28/06/2017
The informal economy and the world of work
From 8 to 12 May I took part as a professor in the Seminar “The informal economy and the world of work”,held in the Latin American Training Centre for Employees and Employers in the municipality of Vicente Lopez in the GreaterBuenos Aires Metropolitan Area.This Seminar was sponsored by SOCIEUX+, the platform that invited me to attend as an expert, but it was also funded by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security of Argentina.
The subjects I spoke about during that week were, first,“Social dialogue in times of informality”, a lecture delivered on 10 May, and then, on the following day, “Transition towards formality”.
In the first lecture, I focused mainly on committing to obtaining the Decent Workvalues, fostered by the International Labour Organization, and key to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,with regard to the informal economy. One of the ILODecent Work goals, specifically the third, refers to social dialogue as a tool, which I consider essential, to give a voice to informal workers, mainly women, young people, migrants and independent workers, and which, precisely because of their situation, is lacking.
I placed great emphasis onthe issue of social dialogue. In fact, it has been promoted by the ILO to render labour-related legislation more effective in three core areas, which also have great importance for informal employment: first, the recognition of the employment relationship; second, the promotion of good labour relations, and finally, the establishment of efficient labour inspection systems. I dedicated a special section of my talk to the recognition of the right of production units and informal workers to form associations and unions, and alsothe need for Governments to recognize the corresponding dialogue. To achieve this, the work of unions and management is essential to integrate informal workers into their organizations, as well as promoting associations or unions through membership which represent informal workers or employers.
The aim of my second paper was to make a detailed study of Recommendation Nº 204 on the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 104th Session in Geneva on 12 June, 2015. I consider the action taken by the ILO to be of utmost interest since, not only is this the first international standard aimed directly at tackling the informal economy, but it does so from a rights-based perspective. In other words, it promotes the recognition of both the rights of workers who work in informal production units and those formal sector workers experiencing informal work situations in their employment relationship.
The Recommendation is also key in linking the informal economy with poverty, acknowledging that most people enter the informal economy not by choice but out of necessity. It also recognizes that it is precisely the informal economy sector where the greatest deficiencies in decent work are found. The Recommendation regulates an interesting set of policies to be promoted by Member States to address these shortfalls. Labour-related policies aimed at helping low-income households out of poverty and providing them with free choice of employment occupy a special position. The policies promoted by the Recommendation include the adoption of pay policies that contemplate a minimum wage; the creation of social protection mechanisms; the endorsement of public employment programmes, and finally, better employment service procurement and provision among people employed in the informal economy sector. Moreover, a series of fundamental rights are recognized for informal workers in the Recommendation, of which those related to health and safety in the workplace are especially noteworthy.
One of the liveliest debates in the Seminar was centred around the issue of taxes and levies on work activity. It was felt that the ILO facilitated processing charges and registration for, and compliance with these taxes, but failed to address possible tax reductions or tax enforcement, which is the responsibility of each Member State. Nonetheless, the importance of respecting labour law compliance and levies stemming from taxation measures and social contributions is underlined in the Recommendation.
The end of the Seminar coincided with the start of the International Labour Film Festival in Buenos Aires. As a result, an activity was planned aimed at learning more about the characteristics of this Festival. Its Director explained that films and short films about work from all over the world would be screened in different cinemas in Buenos Aires, with a special focus in this edition on child labour. I would like to highlight one aspect of her explanation that I found interesting; namely, the large number of shorts submitted to the Festival which, whatever the country they came from, dealt with the issue of work-related stress.
In this planned visit we were also able to see three shorts, which I can strongly recommend:first, the Argentine short film “El más grande” (“The Greatest”),directed by Gastón Escudero, on the importance of work in the life of a person with intellectual disability; second, “Children of Soil”, by Uttarayan Sengupta (India),a harsh, yet moving condemnation of child labour, and finally, “The Chop”, set in the United Kingdom and directed by Lewis Rose, and which takes a humorous look at religious diversity in the workplace.
We were told that these shorts would probably be available for viewing free in June on: www.construirtv.com
Once I arrived home, the list of prizewinners was published. In the short film section, the winners were: 1. “Foira da Caixa” directed by Edu Camargo (Brazil); 2. “Children of Soil”, directed by Uttarayan Sengupta (India); 3. “Life in Chains” by Federica Vairani and Manuel Marano (Italy).
The audience award went to “El más Grande” (“The Greatest”),directed by Gastón Escudero (Argentina).
