"Organizing for decent work in the informal economy : strategies, methods and practice"

The informal economy, accounting for the range of70 to 93 per cent of the work force in South Asian countries, poses a great challenge in achieving the ILO goal of Decent Work. In a globalizing economy and changing employment structure, trade unions have to come up with new policies and action-oriented approaches. Organizing is a process to empower the disadvantaged sections of the society through increasing new members, addressing their concerns, providing better access to education and training, and enabling them to bargain collectively. So trade unions need to invest more in these crucial activities, which would be the basis in revitalizing the labour movement and improving labour standards. Hence, 'organizing activities' could be a common task of both the ILO and trade unions to fulfil the goal of Decent Work. This book, presenting the strategies, methods and practices of organizing the informal and unorganized workers, would give insights to all the social partners, particularly to trade unions, in order to develop innovative policies and action programs to tackle the challenges.