INCLUSIVE CITIES FOR THE URBAN WORKING POOR: PROTECT AND ENABLE INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS MARTY CHEN WIEGO NETWORK HARVARD UNIVERSITY

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1 INCLUSIVE CITIES FOR THE URBAN WORKING POOR: PROTECT AND ENABLE INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS MARTY CHEN WIEGO NETWORK HARVARD UNIVERSITY WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE FEB. 2, 2018

2 REMARKS: Summary of WRI Report with Victoria Beard Urban Informal Workforce who are they? where do they work? how many are there? Exclusionary Cities: Pose Barriers to Urban Informal Livelihoods Inclusionary Cities: Protect & Enable Urban Informal Livelihoods Illustrative Cases: Home-based workers Street vendors Waste pickers New Mindset & Future Vision

3 CITIES & INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS: KEY MESSAGES More than half of all urban workers in the global South are informally employed mostly as self-employed Most urban self-employed remain poor - cannot work their way out of poverty due to low earnings and high costs & risks The negative forces which undermine earnings + increase costs/risks of the informal self-employed include: stigmatization & penalization as being illegal inappropriate policies & laws biased in favor of formal firms lack of access to public space, public services & public procurement lack of legal & social protections lack of representative voice in policy-making & rule-setting processes There are promising examples of city support to urban informal workers largely the result of joint advocacy by organizations of informal workers and their allies (in civil society, academia, legal profession, development agencies, government)

4 THE URBAN INFORMAL WORKFORCE Around the world, the urban informal workforce includes those who work: On Streets or In Open Spaces: street vendors push-cart vendors waste pickers roadside barbers construction workers At Home: garment makers textile weavers shoemakers artisans or craft producers mechanics/repairmen In Homes of Others: domestic workers gardeners/landscapers guards/watchmen drivers In Hotels, Restaurants, Offices: cleaners/janitors dishwashers helpers In Small Workshops: scrap metal recyclers shoe makers weavers garment makers In Unregulated Factories: garment makers shoe makers fireworks/match makers

5 Table 1: Informal Employment as Percentage of Non- Agricultural Employment by Region: Average & Range

6 Table 2: Informal Employment as Percentage of Urban Workforce, Male & Female, Selected Cities

7 THE URBAN INFORMAL WORKFORCE: BY BRANCH OF INDUSTRY (India 2011/12) Construction (12%) Manufacturing (27%) of which half is Home-based production (14%) Trade (27%) of which just under one-fifth is Street vending (5%) Non-Trade Services (33%) Domestic work (6%) Transport (9%) Waste Recycling (1%) Other (17%) Notes: 1. The percentages represent the share of these groups in urban informal employment in India in 2011/12 (Chen and Raveendran 2014: table 6) 2. The groups in italics are featured in the WRI report and this presentation as they represent large groups of predominantly self-employed urban informal workers whose livelihoods are directly impacted by city policies & practices

8 URBAN INFORMAL SELF-EMPLOYED: WHAT SYSTEMIC RISKS DO THEY FACE? Dominant Narratives which stigmatize informal workers as being non-compliant - evading registration & taxation having low productivity - drag on the economy associated with congestion + crime + unsanitary/unsightly conditions Biased Policies & Laws which are often punitive towards the self-employed in informal enterprises commercial laws: biased towards formal firms with hired workers who operate in so-called standard workplaces (shops, factories, offices, hotels, restaurants) sector laws: biased towards formal firms administrative law: biased against informal activities Lack of Access to public space: sites for livelihood activities public services: basic infrastructure and transport services at workplaces public procurement: bids for public contracts Lack of Legal Recognition & Right to Representation

9 URBAN INFORMAL SELF-EMPLOYED: WHAT DO THEY WANT AND NEED? Economic Opportunities opportunities to enhance their existing livelihoods through integration on fair terms in economic and urban plans right to bid for public procurement access to productive assets Legal Rights right to work/livelihood legal recognition & identity freedom from harassment - by local authorities property rights: to workplace Public Services: basic infrastructure & transport services at workplace Social Protection Organization & Representation

10 URBAN INFORMAL WORKFORCE: WHAT THEY WANT MOST FUNDAMENTALLY They want legal recognition and acceptance of their work They want to be valued for their contributions to the economy, society and environment: Construction workers: build roads and buildings Home-based workers: produce goods for domestic markets and global supply chains Street vendors: sell goods at low-prices in convenient locations (70% of households in sub-saharan Africa buy food from informal street vendors and market traders, Crush and Frayne 2011) Transport workers: provide transport services Waste pickers: clean streets & reclaim recyclable goods Dignity of Work

