Collective Bargaining for Street Vendors in Mumbai: Toward Promotion of Social Dialogue

Debdulal Saha

DOI: 10.2190/WR.15.3-4.n

Abstract

This study is an attempt to understand the role of the collective bargaining process in promoting social dialogue among the street vendors in Mumbai. The street vendors in Mumbai are one of the most deprived sections of the urban working poor, and their deprivation results from their low bargaining power. The ILO has recognized the importance of collective bargaining and the promotion of social dialogue to meet the common demands of workers, and so has included the collective bargaining process in its decent work agenda. Collective bargaining is an end in itself as well as a means of achieving other ends. It promotes the right of workers to decent working conditions. This study reveals that the rate of unionization among vendors in Mumbai is low. The heterogeneous nature of street vending activity further retards the unionization process. Further, the study reveals that several membership-based organizations are working actively toward the provision of social security for vendors in addition to the provision of formal credit through a cooperative credit society. These organizations are most active in securing the vendors' rights to public space utilization. Thus the organizations are promoting the social dialogue process by mobilizing the vendors toward realizing their rights at work.

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