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By keeping corporations accountable for the waste they produce and providing affordable goods and services to working class people, recyclers and vendors in NYC are demonstrating an alternative to the status quo model of city-making that favours a few elite interests to the detriment of the majority...
It is a myth that cooperatives, which put people at the centre, are not a viable alternative to the current economic system because they lack productivity. Improving working conditions and people’s well-being favour productivity – not the other way around.
From rising temperatures to shifting work conditions, a new study highlights the vital role waste pickers play in managing urban waste and how they navigate the challenges of a changing climate in Brazil.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) transfers the responsibility of waste management from municipal authorities to the producers of the waste materials. Despite the important role that informal economy workers who collect and segregate waste could play in such a system, they get no mention in...
Workers in informal employment experience frequent workplace exposure to a range of occupational health and safety risks. The climate crisis poses an additional, existential threat to workers – with catastrophic impacts on workers’ health and livelihoods.
Waste pickers at the Mbeubeuss dumpsite have set up their own cooperative in an effort to be integrated into the new waste management model put forward by the government.
We’ve all seen the pictures: heaping trash mounds with men and women sifting through the discards. This challenging situation has increased international pressure over environmental and public health concerns from these dangerous sites. Open dumps, unlike sanitary landfills, are not engineered to...
As COP25 gets underway, our deep dive into two years of news coverage reveals that the green army of waste pickers leading urban recycling efforts deserves greater recognition for its efforts in solving one of the most pressing problems of our times.
A Q&A with Taylor Cass Talbott It’s hard to miss the shocking images of heaping plastic floating in the middle of the world’s oceans on the covers of magazines and on the evening news. The photos and reports have raised alarm bells with both citizens and policymakers alike. The ocean plastic waste...
In celebration of International Cooperatives Day, we speak with Martha Elena Iglesias, a waste picker and the leader of Planeta Verde , a waste picker cooperative in Rionegro, Colombia. Planeta Verde, with its 86 members, has grown into a leading grassroots organization in the Colombian region of...
Videos / Slideshows / Audio
Millions of women work long hours, in dangerous conditions, for little pay. They are fighting for change, with the help of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Watch this video to learn how.
Workers Education/Organizing Materials
This manual helps street vendors learn more about the regulations that govern public space and how to defend the right to work in public space. It describes successful actions taken by street vendor organizations. And it offers information to help you organize and negotiate with local government.
WIEGO Working Papers
Mike Rogan reviews how informal workers are taxed, why there is growing interest in taxing them, and whether they should be included in the tax net.