11 EXAMPLE # 1 INFRASTRUCTURE & TRANSPORT SERVICES FOR HOME-BASED PRODUCERS Photo credit: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Reportage

12 FINDINGS FROM 3-CITY STUDY OF HOME-BASED WORKERS Lack of/high cost of basic infrastructure services decreased productivity increased expenditure on basic infrastructure services Survey Respondents: 33% reported lack of basic infrastructure services as a major problem Focus Groups: all 15 in Lahore and 6 (out of 15) in Ahmedabad ranked irregular supply/high costs of electricity as major negative factor High cost of transport high business costs low earnings or operating at a loss Survey Respondents: transport costs comprised 30% of business costs 25% of those who spent on transport operated at a loss Because there is no public transport, we have to walk to the contractor s place. While coming back, we have to carry the raw materials. During the monsoon season, we face a lot of problems. (Ahmedabad)

13 HOME-BASED WORKERS: POLICY ADVOCACY Four regional networks of home-based workers South & Southeast Asia & Eastern Europe & Latin America Organizations of home-based workers are engaged in policy advocacy and collective bargaining with city government for: recognition as workers secure tenure (de jure or de facto) of their homes, which are also their workplaces basic infrastructure services for homes=workplaces transport services

14 HOME-BASED WORKERS: BASIC SERVICES IN INDIA, POLICY GAINS IN THAILAND India: SEWA Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) Provides basic infrastructure services to women informal workers Encourages and supports local mobilization on housing issues. Works to promote participatory planning and provide support to informal workers in influencing urban policies. Thailand: HomeNet Thailand - has advocated successfully for Universal Health Coverage for informal workers Occupational Health & Safety Project (with government) for home-based workers Home Workers Protection Act B.E.2553 based on ILO Convention 177 on Homework Transport Services for Home-Based Workers in Bangkok Photo credits: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Reportage

15 EXAMPLE # 2 CITY REGULATIONS/PRACTICES & STREET VENDORS

16 FINDINGS FROM 5-CITY STUDY OF STREET VENDORS Problems encountered in work: Insecurity of vending site Accra A bad Durban Lima Nakuru Total Harassment Confiscations Evictions (n=738) Street vendors depend on working in public space to earn a living but existing governance practices pose systemic risks & undermine incomes.

17 STREET VENDORS: POLICY ADVOCACY Street Net International affiliates in 49 countries Organizations of street vendors are engaged in collective bargaining and policy advocacy for: secure vending sites protection of the natural markets where street vendors have congregated for years, if not generations basic infrastructure services at their vending sites public transport services between home, wholesale markets and vending sites

18 STREET VENDORS: LEGAL ACTION Organizations of street vendors have challenged local authorities in court: India: Court Cases standard of reasonableness applied to restrictions on street vending limits placed on authorities right to livelihood framed as right to life South Africa: Court Case confiscation of street vendor goods is immoral, illegal and unconstitutional impounding street vendor goods goes beyond the powers of municipal government

19 STREET VENDORS: LEGAL VICTORIES IN DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA City policy and programme in support of informal workers, including street vendors in Warwick Junction ( ) Change in city policy in run-up to World Cup Asiye etafuleni (AeT) founded by two ex-city employees to provide design, legal and other support to 8,000 street vendors in Warwick Junction (2006 to present) Legal Resources Center, at request of AeT and WIEGO, filed 2 successful cases against city plans to build a mall in the middle of Warwick Junction (2009) Legal Resources Center, again at request of AeT and WIEGO, filed successful case to challenge power of municipality to confiscate and impound street vendor goods

20 EXAMPLE # 3 WASTE MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS FOR WASTE PICKERS Photo credit: Juan Arredondo/Getty Images Reportage

21 FINDINGS FROM 5-CITY STUDY OF WASTE PICKERS 4 Cities: Bogotá (Colombia), Durban (South Africa), Nakuru (Kenya), Pune (India) municipalities are ambivalent or hostile towards waste pickers access to waste is a problem for most waste pickers: 73% (Nakuru) access to/cost of infrastructure is a problem for most waste pickers: 70% (3 cities) regulations are a problem for many waste pickers: 46% (Nakuru); 89% (Bogotá and Durban) harassment is a problem for many waste pickers: 50% (Nakuru); 80% (Bogotá and Durban) 1 city: Belo Horizonte (Brazil) - municipality has a formal partnership with organizations of waste pickers and provides access to waste, infrastructure, subsidies and worker education access to waste is a problem for fewer waste pickers: 15% access to/cost of infrastructure is not a major problem regulations are a problem for fewer waste pickers: 22% harassment is a problem for fewer waste pickers: 27% We offer a doorstep collection service for citizens and we ensure recyclables get recycled (Waste Picker, Pune, India).

