Trade unions build trust and protection for informal and domestic workers in Armenia

YEREVAN (ILO News) – Informal employment continues to account for a significant share of employment in Armenia, while domestic workers frequently work without written contracts, clearly defined employment conditions or effective access to labour and social protection. Women face particular challenges, reflecting gender gaps in employment as well as their disproportionate share of unpaid care responsibilities. The new report, Building trust and protection: Lessons learned from trade union organizing among informal and domestic workers in Armenia, examines how trade unions can extend representation and protection to workers who often remain outside formal labour arrangements.

Drawing on the experience of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia (CTUA), trade union organizers and workers themselves, the report documents an ILO-supported initiative to strengthen trade union protection and representation among informal and domestic workers. The initiative contributed to the establishment of the “Yourself” Trade Union (INKD) under the umbrella of CTUA in September 2025 – Armenia’s first trade union specifically representing informal and domestic workers.

The report identifies six key lessons from organizing efforts. These include:

organizing begins with building trust,
fear around documentation and taxation can sustain informality, alongside gaps in information,
many informal workers do not believe their working conditions can improve,
cultural and community contexts shape organizing strategies,
direct experience of exploitation increases openness to contracts and unions, and
union growth among informal workers is gradual and driven by trust among peers and in institutions of collective representation and social dialogue.

The findings show that organizing informal workers requires sustained engagement, practical support and time.

I know there is a place where I can go, share my experience, be heard, and receive support.
Heriknaz Baghramyan, care worker and member of the “Yourself” Trade Union, Armenia

A woman standing in a park — Heriknaz Baghramyan, a care worker and member of the “Yourself” Trade Union in Armenia

The report was developed within the framework of the ILO RBSA-funded initiative “Building the capacity of constituents to pre-empt informalisation of work and promote transition to formality in the context of a refugee crisis” in Armenia. Based on the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204), the initiative combines measures to prevent informalization, extend protection to workers in the informal economy, promote productive formal employment, strengthen employment services and enhance the capacity of the Government and employers’ and workers’ organizations.

The report also complements ILO-initiated capacity-building activities on domestic work in Armenia, which seek to strengthen the knowledge and capacity of national constituents to address the specific vulnerabilities of domestic workers and promote decent work in the sector. In this context, the report brings an important workers’ organization perspective by documenting practical experience in reaching, organizing and representing domestic and other informal workers. It also situates these experiences within the principles of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), including the right to organize and bargain collectively, fair working conditions, legal protection and the recognition of domestic work as work.

By bringing workers’ lived experiences and lessons from trade union organizing into this wider policy process, the report illustrates how strengthening workers’ voice and collective representation can form an important part of an integrated approach to formalization. It also points to the need for continued outreach, stronger protection mechanisms and sustained social dialogue to ensure that informal and domestic workers are reached and effectively protected.

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