Trade Unions: Reaching the Marginalized and Excluded
Waste-pickers in Maharashtra, India
Abstract
Many informal jobs exist at the margins of our
societies. These workers may face discrimination on
many levels, and have little power to change their
circumstances. Waste-pickers are one such type of
worker. Yet in Maharashtra, India, they have
organized and formalized, creating better working
conditions for themselves and improving the future for
their children. These individual entrepreneurs
expanded their collective business, filling a vital role in
the supply chains of many larger firms. Their cities are
benefitting as well, as the public receives a number of
services at no cost from the waste-pickers. The
development of alternatives that include marginalized
persons can ultimately benefit all stakeholders, while
informal workers can gain much from organizing.
Context/Informality Patterns
Pune, a major city in Maharashtra, is home to
approximately 7000 waste-pickers, the majority of
whom are women. The work is difficult, degrading and
unclean, yet the days are long and the earnings are
low. Waste sites are considered ‘territory’, and new
workers often face violence, harassment and
sabotage. The city is growing rapidly and many
citizens are unhappy with the city’s dirty streets.
Privatization projects to force households to sort waste
and later collect it failed, yet they still endangered the
incomes of the city’s waste-pickers (who provided the
sorting for free as a byproduct of their labour).
Waste-pickers are workers in the scrap trade, who
salvage recyclables from waste collection sites and
landfills. Their labour is not recognized, and is often
exploited. Children work alongside parents who can’t
afford school or childcare, and both groups are
exposed to many risks for infectious diseases.
Workers are marginalized and have no access to any
form of finance, social security or any government
services.
Achievements of Organizing for KKPKP
(Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat)
Members:
• Earning recognition as a formal trade union and
improved workplace rights.
• Negotiating with the Municipal Corporation to
receive healthcare subsidies, by presenting their
work as a (dangerous) public service.
• Mobilizing for health & safety equipment provided
by the local government.
• Creation of a group credit cooperative for
microcredit, savings and social security services (at
accessible rates, even interest-free).
• Establishing a group life insurance scheme for
members.
• Building a formal scrap shop for members with fair
prices and shared profits.
• Providing school supplies for children and
combatting child labour.
• Building international alliances with non-profits
and trade unions.
Waste-pickers in Maharashtra, India
Methodology/Solutions
The KKPKP (Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat) began after an informal meeting in Pune, where many wastepickers complained about their situation. After organizing as the KKPKP, the group first sought formal trade union
status to have more capacity in the city. After this first success, they began to grow and build influence. The wastepickers met often and shared stories of their experiences, which built a shared identity throughout the workers. Soon,
they would mobilize to pressure the local government through public demonstrations and research conducted by larger
organizations. They mobilized for access to state resources, as well as to private household collection contracts that
damaged their incomes. Inside the organization, members resolved disputes and created new cooperative businesses.
The KKPKP created a member-owned scrap store and microfinance business, and formed national and international
alliances with nonprofits and trade unions. Members have travelled to Europe, Brazil, Nepal, Egypt, Thailand and many
cities in India to develop their skills, share their experiences and bring visibility to waste-picking at the international
level.
Results
As an organization, the KKPKP has achieved victories that used to be unthinkable for its members. Recognition as a
formal trade union expanded the ability of the group to pursue their interests. By negotiating and campaigning strongly,
the KKPKP won healthcare coverage for all of its members from the municipality where they worked. They also gained
protective equipment to improve their working conditions. Children were forced off of waste sites, and families were
provided the means to enroll them in schools. School supplies, bicycles and bus passes, and funding for disabled
children are also provided to the children. Violence between waste-pickers has been reduced to almost zero. Because
of their formal status, the workers were able to create a scrap shop and microfinance institution for themselves, and
could partner with a formal-sector insurance company to provide coverage to all of KKPKP’s members. Many of the
newly-formalized workers have seen their incomes double, or more, since the creation of the KKPKP.
Key Lesson Points




Organization can lead to formalization of informal workers
As workers formalize, they have greater capacity to improve the conditions of their work and their lives
o Unions and cooperatives can help the marginalized build capacity
Waste-pickers provide a valuable public service in cities
o The public receives benefits without paying taxes for them
Formalization and new enterprises can be created at no cost through alternative development
o Coordinate, reorganize existing systems into profitable, sustainable programs
FORMAL ORGANIZING CAN
UNLOCK MANY NEW
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
INFORMAL WORKERS
KKPKP Website:
http://www.wastepickerscollective.org/
89 New Timber Market
Bhavan Peth 411012
Pune Maharashtra
P: +91 976 540 4040
KKPKP members at their 2012 National Convention in Pune, Maharashtra.
Chikarmane, P., & Narayan, L. (2000, October). Formalising Livelihood: Case of Wastepickers in Pune. Economic and
Political Weekly, 35(41), 3639-3642.