Uniting to make more effective demands

By means of this meeting with workers from the informal sectors in the South of India, Fedina aids their unionization. The condition of textile workers is deplorable. Low salaries, absence of social protection, obligatory extra hours, verbal intimidation and sometimes even sexual harassment are the problems confronting these men and women, employed for the most part without a written contract. In terms of making demands, it is often very difficult or even dangerous, to act alone: but banding together permits action. A union is an instrument that workers commit to in order to demand better working conditions and defend their rights more forcefully. In this area, Fedina can boast of much experience. In March 2006 it created the GATWU [2], a union of workers in the textile and ready-to-wear clothes industries, affiliated with the national union New Trade Union Initiative. Together, they take care of questions related to workers’ legislation and more broadly the problems confronting Indian workers. The training and unionization programs organized by Fedina are direct results of the creation of GATWU, a major advancement in the movement for decent working conditions. This meeting gave other workers of the textile and ready-to-wear clothes industries the means to educate themselves and to form together a solid lobbying group capable of advocating for their rights, on the model of the GATWU.

Creating a space for dialogue and understanding

The training was undertaken principally by teachers from Fedina and accompanied by the president of GATWU. The participants witnessed the difficult working conditions for workers, allowing a valuable sharing of experience and the emergence of a universal recognition. The instructors explained to the worker the importance of creating local unions to defend their personal and property rights so as to be able to participate in decision-making and benefit from every aspect of the workplace as spaces of liberty, understanding and debate. These indispensable points will allow them to tackle the practical questions related to unionization. To that end, the instructors explained to the workers the principal of the manufacturing process, which goes from the purchase of raw materials to the delivery of finished products to the consumer. The workers became aware of their importance, and of their maneuvering room. They understood that reporting their working conditions to the stores which sell the clothes and footwear made by the firms which exploit them is an important means of applying pressure which they must learn to utilize. “At first, I was very hesitant at the idea of participating in this training. For me it was only a wasteful excess; I didn’t see the point. But now I understand the need to form a union to demand access to better working conditions”, confided a participant at the conclusion of a training session. These positive reactions demonstrate that the fear of being laid off because of protests is replaced little be little by the courage to collectively defend the right to an improvement of working and living conditions.

Also read: Resonances Asia N°21 - February 2008