being redesigned. External factors, such as the pressure toredressing chronic fiscal imbalances and to increase competitiveness andproductivity, are the main drives of these changes. Nonetheless, the actualcontent of the new functions of these actors and the corresponding economicand social outcomes will depend, to a large extent, on themselves. Theirability to “reinvent” themselves, while preserving their original mandate andraison d’etre, and to open up to new institutions and new forms of solidarity,are crucial. Some of the cases mentioned earlier in this paper show that this isnot only possible, but desirable. They also show the practical value of ILOlabour standards beyond ratification.

Thanks to alliances between workers’ organizations, NGOs and othercivil society actors, the ILO Convention on Home work, for instance, has beenable to influence national policies so as to provide protection to a large andgrowing segment of the workforce, e.g. the home-based producers. It has alsobeen successful in orienting multinational practices, and paved the way forthe development of a global system of international labour standards

compliance.

But, certainly, the future of the industrial relations institutions and thepossibilities of a more democratic, just and inclusive society is contingent upontheir capacity to defend and promote the principles of right of association andcollective bargaining. This means, among other things, broadening the spheresof life and the types of actors to which these principles may be applicable.Work cannot be seen in isolation from other fundamental dimensions, such asthe environment, social equity, and gender equality.

It also requires investing in social capital. A culture of democracy anddialogue cannot be improvised. It is the result, among other things, ofincremental improvements in the institutional density of a society and thequality of it. Otherwise, we risk an asymmetric allocation of resources andopportunities which perpetuates social exclusion and inequality.

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