The Labora Fund for Decent Work launched the Strengthening Informal Workers in the Fight for Rights 2025 call for proposal. It is intended for organizations, collectives, groups, unions and social movements that work for the defense of workers’ rights.
With two support axes, one geared towards grassroots organizations and the other dedicated to proposals of political advocacy and strengthening of networks, 25 projects will be supported for a period of at most 12 months, totaling up to R$1.600.000,00 (roughly 300 thousand USD) in donations. Registrations can be made until February 7th 2025.
This is the fourth call for proposal from Labora, a Brazil Fund initiative in association with the Laudes Foundation, Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations, to strengthen and expand the support to the civil society’s fight for the defense of workers’ rights in Brazil.
This is an opportunity for entities and collectives that represent categories such as domestic workers, security guards, truck drivers, salespeople, factory workers, agriculture, app-based workers, sex workers, street vendors, recycling workers, among others, to obtain resources to develop projects.
See more about priority groups here
The call for proposal’s grants will be done within two axes. Axis 1 will support 20 projects and is geared towards the strengthening and institutional development of grassroots organizations that act in the fight for decent work, social protection, and fair transition. The aim is to expand the opportunities of popular participation in labor struggles. Said organizations will be granted up to R$ 50 thousand (roughly 10 thousand USD) each.
Axis 2 is dedicated to proposals of advocacy for more fair norms and public policies in the field of labor, and to projects of strengthening of networks. 10 proposals will be funded, up to R$ 100 thousand (roughly 20 thousand USD) each.
Precariousness of informality
The country has registered a rate of informality of 38,8% in the job market during the trimester up to September 2024, according to the data from the Continuous National Poll for Home Samples (Pnad Contínua), undertaken by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). That means over 38 million people with no access to minimal social guarantees, in a situation of unstable and unsafe life.
In informal labor, where there are no social guarantees such as minimum wage, Employee’s Severance Guarantee Fund, maternity licenses and sick leaves, the situation is serious. In rural work, for instance, there are over 30 million people, and about 60% are not registered. These people are at the mercy of seasonal jobs such as harvesting and planting. Another example is the situation of app-based delivery workers and drivers, who work up to 12h/day, according to a poll from IPEA, with no guarantee of rights or limitation of work hours.
Informality and the precariousness of work relations has increased after the passing of the Work Reform in 2017. It also affects disproportionately LGBTQIA+ people, with emphasis on trans people, migrants and people with disabilities.
With regards to the racial matter, informality affects primarily black and mixed-race people, who are also the majority (82%) among those rescued from labor similar to slavery.
The old challenges, therefore, are added on to the new ones as a consequence of climate change, directly related, in Brazil, to deforestation and the expansion of agrobusiness. With the fast increase in temperatures, the impacts over workers are immediate.
Because of that, Labora invites organizations, social movements, unions, collectives and groups that act for the advancement and defense of decent conditions of work and life in Brazil, to present proposals for the support to their work in the scope of the Strengthening Informal Workers in the Fight For Rights Call for Proposal 2025.