If you wish to know the prize winners in all the sections, I recommend you go to: http://construircine.com/ [Section: Awards]
Finally, I would like to thank the event organizers, SOCIEUX+, and the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, but special thanks to the Seminar students, trade unionists in their majority, for their interest, degree of commitment and the contributions they made during the entire week.
My best wishes to all of you!
In the first lecture, I focused mainly on committing to obtaining the Decent Workvalues, fostered by the International Labour Organization, and key to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,with regard to the informal economy. One of the ILODecent Work goals, specifically the third, refers to social dialogue as a tool, which I consider essential, to give a voice to informal workers, mainly women, young people, migrants and independent workers, and which, precisely because of their situation, is lacking.
I placed great emphasis onthe issue of social dialogue. In fact, it has been promoted by the ILO to render labour-related legislation more effective in three core areas, which also have great importance for informal employment: first, the recognition of the employment relationship; second, the promotion of good labour relations, and finally, the establishment of efficient labour inspection systems. I dedicated a special section of my talk to the recognition of the right of production units and informal workers to form associations and unions, and alsothe need for Governments to recognize the corresponding dialogue. To achieve this, the work of unions and management is essential to integrate informal workers into their organizations, as well as promoting associations or unions through membership which represent informal workers or employers.
The aim of my second paper was to make a detailed study of Recommendation Nº 204 on the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 104th Session in Geneva on 12 June, 2015. I consider the action taken by the ILO to be of utmost interest since, not only is this the first international standard aimed directly at tackling the informal economy, but it does so from a rights-based perspective. In other words, it promotes the recognition of both the rights of workers who work in informal production units and those formal sector workers experiencing informal work situations in their employment relationship.
The Recommendation is also key in linking the informal economy with poverty, acknowledging that most people enter the informal economy not by choice but out of necessity. It also recognizes that it is precisely the informal economy sector where the greatest deficiencies in decent work are found. The Recommendation regulates an interesting set of policies to be promoted by Member States to address these shortfalls. Labour-related policies aimed at helping low-income households out of poverty and providing them with free choice of employment occupy a special position. The policies promoted by the Recommendation include the adoption of pay policies that contemplate a minimum wage; the creation of social protection mechanisms; the endorsement of public employment programmes, and finally, better employment service procurement and provision among people employed in the informal economy sector. Moreover, a series of fundamental rights are recognized for informal workers in the Recommendation, of which those related to health and safety in the workplace are especially noteworthy.
One of the liveliest debates in the Seminar was centred around the issue of taxes and levies on work activity. It was felt that the ILO facilitated processing charges and registration for, and compliance with these taxes, but failed to address possible tax reductions or tax enforcement, which is the responsibility of each Member State. Nonetheless, the importance of respecting labour law compliance and levies stemming from taxation measures and social contributions is underlined in the Recommendation.
The end of the Seminar coincided with the start of the International Labour Film Festival in Buenos Aires. As a result, an activity was planned aimed at learning more about the characteristics of this Festival. Its Director explained that films and short films about work from all over the world would be screened in different cinemas in Buenos Aires, with a special focus in this edition on child labour. I would like to highlight one aspect of her explanation that I found interesting; namely, the large number of shorts submitted to the Festival which, whatever the country they came from, dealt with the issue of work-related stress.
In this planned visit we were also able to see three shorts, which I can strongly recommend:first, the Argentine short film “El más grande” (“The Greatest”),directed by Gastón Escudero, on the importance of work in the life of a person with intellectual disability; second, “Children of Soil”, by Uttarayan Sengupta (India),a harsh, yet moving condemnation of child labour, and finally, “The Chop”, set in the United Kingdom and directed by Lewis Rose, and which takes a humorous look at religious diversity in the workplace.
We were told that these shorts would probably be available for viewing free in June on: www.construirtv.com
Once I arrived home, the list of prizewinners was published. In the short film section, the winners were: 1. “Foira da Caixa” directed by Edu Camargo (Brazil); 2. “Children of Soil”, directed by Uttarayan Sengupta (India); 3. “Life in Chains” by Federica Vairani and Manuel Marano (Italy).
The audience award went to “El más Grande” (“The Greatest”),directed by Gastón Escudero (Argentina).
If you wish to know the prize winners in all the sections, I recommend you go to: http://construircine.com/ [Section: Awards]
Finally, I would like to thank the event organizers, SOCIEUX+, and the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, but special thanks to the Seminar students, trade unionists in their majority, for their interest, degree of commitment and the contributions they made during the entire week.
My best wishes to all of you!
