A member of Bangkok’s Foundation for Labor and Employment (FLEP), HomeNet Thailand implemented a successful project called “Organized Strength for Home-Based Workers.” (2009-2011) Building a federation of home-based worker organizations throughout the country – with 3,000 paying members – the project focused on key workers’ issues, such as social protection, legal status, and labor rights. Its objectives were to: improve the livelihood security of home-based workers in the informal economy through collective organizing; grant access to social protection schemes for poor working women, with an emphasis on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS); and enhance the economic empowerment of the working poor. The project had significant impact, not the least of which was the government’s adoption of the Home-Workers Protection Act, which helps protect an estimated two million women by ensuring legal frameworks are in place for equal pay and occupational health and safety. In addition, the government adopted a policy to provide a 30% social security co-payment for informal workers, benefiting an estimated 24 million informal workers in Thailand.
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