Government officials, workers and employers assembled in Geneva for the 19th annual International Labour Conference this month to find solutions to the problems facing workers who fall outside labour regulation.
South Africa was represented by the Congress of South African Trade Unions and two independent worker rights activists — Pat Horn, the coordinator of StreetNet, an international alliance of street-trader organisations, and Khoboso Nthunya of the South African Self-Employed Women’s Union.
Horn says the conference, which ran from June 3 to 20, focused on the informal economy workers — such as street vendors, home workers, seasonal and contract labourers — as they do not have the recognition and legal rights of their counterparts in the formal economy. They experience long working hours, often for little pay, no social security and inadequate health and safety protection.
The conference is the most important labour and employment event of the International Labour Organisation, which is responsible for setting core labour standards that governments must adhere to.
The decision to discuss the informal sector followed the organisation’s formulation in 1999 of a vision of Decent Work for All Workers. This year’s conference was concerned with addressing the gaps, or what has been called the “deficits”, in decent work in the global economy.
Decent work deficits largely affect informal sector workers, who constitute a rapidly growing proportion of the world’s labour force as a result of insufficient formal employment opportunities.
Labour market conditions have changed with globalisation, which has facilitated the mobility of capital across national borders, but has not created more jobs in the formal sector. This has resulted in a situation in which the unemployed have found work in unprotected and unregulated working environments, in casual, temporary and contract jobs, home-based work and street vending.
Horn says priorities for the informal-sector platform were drawn up following consultations with organisations in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Firstly, there is a need to get governments and trade unions to move towards a decent work framework, where national and local governments recognise the existence of workers in the informal economy and their economic and social contribution.
If this is accepted, says Horn, then they need to enable these workers to make this contribution under acceptable conditions.