Skip To Content
Global Reports

Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes

By , , on January 01, 2015

Abstract: The informal workforce represents more than half of all workers in most developing countries and a significant share of workers in developed countries. This paper summarizes the history and forms of organizing informal workers, providing a timeline of organizing, typologies of organization forms and strategies, and data on numbers of organizations by type, sectors and countries. It discusses what different groups of informal workers bargain or negotiate for, and with whom; and analyses the strategic goals, benefits and challenges of organizing. It presents some recent legal and policy victories by organizations of informal workers. The concluding section extracts some lessons learned and makes a few recommendations, especially for governments and policy makers.

View list of all: Global Reports

Go to Publication(this link opens in new window)

Citation Information

Bonner, Chris, Carré, Françoise, and Alter Chen, Martha. Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes. , , . UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2015. Bonner, C., Carré, F., and Alter Chen, M. (2015). Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes. , , . Bonner, Chris, Carré, Françoise, and Alter Chen, Martha. "Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes." UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2015, .Bonner Chris, Carré Françoise, and Alter Chen Martha. "Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes." (2015). Bonner, C, Carré, F, and Alter Chen, M 2015, 'Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes', . Chris Bonner, Françoise Carré, and Martha Alter Chen, 'Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes' (2015). Bonner C., Carré F., and Alter Chen M. Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes. . 2015. Bonner, Chris, Carré, Françoise, and Alter Chen, Martha. Organizing Informal Workers: Benefits, Challenges, and Successes. . 2015. , .

The WIEGO Research Library

WIEGO is at the forefront of developing statistics and research to help audiences understand the informal economy. Our library includes over two decades-worth of informal economy research, policy analysis, statistics and documentation of organizing efforts.