Core labour standards in the informal economy

The right to organise and collective bargaining, and the prohibition of discrimination, child labour and slave labour rank among the fundamental rights at work. The International Labour Organisation has laid them down in eight conventions which are binding for all member states. The majority of people in the world work in an informal basis, i.e. they enjoy no legal protection, security or registration and they fight for their daily existence. Given this reality and in view of poverty reduction, the right to organise represents a fundamental prerequisite for improving the situation of informal workers and economically poor people.

The Justice and Peace Commission supports the development and implementation of relevant conventions intended to protect and to strengthen the rights of those working under informal and precarious conditions (e.g. homeworkers and domestic workers).
 
The 104th session of the International Labour Conference held from 1 to 13 June 2015 adopted recommendation 204 concerning the ‘Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy’. This recommendation opens new ways for promoting the rights of informal workers as well. The Justice and Peace Commission and other Catholic institutions had organised a workshop on this subject in Geneva where the opportunities offered by this new recommendation were identified in analysing good examples of the work of trade unions and Catholic associations all over the world.

International Labour Conference

Publication„Organisieren - nicht resignieren"

Publication„Organise–don’t resign"

Publication„Hay que organizarse–No hay que resignarse"

Documentation: Outcome Report