In this article, Jane Tate from HomeNet discusses the education and training needs of homebased workers. HomeNet is an international organisation with members in thirty countries world-wide. It aims to improve living and working conditions of homebased workers by encouraging grassroots organisation and by giving them visibility and a voice internationally.

Homebased work is employment done in the home, usually by women for a cash income. It can be done for employers or intermediaries (piece-rate) or by women who provide their own raw materials and market their own products. Homebased work is common throughout the world in traditional and modern industries.

The growth of subcontracting in modern industries such as clothing, electronics, footwear, toys or plastics has meant that homebased work is increasing. In the fashion industry, electronic monitoring of sales means that retailers demand short production runs ‘just-in-time’, leading to subcontracting and homeworking. In some industries, almost the entire workforce is homebased; for example, clothing in Australia and bidi (cigarette) rolling in India. In many rural areas, traditional agriculture no longer provides a living. Crafts (weaving, basket-making) are now an important source of cash income for women. Subcontracted work is also put out in rural areas.

Homebased work is usually done in the informal sector. Income and conditions are well below minimum wages; work is irregular; and there is no social security. Even where a country has a law, it is rarely implemented. So homebased workers are often the poorest workers in a community.

Organising homebased workers

Traditional trade unions have developed from a model of organising based on large factories, with a mainly male workforce. This model does not work with homebased workers who may be dispersed, afraid to come forward, mainly women and often from minority communities. However, some trade unions have more recently recognised the need to include homeworkers within their organisation, particularly in the clothing industry. In many countries such as Australia, Canada and Britain, the industry is now based on subcontracting and extensive use of homeworkers.

In the last twenty years, new ways of organising have been developed. In the countries of South East Asia, homeworkers’ organisations have more generally taken the form of women’s associations, networks and people’s organisations. Some of these organisations have faced problems in formal registration and recognition. In India and South Africa, a new kind of women’s trade union has been set up, organising homebased workers together with other poor women workers, such as street vendors, contract workers and agricultural labourers. The Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India, which is also an IFWEA affiliate, has over 200 thousand members of whom about one third are homebased.

Education and training rights

In June 1996, the ILO voted to adopt a Convention, supplemented by a Recommendation, on Home Work. It recognised that homeworkers, like any other section of the workforce, are entitled to minimum standards laid down by international law. For two years, HomeNet had coordinated an international campaign for the adoption of the ILO convention, and now continues to work towards its integration into national laws and policies.

The Recommendation has important implications for the education and training rights of homeworkers. It states that "each member should, in cooperation with organisations of employers and workers, promote and support programmes which…"

• "…Provide training to improve homeworkers’ skills (including non-traditional skills, leadership and negotiating skills), productivity, employment opportunities and income-earning capacity."

The Textiles, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) is organising leadership training skills for homeworkers, both by including homeworkers in regular union training courses and developing special training courses for homeworkers. SEWU in South Africa helps their members gain access to training and courses in order to increase their technical skills and employment opportunities. Some of these courses are vocational. Initially, many women chose more ‘traditional’ activities such as dress-making or cake decoration. More recently, ‘non-traditional’ courses have become increasingly popular in some areas. Women have begun learning construction skills, brick-laying, fence-making and electrical installation.

• "…Raise awareness of homework related issues among employers’ and workers’ organisations, non-governmental organisations and the public at large."

In Istanbul, Turkey, women have been carrying out research on homeworking and are planning to set up an organisation for homeworkers. One of their aims is to raise awareness of homeworking among different organisations, including trade unions. They hold workshops bringing together different people and plan activities to support homeworkers.

• "…Provide training which is carried out as close as practicable to the workers’ homes and does not require unnecessary formal qualifications."

In Britain, local homework projects sometimes organise training courses in community centres, with childcare provided, to ensure that it is practical for women to attend. Other training courses run by local authorities, provide a training allowance as well as childcare, in recognition of the fact that women may lose their income as a result of attending training.

• "…facilitate the creation of centres and networks for homeworkers in order to provide them with information and services and reduce their isolation."

The Homeworkers’ Friendship Associations in Kyoto, Japan, provide a network of support for homeworkers. Each association plays a role in finding work for homeworkers, delivering and collecting work, quality control and negotiation over rates of pay. They also provide training.

PATAMABA, the national network of homeworkers in the Philippines, has extensive branches throughout the country. These branches act as the centre of PATAMABA’s activities in different regions, including training, advice, lobbying and campaigning and socio-economic activities.´

Strengthening organisation

Over the last twenty-five years, it has been demonstrated that homebased workers can develop their own forms of organisation, if creative and flexible methods are used which respond directly to the women’s needs. Key to developing this, is training and education of homebased workers in order that they can either develop their own organisations or play an active role in existing organisations, particularly trade unions.

SEWA, for example, has its own ‘Academy’, responsible for education and training of its members and grassroots leaders. SEWA members attend courses at the Academy in the city and trainers go out and hold courses in rural areas. The Academy has its own video unit. Video is used extensively in training which is particularly useful given that many women are illiterate.

In industrialised countries, one of the problems faced by women homeworkers is extreme isolation. Women rarely meet their co-workers. Problems related to their employment are often felt to be personal and individual, hidden behind closed doors. The process of meeting with other homeworkers and sharing common issues enables women to understand the wider context of their work and develop common strategies.

Homebased workers are often working at the end of production chains. They see their own part in this process and may have contact with an intermediary, employer or trader. But it is difficult for them to understand the wider global context in which they are working. Homeworkers in Bangkok, for example, produce clothing for an international market. In Chile, the increase in homework is a result of the impact of lower tariffs and greater imports from Asia. The increase in subcontracting to remote rural areas in Thailand can be a response to greater competition and lower wages in China or Indonesia.

Education and training therefore needs to incorporate an understanding of the international forces which are shaping the particular situation of homebased workers in different countries. HomeNet aims to help groups of homebased workers to build links with each other as part of the process of organising both at the grassroots and internationally. We would like to work together with IFWEA in developing educational materials and methods for this task.

It used to be thought that homebased work was an old-fashioned form of employment which would vanish along with the development of ‘modern’ economies. However the opposite is the case. In the next century, education and organisation of homebased workers, and many others working in informal employment, will ensure that their role is recognised and their voices heard.