Trade Union Strategies & Approaches

Year: 2001
Authors: Gallin, Dan.
Title: Propositions on Trade Unions and Informal Employment in Times of Globalization
Format: Journal Article from Antipode
Pages: 19
This paper identifies some of the issues which need to be addressed in order to advance the organisation of workers, in particular women workers, in informal employment. It argues that the organisation of informal workers is at the heart of the necessary transformations the trade union movement must undergo to recover its potential as a global social force.

Year: 2003
Authors: International Coordinating Committee on the Informal Economy
Title: Resolution on the Ahmedabad Conference on “Organizing in the Informal Economy”
Format: Conference Resolution
Pages: 4
This resolution emerges from a 2003 Conference convened jointly by the Self Employed Women’s Association, StreetNet International, Ghana Trade Union Congress, Nigerian Labour Congress, and HomeNet Thailand in Ahmedabad, India as a follow up to the ILO discussions on “Decent Work and the Informal Economy” held in 2002.

Year: 2003
Authors: Mather, Celia
Title: From Marginal Work to Core Business: European Trade Unions Organising in the Informal Economy
Format: Conference Report
Pages: 64
This report is based on the proceedings of a conference organised in 2003 by the Dutch trade union confederation, the FNV, in collaboration with the International Restructuring Education Network Europe (IRENE). The Conference explored informal economy organising initiatives, with the aim of strengthening strategies for organising workers in the informal economy,

Year: 2003
Authors: Mather, Celia
Title: An East/South Encounter To Discuss Trade Union Organising in the Informal Economy
Format: Workshop Report
Pages: 27
This report captures the contributions of participants at a workshop held in 2003, organised by the Dutch trade union confederation, the FNV, in co-operation with the International Restructuring Education Network Europe (IRENE) and Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). The workshop provided an opportunity to exchange information and experiences related to developments in the informal economy in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

Year: 2004
Authors: Gallin, Dan
Title: Organizing in the Global Informal Economy
Format: Paper
Pages: 9
This paper explores why any real guarantee for implementation and enforcement of labour standards in the informal economy depends on the organisation of informal workers into trade unions; and why trade unions need to organise in the informal economy if they wish to survive. It looks at some of the obstacles to organising in the informal economy.

Year: 2005
Authors: Pape, Karin
Title: The Informal Economy and Trade Unions in Germany
Format: Background Paper
Pages: 13
This paper explores how German trade unions are increasingly under pressure. It explains how the percentage of migrants from low-wage countries are very high in the retail trade, the hotel trade, private households, the health sector and the construction industry and explores the challenges presented for the German trade union movement.

Year: 2005
Authors: Mather, Celia
Title: Out of the Shadows Organising and Protecting Domestic Workers in Europe: The Role of Trade Unions
Format: Conference Report
Pages: 74
This report is based on the proceedings of a conference organised by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), in collaboration with the International Restructuring Education Network Europe (IRENE) and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM). It looks at the challenges for the trade union movement presented by organising and protecting domestic workers in Europe.

Year: 2005
Authors: Williams, Peter
Title: Leveraging Change in the Working Conditions of United Kingdom Homeworkers
Format: Journal Article from Development in Practice
Pages: 13
This article describes a campaign by NGOs and trade unions that integrates different approaches to improving the labour rights and conditions of UK homeworkers. It explores a strategy to strengthen legislation fro homeworkers, while also exploring opportunities and mechanisms for change in company practices and government policies.

Year: 2006
Authors: Bonner, Christine
Title: International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF): Organising Informal Transport Workers: Global Research Project
Format: Research Report
Pages: 102
This report forms part of a global research project on organising informal transport workers, initiated by the ITF Education Department in cooperation with the ITF Road Transport Section. The overall objective of the project was to provide transport workers’ unions organising, or wishing to organise informal transport workers with a comprehensive guide and reference.

Year: 2006
Authors: Chen, Martha; Mirani, Nidhi and Parikh, Mita
Title: Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA): Profile of SEWA’s Membership
Format: Booklet
Pages: 11
This is the second of three booklets produced under a ‘SEWA at Thirty’ project. The purpose of the project was to help SEWA take stock of its own experience and to communicate lessons from its experiences to the broader development community, both locally, nationally and internationally. This booklet profiles SEWA’s membership, its work and organising strategies.

Year: 2007
Authors: Global Union Federations
Title: The Role of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Supporting Decent Work and Countering the Risks of Financial Globalisation
Format: Statement by Global Unions to the 2007 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank
Pages: 17
This statement from the global unions family reiterates the demands of the international trade union movement for the IFIs to take measures to bring their policies in line with the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals and the Decent Work Agenda. It urges open and transparent changes through engagement with trade unions, civil society organisations and the public of the countries they serve.

Year: 2007
Authors: International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Title: Burkina Faso: Informal Economy at the Centre of New Solidarity Initiatives
Format: Leaflet
Pages: 12
This ITUC leaflet provides reports and first hand accounts from Burkina Faso’s unions of how new forms of solidarity and social protection can be adapted to the needs of informal economy workers.