For the first time in the history of WOW a representative of WOW took the floor on the plenary
session of the ILO Conference. WOW Vice-President Agbobe Zounnadjala
Koffi from Togo, spoke on one of the most important items of the
Conference: Facilitating transitions from the informal to the formal
economy. Below you find his speech held on Thursday, June 3 at the afternoon, taken from the English spoken translation version on the website of the ILO. On the same page
of the ILO website you can find the original spoken French version of the speech
as well as a spoken Spanish translation and an original written French version.
WOW Vice-President Koffi Agbobe Zounnadjala waiting for his turn to speak to the audience of the plenary session of the ILO Conference. |
“Mr. President
allow me to address you on behalf of the World Organization of
Workers WOW and present our warm congratulations on your election to
the presidency of this Conference. The WOW congratulates the
Governing Body having placed one of its most important concerns on
the agenda of this Conference namely the transition from the informal
to the formal economy.
Indeed, because of
its high prevalence, the informal economy is a significant break on
into the development and the development of the state of law and it
has a negative effect on the growth and the sustainability of
companies, the social security for workers, the working conditions,
public income, the robustness of institutions and fair competition on
the national and international market.
Although some
workers and some businesses operate within the informal economy in
order to avoid the legislation in force most of those involved in the
informal economy are not there by choice but because of a lack of
opportunities provided by the formal economy and because they lack
other ways of earning a living. Informality has many different
causes but in many cases it is essentially an issue of governance.
Social security
including social protection.
The coverage of
social protection has to be extended to all of the workers in the
informal economy through social systems and all mechanisms of social
insurance. That includes rights to housing, to education, health,
food safety, security, water, hygienic services and social protection
in case of illness, invalidity, age and death and against the risks
inherent to work. Maternity and child care need to be addressed by
priority because of the overrepresentation of women in the informal
economy.
Koffi Agbobe Zounnadjala speaking at the ILO Conference 2014. |
Formalisation of
informal labor.
– Legal recognition and protection as workers (for self employed and independent workers)
– The rights and
advantages of a formal job: lack of discrimination, guarantee of a
minimum wage, measures of health and safety at work, contribution by
the employer and the state to sickness and pension insurance, right
to organize and to negotiate collectively and membership of
organizations of workers including trade unions.
Advantages of formal
operations for self employed workers:
simplified
procedures for registering, progressive taxation system, protection
against harassment, access to resources and services and workers
rights.
Formalization of
informal businesses
– legal and
regulatory frameworks including contracts, the rights to use land and
property, use of public spaces and regulation in health and safety at
work.
Advantages of
working formally includes: access to information on finance and the
market, acces to infrastructures and public services, effective
commercial contracts, limited liability, rules for default and for
exit from bankruptcy, access to public and government initiatives and
subsidies, membership of professional associations, access to a
formal social security system. Registry and taxation includes
simplified registration procedures and a progressive tax system.
To Conclude
Nothing for us,
without us; This is what the workers in the informal sector are
calling out. Workers in the informal sector are impatiently expecting
the ILO to adopt the recommendation addressing them. They accept that
the situation has to change. However, do not forget that this
transition has to take place progressively to make it possible for
this important part of the economy to maintain its attractiveness and
its traditional dynamism and traditional economic strength.”
WOW Vice President Maritza Chireno and Heriberto Ferrer at one of the Workers sessions on the Transitions of the informal to the formal economy. |
This year WOW
Vice-President Maritza Chireno from Venezuela made also part of the
official WOW delegation to the ILO Conference. For the first time in
the history the workers delegation of Venezuela was composed
unilaterally by the Venezuelan Government together with the official
trade union confederation CBST. The trade union confederation CGT of
Venezuela of which Maritza Chireno is Secretary General, together
with other confederations presented a complaint to the Credentials
Committee of the ILO Conference 2014. The Committe writes the
following in its second report:
“The committee
takes note of the fact that the Government chose six organizations to
convoke a meeting on 8 may 2012 for the purpose of nominating the
Workers' delegation to the Conference. The Government does not deny
that the proposal to nominate Ms. Chireno as Workers' delegate was
supported by three organizations (more than any other proposal), but
that the Government rejected her nomination on the basis that the
CBST (the Government sponsored official confederation,
note of the redaction) had stated that it was the
most representative organization. While the Government provides
registry information about the representativity of this one
organization, it is not in a position to provide the numbers
regarding the other organizations. The
Committee considers that the joint proposal therefore could not be
ignored by the Government.In
the absence of information for the other organizations, the Committee
observes that conclusions cannot be drawn about the combined
representative force of the objecting organizations. The
Committee recalls that, in the absence of an agreement between all
most representative organizations, the existence and application of
objective and verifiable criteria for determining the
representativity of workers' organizations is critical when
designating Workers' delegations.
In this regard, the Committee recalls
that it has repeatedly, in the past, urged the Government to advance
in the impartial establishment of objective and verifiable criteria
on representativity and the means to implement them that respect
freedom of association of organisations.
It trusts that with the announcement of a registration system as of 1
of January 2013, the Government will in the future be in a position
to establish and implement such criteria. The Committee expects that
the Government will ensure that the nomination of the
non-governmental delegations at future sessions of the Conference
will be in full compliance with article 3, paragraph 5, of the ILO
Constitution.”
The question is whether
the Venezuelan Government will indeed establish impartial, objective
and verifiable criteria on trade union representativity. It seems
that the Government uses bureaucratic measures to prevent other trade
unions than those that support the Government to be registered at
all.
WOW President Roel Rotshuizen and Amrita Sietaram from the ILO ACTRAV Department at one of the workers sessions on the transition of the informal to the formal economy. |
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