Project empowers informal sector workers in Sierra Leone

Project empowers informal sector workers in Sierra Leone

Informal sector workers in Sierra Leone are benefitting from a project funded by the Department for International Development through TUC Aid in partnership with the Sierra Leone Labour Congress (SLLC).

Four informal sector workers' associations have so far affiliated to the SLLC following their participation in the activities organized under the Rebuilding Trade Union Capacity in Sierra Leone Project launched in 2007. The SLLC support for, and interventions on behalf of the Sierra Leone Traders' Union, have stood the SLTA in good stead in its negotiations with the City Council on the determination of market dues. Commercial Bike Riders' Association, too, has joined the SLLC and is riding high in the provinces, too. Commercial bike riding is one of outcomes of the prolonged civil strife in Sierra Leone. Following the cessation of hostilities, unemployed youth and ex-combatants started transporting people on motorbikes. Many transformed these into commercial ventures.

Femi Rashid and Joseph Rogers who began their careers as bike riders are now the Chairman and Accident & Safety Officer, respectively, of the BRA in Bo in the Southern Province. 'We had dealings with NGOs and Civil Society Organizations, but they were only making use of us for their own benefit', says Femi. 'Only when the SLLC approached us last year, did we begin to realize our potential.' he continued. 'Knowing our rights and, of course, obligations was very important'. A number of bike riders' organizations are contemplating the formation of a national organization. The lobbying of government agencies and local authorities on the rights and entitlements of informal sector workers has led to some improvement in their working conditions and in the outcomes of their interactions with local authorities.