ILO-CMTU Training Workshop for Trade Union Lawyers and Legal Advocates: Informal Economy

Background

In January 2019, the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions (CMTU) adopted its action plan for the informal economy for 2019-2021 with a view to:

• strengthening the existing trade unions representing workers in the informal economy;
• promoting freedom of association among workers in the informal economy through improved legal and regulatory frameworks;
• addressing their challenges through social dialogue;
• improving CMTU services including better access to information, advice and training.

As CMTU prioritized its legal services as one of the most important means to reach out to workers and members in the informal economy, it is working to improve the existing legal services and capacity of union lawyers and advocates.

Objectives:

1. To sensitize participants to their role in protecting and providing legal services to members and workers in the informal economy; and specific needs and challenges these workers face.
2. To assess the range, quality, relevance and accessibility of the existing legal services of CMTU in relation to workers and members in the informal economy; and provide recommendations for improvement.
3. To prepare for providing paralegal training to trade unionists.

About 35 lawyers and advocates, who work with CMTU and its affiliates on the contractual basis, including few full time staff members of the CMTU legal team will attend this training.

The agenda covers:

• Introduction to the Informal economy:

o Informal economy: concepts, size and challenges
o ILO Recommendation 204: Importance and relevance for Mongolia
o Profile of informal employment in Mongolia
o Role of trade union lawyers in promoting and protecting freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining for workers in the informal economy

• Diagnosis of the existing services and areas of improvement:

o CMTU legal services and experiences in dealing with workers and unions in the informal economy
o How well do trade union legal services and lawyers respond to needs of unions, members and workers in the informal economy? What are good practices, lessons and areas of improvement?
o Protection of workers’ rights in the informal economy through collective bargaining agreements
o Labour law revision and informal economy
o OSH law and its application in the context of the informal economy

• Action planning for improvement of the services in terms of quality, relevance and accessibility