A search for new regulatory models for precarious workers: Transferability of Tripartite Welfare Boards

RMIT Researchers

• Associate Professor Shelley Marshall

Project Description

Worldwide, there has been a search for new models of labour regulation for gig workers and other precarious workers.  A successful model for regulating informal work has been operating in the state of Maharashtra, India, since the late 1960s. Tripartite welfare boards called Mathadi Boards have successfully lifted head-load workers out of poverty. The purpose of this study is to assess the transferability of the Mathadi Board model, to improve the conditions of informal and precarious workers in other sectors in India.  What are the benefits of the Mathadi Board model – which we refer to as tripartite boards - and can the model be expanded to other sectors in order to strengthen existing labour protections, or cover informal workers and others that are not afforded protection by labour law and social security protections?

Partners

• Prof. Hila Shamir, Professor of Law, TraffLab, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law
• Chandan Kumar, Hamal Panchayat, India
• Dr Rahul Menon, Assistant Professor , Hyderabad campus, School of Livelihoods and Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Theme

Labour in Supply Chains

Key Words

Gig workers, precarious work, non-standard work

Funding Sources

PI TraffLab (ERC)