Self-regulating informal transport workers and the quest for social protection in Tanzania

Kinyondo, Godbertha

doi:10.4324/9781003173694-4

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…In Tanzania, as a response to massive retrenchments in the 1990s, the National Employment Promotion Act of 1999 gave a seat to a representative of an informal sector association on the National Employment Advisory Committee. There is, however, no evidence of the committee currently being active on informal sector matters (Kinyondo, 2021). Hence, in practice TUCTA is the only player recognised institutionally to represent workers in issues regarding the labour market or social protection.…”

Section: Representation Of People In the Informal Economy In Triparti...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The issue of own-account work -and hence the lack of any clear employment relation -in particular creates challenges for the designation as a worker, as the traditional ties of union solidarity have been based on the common position in an employment relationship. In this case, however, the designation emphasised is one that insists on the commonality of having a job, as when a group of boda boda drivers and the Communication and Transport Workers Union of Tanzania (COTWU(T)) marched in Dar es Salaam on May Day in 2019 with banners that read: "A boda boda job is like any other job" (Kinyondo, 2021), or the insistence on being employed (even if self-employed):…”

Section: The Designation As "Informal Workers"mentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is a Worker? Framing People in the Informal Economy as Part of the Trade Union Constituency in Kenya and Tanzania

Riisgaard

2022

GLJ

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This article investigates the ongoing efforts of trade unions in Kenya and Tanzania to enlarge their constituency by reconceptualising the notion of workers to include people in the informal economy. How this process plays out is of immense importance as it challenges established understandings of who a worker is; this in turn poses very difficult questions about rights, representation and the distribution of power both internally in the union movements and in society at large. Based on original interview data, the article unpacks this highly contested and politicised process. The article shows how union efforts reflect different ways of tackling the need to constitute people working informally as workers and union members in order to increase the social base, and thereby increase political clout. However, these processes are juxtaposed with the urge to maintain traditional boundaries and protect established privileges and power structures, both internally in the unions and externally in the fragile compromise inscribed in the existing tripartite structures. KEYWORDS: informal workers; informal economy; trade unions; Kenya; Tanzania

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Section: Representation Of People In the Informal Economy In Triparti...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Designation As "Informal Workers"mentioning

confidence: 99%

What is a Worker? Framing People in the Informal Economy as Part of the Trade Union Constituency in Kenya and Tanzania

Riisgaard

2022

GLJ

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“…Where nothing else is noted, the analysis is based on data presented in Riisgaard et al. (2021) including Gervas (2021), Indimuli (2021), Kamau (2021), Kinyondo (2021), and Mitullah (2021).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework: the Bias Towards Formalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using elements of PRA and drawing on the approaches to informality presented above, and with a focus on social insurance and representation, we establish a framework for uncovering the lived realities of informal workers and the challenges they face, as well as their ability to organize collectively in order to address these challenges. Where nothing else is noted, the analysis is based on data presented in Riisgaard et al (2021) including Gervas (2021), Indimuli (2021), Kamau (2021), Kinyondo (2021), andMitullah (2021).…”

Section: Theore Ti C Al Fr Ame Work : the B Ia S Towards Formalit Ymentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging the formality bias: The organization of informal work, working relations, and collective agency in Kenya and Tanzania

Riisgaard

Torm

Kinyondo

et al. 2023

Development Policy Review

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MotivationFormal social protection systems, such as health insurance and representation, are often biased towards formal workers; thereby excluding most of the world's working population who make a living in the informal economy.PurposeThe article extends existing critiques of the formality bias by investigating the reality of work for people in the informal economy in Kenya and Tanzania and analysing related social protection challenges. Specifically, we look at a) the governance of work; b) the organization of work relations; and c) collective agency. In terms of social protection, we focus on formal and informal forms of social insurance and representation.Methods and approachWe draw on interview and survey data from people working in micro trading, transport, and construction in Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam and Dodoma, Tanzania. 1462 workers were surveyed, and 24 focus group discussions were run with such workers. Interviews were held with 120 key informants: leaders and members of informal workers’ associations in the three sectors, as well as representatives of authorities, trade unions, and business associations. Data were collected from June 2018 to December 2019.FindingsFormal social insurance and representation do not fit the reality of most people working in the informal economy: they have been modelled on and designed to support workers in formal standard employment relations. At the same time, informal workers’ own associations play important roles in meeting—albeit inadequately—the social insurance and representational needs of their members.Policy implicationsMeaningfully engaging with the reality of work and collective agency in the informal economy is necessary to inform more appropriate policies and measures to provide informal workers with appropriate social protection measures, particularly social insurance and representation. Their reality should not have to conform to an inadequate model; rather the model should fit their reality.

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“…In some particularly hazardous professions, such as transportation and construction, workers' associations have become a significant source of organized social insurance against accidents, sickness, and disability. They also provide loans for productive assets, among others (Kinyondo 2022;Gervas 2022). It is noteworthy that some associations are exclusively catering for women, and female petty traders, in particular, have sought to access social insurance through informal social insurance arrangements (Riisgaard 2020).…”

Section: Emergence Of Organized Informal Social Security Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating informal workers into social insurance in Tanzania

Lambin¹,

Nyyssölä²

2022

WIDER Working Paper

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Self-regulating informal transport workers and the quest for social protection in Tanzania

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

What is a Worker? Framing People in the Informal Economy as Part of the Trade Union Constituency in Kenya and Tanzania

What is a Worker? Framing People in the Informal Economy as Part of the Trade Union Constituency in Kenya and Tanzania

Challenging the formality bias: The organization of informal work, working relations, and collective agency in Kenya and Tanzania

Incorporating informal workers into social insurance in Tanzania

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