Article from AREDS: Towards workers’ Rights in India

Twelve trade unions of unorganized workers have come together and formed the Karur District Federation of All Unorganised Workers’ Unions in 2014. Since its inception, the leaders of the federation have been thinking of bringing out a newsletter on the success stories of the member unions, the struggles undertaken by the unions as well as the federation and the matters on the latest socio-politico and economic development in the country. Their dream came true as the first issue of the Newsletter ‘Tholilaalar Urimaiyai Nokki’ (Towards workers’ Rights) was released on the 21st of August 2015 in Karur.

Current context in India
The Indian government is taking different steps to de-link the association between the unorganized workers and the trade unions. Previously, the leaders of the trade unions to which the workers belonged to were doing the work of enrolling and renewing memberships with the Labour Welfare Board. Presently, the government has passed a Government Order which says that the workers should go in person to the Labour Welfare Office to enroll their names and renew their memberships. If this becomes regular practice, the workers will approach the union only when they have to avail the financial assistance under labour welfare schemes. Doubtless, this will liquidate the interest of the workers in enhancing their awareness on workers’ rights and will dampen the fighting spirit of the workers in claiming their legitimate rights.

Therefore, the union leaders try to consistently keep the members in contact with the unions. They have to ensure an effective and periodical communication between the union and the members. In such times, a newsletter would surely be instrumental in bridging the workers and the trade union. For this reason, the Karur District Federation of All Unorganised Workers’ Unions has brought out this newsletter.

India to grant better rights through policy on domestic workers

Indian media recently reported the drafting of a policy by the central government on better rights of domestic workers. This issue was part of the political action NDWM and the other WSM partners have been campaigning on for several years now in India, with most recently a postcard campaign demanding the ILO 189 ratification by India and a national legislation. 

According to the media, the NDA government is readying a national policy incorporating these features, besides a host of benefits, including social security cover and provisions against sexual harassment and bonded labour. The 'National Policy for Domestic Workers' is likely to be presented before the Union Cabinet soon.

Domestic servants, who stare at an uncertain future when they grow weak with age and are thrown out of their job, will now have the cushion of a social security scheme under which the employer will have a mandatory contribution.

The policy envisages the right to domestic helps to pursue education, a safe work environment and a mechanism for redress of their grievances.

Workers and employers will also have the right to form groups and engage with each other for 'collective bargaining'.

A draft note in this regard, prepared by the Director General Labour Welfare (DGLW), was submitted to Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya last week."The policy framework is on par with the standards of the International Labour Organisation. India has adopted the ILO convention on domestic workers and therefore we have to make a policy for this segment of the society" he said.

NDWM, though acknowledging the step forward, also notes that a major loophole is that the government wants to recruit domestic workers through placement agency, which will be adding to the exploitation as in many cases, these agents are human traffickers. The policy also doesn't spell out any complaint mechanism or monitoring system if the minimum wage is not implemented. Lastly and most importantly, this is only a national policy which is not binding instrument. If the Indian States don't wish to implement it, the Central Government will have little or no control over it.

CFTUI obtains 25% raise for teacher and helpers in Bihar, India

Aganwari are helpers in the public schools, who deal with everything from cooking to watching over the children. In Bihar, a state in the north-east of India, they made around 1.000INR per month, which hadn't been increased for ages and is very low compared to others states (for instance, Kerala pays aganwari 10.000, Andra Pradesh: 8.000). They have to work for 10 to 12 hours each day, divided in two sections: teachers and helpers (cook) for children 0 to 6 year old from 500 families per helper and many extra responsibilities: polio vaccinations, surveys, caring for sick mothers, etc.

CFTUI, the WSM partner has an affiliated trade union of Aganwari with with 25.000 members out of a total of 70.000 teachers and 70.000 helpers). The demands for raise have been since a long time, with in 2010, finally an increase from 1.000 to 3.000INR.

Since this was still very low, their leadership decided in April to conduct a campaign for increase with:

• Agitation on 6th June
• Block and hunger strike in 250 localities 9 and 10 June across Bihar with around 25000 participants
• State wide strike in 3rd of July

At 26 anniversary, GEFONT hands out awards and support to earthquake victims

On the occasion of its 26th Founding Day, GEFONT handed over cash to the April 25 and beyond earthquake victims, who are members of GEFONT. 25.000 to 40.000NPR were handed over to those victims’ families who were killed by the devastating quake, whereas, the members who were seriously injured in the quake were given 15 to 20.000 rupees. The cash was handed over by GEFONT President Bishnu Rimal, totalling 1.175.000NPR! "I sincerely thank Global ILO staffs' union, and WSM for their generous solidarity" said president Rimal.