22 WASTE PICKERS: POLICY ADVOCACY Global Alliance, Latin America Regional Network & National Networks of Waste Pickers Organizations of waste pickers are engaged in collective bargaining and policy advocacy for: access to waste space or warehouses to store, sort, bundle and process reclaimed waste for recycling municipal contracts to collect, sort and transport waste

23 WASTE PICKERS: COURT CASES IN COLOMBIA Constitutional Court Rulings in Support of Waste Pickers (latest in December 2011) legal arguments used included o Right to Survival : as an expression of the right to life (Article 11 of Constitution); used to argue the right to pursue waste picking as a livelihood o Right to Equality : used to argue that waste pickers need preferential treatment/judicial affirmative action in the tendering/bidding process for government contracts to manage waste o Right to Pursue Business or Trade (Article 333 of Constitution): used to argue that cooperatives of waste pickers, not just corporations, can compete in waste recycling markets o Principle of Legitimate Trust : used to argue against sudden changes in policies that acknowledged and permitted waste picking without the provision of alternative sources of livelihood In these judgments, the Government of Colombia, represented by the relevant local policy-making authority (e.g. mayor s office), was seen as the duty bearer. Outcome: Asociacion de Recicladores de Bogota (ARB) submitted a bid in March 2012 and was awarded a contract by the Mayor of Bogota s office in March 2013

24 CITY CONTRACTS FOR WASTE PICKERS: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA Asociacion Recicladores Bogota (ARB) (founded in 1990) co-founded by Nohra Padilla and Silvio Ruiz Legal Campaign (20 years) technical support from pro bono lawyers and NGOs led by Nohra Padilla who wrote many legal briefs First Global Waste Picker Conference, Bogota (2008) hosted by ARB, organized by WIEGO and an international planning committee Constitutional Court Victory (2011) right of waste pickers to bid for solid waste management contracts Successful Bid for Solid Waste Management Contract (2012) technical analysis of appropriate costs for waste services research on conditions and trends in the waste picking sector policy dialogues with mayor and city officials Waste Picker Integration Model Launched in Bogota (2013) Goldman Environmental Award to Nohra Padilla (2013) National Ruling to Replicate Bogota Model throughout Colombia (2014)

25 LESSONS FROM EXAMPLES: Organizing, Collective Voice & Coalitions Matter Effective advocacy & collective bargaining with government officials + legal action requires: solidarity-building platforms - to unite organizations of informal workers around common demands knowledge generation and policy analysis to provide supportive evidence capacity building of informal workers: training workshops to enhance advocacy and collective bargaining skills policy dialogue platforms to engage with city government & other relevant stakeholders coalitions: with allies from academia, legal profession, civil society, government to provide technical and

26 CITIES & INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS: KEY MESSAGES REVISITED Over half of all urban workers in the global South are informally employed of which most are self-employed Most urban self-employed remain poor cannot work their way out of poverty. To escape poverty, they need: increased earnings reduced costs & risks For cities to be more equitable, and to reduce poverty, they must be more inclusionary of informal workers by protecting and enhancing their livelihood this requires reducing negatives stigmatization & penalization increasing positives legal identity/standing + economic & social rights + core services + social protection + organization & representation in participatory policy-making and rule-setting processes There are promising examples of city support to urban informal workers largely the result of joint advocacy by organizations of informal workers and their allies (in civil society, academia, legal profession, development agencies, government)

27 NEW MINDSET & FUTURE VISION The challenge is to convince the policy makers to promote and encourage hybrid economies in which micro-businesses can co-exist alongside small, medium, and large businesses: in which the street vendors can co-exist alongside the kiosks, retail shops, and large malls. Just as the policy makers encourage bio diversity, they should encourage economic diversity. Also, they should try to promote a level playing field in which all sizes of businesses and all categories of workers can compete on equal and fair terms. Ela Bhatt Founder, SEWA Founding Chair, WIEGO

28 THANK YOU!