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12 December, 2011TUICO has taken up the challenge to organise workers in the informal sector.
TANZANIA: As the unemployement rate in Tanzania continues to grow with limited opportunities in formal employment, many unemployed workers are absorbed into the informal sector. At the same time, retrenchment, outsourcing and the negative impacts of globalization also swell the numbers in the informal sector. As a result, the informal economy is growing very fast but there are insufficient plans in place to accommodate the needs of informal workers.
TUICO has taken up the challenge to organise workers in the informal sector. They are mainly characterised as vulnerable workers, engaged in precarious work. Most are small scale traders, hawkers and street vendors who earn very little, living from hand to mouth and facing enormous difficulties to sustain their basic needs, with no access to social protection.
TUICO recognises that poor working conditions and low income does not constitute decent work and that these workers need to be organised and require representation. Thus far TUICO has organised more than 1000 workers in five marketplaces, in spite of the challenges this presents. As informal sector workers, they move from one place to another which hinders organising efforts. Also their needs are very different from the traditional services provided to formal workers by the union. For example, Access to finance and basic business skills are desperately needed.
TUICO has organised these workers into a structure in each of the five marketplaces making it easier to service their needs. The union then successfully linked these groups to loan agencies and has managed to train 250 members on bookkeeping and business management skills. Such activities show the value of union membership to informal workers and have encouraged more workers to join the union.
The potential for recruitment in the informal sector is huge but organising requires intensive work, as the union learns how to build representative structures and service these workers. TUICO efforts are commendable not only for the gains they are making for informal workers but also for building solidarity amongst all workers. These efforts potentially hold valuable lessons that the union can share and TUICO should be supported through collaborative efforts with the global labour movement to ensure that this good work continues to grow.
Article by Margaret Ndagile of TUICO