On the same occassion, GEFONT distributed two awards and scholarships. This year Yamkala Magrati from Sunsari district was awarded the Noor Wangchhu Award and Chanchalal Bot from Udayapur district was awarded Madhav Neupane Smriti Award.GEFONT President Bishnu Rimal presented Gangadevi Scholarship and Treatment Assistance to Nayan Pokharel of Hetauda and Surya Bahadur Sarki of Butwal. Likewise Mira Basnet, Tea estate worker and member of FAPWUN was given Gangadevi health treatment assistance. She had lost a limb in a bus accident while coming to Kathmandu.
More information can be found here.

NTUC ensures five demands present in Nepali constitution drafting process

NTUC trade union and its affiliates from the Kathmandu valley met last Sunday, to appeal to their members to attend public hearings organized as part of the constitution drafting process in Nepal. After trade unions agreed in the JTUCC platform on several issues to be included (link), NTUC put forward five main issues which the members should suggest during the public hearings organized in 240 electoral constituencies around the country.

These five demands prioritized by NTUC are:

1. Representation: 10% of workers representation on all levels of the state (parliament, but also district and local level) - link here
2. Social security for all, including for migrant workers abroad
3. Right to vote for Nepali migrants working abroad, through the Nepali diplomatic representations
4. Institutionalizing the Labour Commission, a tripartite structure, necessary for the correct implementation of the Labour Law
5. Right to strike

Five Nepali Congress members from the Constitutional Assembly attended, as well as the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, who ensured he supported the demands from NTUC.

Bruno Deceukelier, invited as the WSM Asia Coordinator, which is supporting this process, spoke how WSM believes in solidarity between workers all over the world, which is increasingly becoming a small village. He expressed it was important that in this village, houses of decent work were build and congratulated NTUC on emphasizing the four cornerstones in their five demands:

1. The Right to Strike, which was also contested globally in the ILO and needs to be defended more than ever;
2. The social security and more largely social protection for all, especially with such a significant portion of Nepali working abroad;
3. Workers representation in the democracy;
4. Social dialogue and tripartite structures

He also said Nepal is currently going through a fundamental time, where rights can be inscribed in the constitution and provide the foundation for many improvements of labour rights. If successful, trade unions will then have to play an important role in ensuring the respect of these rights.

How crucial this is can be demonstrated by the opposition of the Nepali Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), which wants to withdraw labour rights from the fundamental rights to be inscribed in the constitution. The article mentions "The private sector has voiced fears about the possible misuse of the provision regarding labour rights. “If the right is treated as a fundamental right, labourers could file a petition against their employers, and the state is liable to protect the right. This will create a dubious situation" (link to article here).

NGWF informs: Garment workers rally and red flag procession held on demanding wage and festival bonus

The leaders of six garment workers federations have demanded immediate payment of wages within July 10 and Eid (festival) bonus within 14 to garment workers. They also urged the government to take action against factory owners, who would violate the deadlines.

The demands were raised at a rally on 08th July, Wednesday, at 10:30am in front of the National Press Club in the capital city Dhaka. The garment workers rally was followed by a red- flag procession that paraded important streets of the city.

Presided over by Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), the program was jointly organized by NGWF, Bangladesh Garment Workers Employees Federation, National Garment Workers Employees Federation, Akota Garment Workers Federation, Garment Workers Solidarity Federation and Bangla Garment Workers Federation.

The rally was addressed, among others, by Trade union Comrade Qamrul Ahsan, M. Delwar Hossain, Kazi Mohammed Ali, Md. Kamrul Hasan & Ms Shahida Akter Smrity.

The speakers urged the factory owners and BGMEA to pay garment workers their wages and overtime dues for the month of June within July 10 and the Eid  bonus before 14 July 2015, as per the government announcement.

