Collective representation of precarious workers: what has the Decent Work Agenda got to do with it?

The Decent Work Agenda was launched in a context of increasing precarisation of work, which has contributed to the weakening of trade unions and labour power in general. While the Agenda proclaims its support for the fundamental rights of precarious workers, its ambiguous language, deep-rooted structural weaknesses within the ILO and the precariousness of its instruments have limited its effectiveness in protecting these workers and enabling them to exercise their rights. Contrary to the perception that they are unorganisable, precarious workers have organised collectively, often with the support of trade unions, to resist exploitation and claim their rights. The temporary and incomplete ‘victories’ highlighted by these organising stories point to the need for fundamental changes in the articulation and implementation of the agenda, including the key conditions that would enable the full realisation of workers’ rights, to make the realisation of the Decent Work Agenda a reality for precarious workers.