By Rodrigo Gouveia
The 103rd Session of the International Labour Conference was held in Geneva from the 28th May to the 12th June 2014. One of the main topics of the discussions was the transitioning of workers from the informal to the formal economy. This is considered central to development, inclusive growth and inclusive societies
Co-operative enterprises have a strong role to play in this discussion as many workers in the informal economy see them as an adequate framework to transition to formality. The International Co-operative Alliance, represented at the Conference by Bruno Roelants, Secretary-General of CICOPA, argued that a future recommendation on this topic should recognise and make references to the role of co-operatives.
As a result, the proposed recommendation that came as a conclusion of the Conference, makes several references to co-operatives including that countries “should formulate and implement a national employment policy (…) in order to increase productive employment creation in the formal economy through (…) development of cooperatives (…) in both rural and urban areas.”
The Alliance will continue its advocacy efforts to guarantee that these references continue when the final text is adopted.
The full text of the proposed recommendation can be found here: http://s.coop/1ux2i