The speakers mentioned that every year during Eid festival some garment factory owners fraudulently cheat the garments workers through a dilly dally tactic & thus do not pay the workers at all. As a result workers fall in inhuman condition. The leaders alerted BGMEA leaders and law enforcing agencies in this regard. This year if any garments factory owner, committing the crime of cheating the workers, they urged all concerned to bring them under law and ensure remarkable punishment.

The speakers demanded that the management of Grameen Knitwear, the factory owned by Nobel Lauriat Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus, withdraw all false and imaginary cases against 204 workers, reinstate the sacked workers or pay, as per termination definition, termination benefit, service benefit, leave compensation and provident fund, including all dues immediately.

The workers leaders also demanded for reopening of Success Fashion and Norwest Industries as well as capture factory owners Safar Ali Bhuyan and Indian national Pollok Sheth respectively for committing offence to destroy trade union.

WSM photocompetition

An image can be very strong and help to convey messages, hook audiences to what we stand for and rally them to our cause. Hence, WSM launched a photo contest for 2015, where we invite our partners to submit photos that illustrate their work in general and in particular, the right to social protection.

Below you can find some of the pictures entered...

Trade Unions and SARTUC of Nepal meet with Finance Minister

In light of the recent tragedy witnessed by Nepal in the aftermath of the April 25 earthquake, the Government of Nepal is organizing a donor conference to be held on 25 June 2015, to report on post disaster needs.

The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) recently completed under the aegis of the National Planning Commission and some of the major donors in Nepal, indicates that the earthquake has resulted in loss of income, including jobs and livelihoods, of millions of Nepalis.

To provide proper monitoring and oversight functions, SARTUC General Secretary Laxman Basnet led a delegation to submit a request proposal with Hon’ble Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat for representation of workers’ voice and interests at the upcoming international conference.

Mr. Bishnu Rimal, President GEFONT, Mr. Khila Nath Dahal, President NTUC, and other trade union leaders accompanied the delegation.  The Honorable Minister, in response, acknowledged the role of workers in nation re-building and has affirmed its representation at the upcoming donor’s conference. 

Bishnu from GEFONT at ILO: Informal Economy: What are the challenges for Unions in Nepal?

The following is an interview with Bishnu Rimal, President of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), who expresses his views on the challenges faced by Unions to organize and protect the migrant workers in Nepal. M. Rimal also explains how the ILO can work with Unions to facilitate the transition from informal to formal economy.

Find the original on ILO during the 104th International Labour session regarding the informal economy here.

Zuid-Azie jaarverslag 2014 voor WSM

Elk jaar maakt WSM een jaarverslag, iets wat minder droog dan ons rapport voor de Belgische overheid, en met een bepaalde focus. Voor het 2014 jaarverslag kozen we de informele economie en het werk dat de WSM partners hierrond doen in Zuid-Azie.

2014 was een druk jaar voor de partners van WSM in Zuid-Azië. Meer dan 400.000 mensen werden door de partners bijgestaan op verschillende manieren rond het recht op sociale bescherming (rechtsbijstand, beroepsopleiding, sociale economie, sociale zekerheid, gezondheidszorg), waarvan 54% vrouwen. Zo kregen meer dan 72.000 mensen betere toegang tot sociale beschermingssystemen en 275.000 mensen tot betaalbare gezondheidszorg. Gezamenlijke politieke actie lobbyt met de nationale regeringen o.m. in Nepal rond veiligheid op het werk en rond gezondheidszorg voor textielarbeidsters in Bangladesh. De Bangladesh partners waren ook actief in de campagne die in België één jaar na de Rana Plaza ramp werd gevoerd en meer dan 13.000 handtekeningen verzamelde en er toe leiden dat JBC en Bel&Bo zich bij de Fair Wair Foundation aansloten.

Eén van de thema’s waar WSM en onze partners het actiefste rond zijn in Zuid-Azië is de informele economie, één van de grootste uitdagingen betreffende waardig werk. Acht op tien mensen in Zuid Azië werken in de informele economie, wereldwijd de regio met het hoogste percentage van mensen die hierin werken, in Nepal bijvoorbeeld goed voor 40% van het BNP. Het betreft meestal werk zonder duidelijk loon, maatregelen, statuut en dat vaak niet of slechts onrechtstreeks belast wordt. Meerdere problemen plagen deze werkers: geen schriftelijk arbeidscontract, geen identificatie, inkomstenonzekerheid, geen garantie voor veilige werkomstandigheden of dekking in geval van ongevallen, onbeperkte uren, werkers die uitgesloten van sociale zekerheidssystemen of collectieve arbeidsovereenkomsten. Vaak zijn het relatief ongeschoolde werkers, zoals huispersoneel, bouwvakkers of dagwerkers in de landbouw, die lange uren werken voor lage lonen en zonder jobzekerheid.

NGWF: Realization of US 30 million dollar as compensation of Rana Plaza victims is “One step forward towards victory of workers movement”

Realization of US 30 million dollar as compensation of Rana Plaza victims is “One step forward towards victory of workers movement”. Thanks to all, including ILO, IndustriAll, UNI, ITUC and CCC for this achievement" say leaders of National Garments Workers Federation (NGWF) at the Solidarity rally of Rana Plaza victims.

They also paid rich tributes to the Bangladesh Prime Minister for her action for the victims immediately after the collapse of Rana Plaza.
National Garments Workers Federation (NGWF) and victims of Rana Plaza have termed the realization of US 30 million dollar as compensation of Rana Plaza victims as “One step forward towards the victory of workers movement”. For achieving the victory they have given thanks to different Trade Unions’ and Labour Rights Organizations, including ILO, IndustriAll, UNI, CCC, ITUC, WRC,ILRF, United Student Against Sweat Shops (USAS),MSN, DGB, TUC, ACTU, CLC, FNV, Cgt, Action Aid and BILS.

Today (16/06/2015) 11:00 am a solidarity rally of Rana Plaza victims was held in front of the Rana Plaza at Savar marking the achievement of the Rana Plaza victims compensation fund (collection of US$ 30 million) and reckoning the important role played by those organizations. The rally was organized jointly by NGWF and Rana Plaza victims.

NDWM: Campaign against child labour in India

NDWM organized a press meeting and human chain in Chennai to protest against a proposed amendment during the Anti child labour day. About 500 members of the Child Right Movement expressed their objections to amending the Child Labour Act, 1986. They feel it is important to prevent children below 14 from working, even if it is during non-school hours or vacations.


Sr Valar, state coordinator for NDWM Tamil Nadu:"The children help their parents at work after school hours and legalising this work opens the door to promoting child labour. They are then denied the joys of childhood."

Similar actions were held across India. In Delhi, the representatives of Child Domestic Workers met Member Secretary of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and handed over a memorandum.You can support their protest by signing the petition here.

Belgium ratifies ILO Convention 189 on Decent work for Domestic Workers

Another step forward! The convention on decent work for domestic workers has been ratified by Belgium during the International Labour Conference in Geneva! In the presence of Sister Jeanne Devos from NDWM, Luk Cortebeeck (President of WSM), Stalpaert Pia from ACV-CSC Voeding & Diensten (Food & Services) and Kris Peeters, the ILO Convention detailing basic rights for domestic workers was finally ratified by our country.

It was a lengthy process. In 2008, the ILO Board of Directors decided to develop new regulations for domestic workers, seeing that this was the most invisible group in the workplace. In 2010 and 2011, for two years, unions, employers and governments have negotiated this new regulation. Pia Stalpaert, president of ACV-CSC Food and Services, and Jeanne Devos, founder of the National Domestic Workers Movement in India, a WSM partner, participated in the negotiations.
After drafting the Convention, the work at national level began, because the ILO conventions need to be ratified. At this level as well, the ACV-CSC, the ACV-CSC Food and Services and World Solidarity played a key role. For almost 4 years, the coalition has put pressure on the different Belgian policy levels so that the agreement would be ratified. Their work has finally paid off: earlier this year, all parliaments gave their approval after the ratification, the Belgian government now has a year to adapt the national regulations.

External Evaluation of WSM programme in India

This mission was to accompany the external evaluation done by South Research and their local consultant, M Chelladurai Solomon, focusing on the WSM supported synergies in India (decent living income and domestic workers cat. 2) and the capacity strengthening (Cat.3).
All five PO were included quite extensively, during three weeks of field visits in Chennai and Karur (Tamil Nadu), Kerala, Patna (Bihar) and Mumbai. Meetings were also held with the two research members consulting to conduct the study of the decent living income synergy.