That’s the way CFTUI crumbled the cookie with Indian Foods

One of the achievement of CFTUI in Tamil Nadu in the South of India, took place at a company called INDIANFOOD Private Limited, located 18km from Madhurai (map). It produces food items, one of the main one being biscuits. In this factory, there are 97 regular workers. They were divided into three categories: skilled, semi-skilled and labour. The workers there had not received a wage increase in the last twenty years though this should have happened every three years. They were initially paid as follows (column one):

CATEGORY OF WORKERS	Monthly salary before CFTUI intervention (June 2013)	Demands from CFTUI Trade Union	Agreement after CFTUI intervention (after June 2013)
Machine Operators (skilled)	7.591 INR	25.000 INR	18.566 INR
Helpers (semi-skilled)	6.790 INR	20.000 INR	13.000 INR
Supporting staff, such Khalasis (labour)	5.575 INR	18.000 INR	13.000 INR

The yearly bonus was also increased from Rs 8,000/- to Rs 12,000/- for the regular workers. Besides the 97 regular workers, 150 casual daily workers also work in the same factory for the last years. They were involved in the food processing units like the other 97 workers, but the daily casual workers were never paid their wages as per the minimum wage act of Tamil Nadu state. According to this legislation, they are supposed to get between Rs 142 to Rs 200 per day, but they would receive between Rs 100/- to 150/-.

Unity without uniformity, diversity without fragmentation

This weekend, one day after my return to Asia, I got to witness a meeting with our two partners, the Minister of Labour and Employment and several organisations that support workers. This kind of meeting, which we call a Trade Union Solidarity Support Organisation (TUSSO) meeting is to share regarding the work the trade unions do and which support they are receiving for what.

The title for this post, taken from one of the facilitators, refers to the challenges in many countries, and particularly in South Asia, to have workers movements that are both independent and not fragmented, with hundreds of trade unions. Sometimes, trade unions are founded by political parties, as a wing to attract and represent workers, which often leads to them to have easier political access and an initial membership base, but this however can put into question their independence, especially when that party comes into power. And this also means that political divides and tensions can tamper with workers solidarity, where their interests and defense should prevail.

Call to Action: $177 Minium Wage Cambodia - Campaign

After the violent crackdown on workers in which 5 workers were killed, 40 workers were
seriously injured and 25 workers were arrested during the campaign to increase the minimum wage, workers and their unions have strongly advocated by cooperating with relevant stakeholders around the world in order to push the Government and buyers to give the proper minimum wage increase and the freedoms and compensation to workers. The campaign has been ongoing since early January 2014 but has not yet achieved the proper resolution. On 30th May, 2014, the arrested were released but the court hasn’t dropped the charges against them (convicted with suspended sentences) and many other problems have not yet been addressed. Meanwhile, the minimum wage issue is still the main topic of demonstrations.
We work hard every day to create huge profits for our employers and yet still do not have
enough to feed our families and meet our basic needs. The government and employers said that in October they will officially announce the amount of the minimum wage increase to be implemented in January 2015. We have been waiting a long time for a minimum wage increase and justice for our colleagues who lost their lives.
We therefore call for solidarity from workers, unionists, concerned citizens, and civil organizations around the world to join us in an escalated national and international campaign to push the buyers to do a real intervention to end worker exploitation during the negotiation period from now until October, 2014 and in the future. The buyers must negotiate with unions, mandate an increased wage of $177, reflect this increase in their prices, and make a long-term commitment to sourcing from Cambodia in factories where labour rights are
respected. Please join us for a national and international day of action on 17th Sept, 2014 to demand justice from some of the influential buyers and suppliers in Cambodia, especially: H&M, Gap, Adidas, Inditex, Levis, C&A, WalMart and Puma.
We need $177! Decent Work, Decent Wage!

Phnom Penh, 27th August, 2014
NTUC - WFUF - CUMW - CFSWF - NIFTUC - CCFC - CYN - C.CAWDU - TUFW - IDYTU - CATU

Minimum Wage is our Right - article by NDWM India

In the south of India, in the Gandhipuram area of Pudur–Madurai, there are around 900 families, mostly unorganized workers, such as flower vendors, construction workers, tailors and approximately 200 Domestic workers. Domestic Workers in this area work two to five houses a day. They are underpaid; some of them only receive old clothes or stale food as wages.

In 2003, NDWM-Tamilnadu initiated an empowerment process of Domestic Workers and they started organizing themselves in a Union. These members register and participate in monthly meetings, where they are learn about their rights and collective bargaining. As a result, in 2004, when the bonus for the Depavalli festival was denied to five of them, the Union representatives negotiated with the employers and ensured these workers did receive their bonus. Elected leaders participate in district and state level training and strengthen the Union by ensuring that other Domestic Workers in their area join in union.

My mission to India in images

A mix of field visits, mostly in Tamil Nadu took place, combined with the meetings at the head offices of each PO (Karur: AREDS, Chennai: YCW India and CWM, Mumbai: NDWM, Delhi: CFTUI). During the visit, a three day synergy meeting was also scheduled, including a one day training for five members of all PO. At the end of with each PO, impressions were also shared and discussed with the leaders of the organisation.
Also two meetings with Belgian diplomatic representation took place in Chennai (Consulate) and Delhi (Embassy: Nepali and Bangladesh officers).

Logistics and travel arrangements were perfectly arranged by the south coordinator, Miss Francina Varghese. All partners went out of their way to arrange meetings, interaction with beneficiaries and ceremonies. Over forty videos and testimonies, mostly from beneficiaries regarding impact were also documented, to be shared on Youtube and this blog.
The map of my visit can be found here.
Some pictures and highlights of the trip:

Coca Cola pretending to provide happiness to Asian workers exploitated in the Gulf

This ad, a video made by Coca Cola which has now been taken off Youtube, which is deeply disturbing and weird. Read about it here.

In March, Coke installed five special phone booths in Dubai labor camps that accepted Coca-Cola bottle caps instead of coins. In exchange for the cap from a bottle of Coke—which costs about fifty-four cents—migrant workers could make a three-minute international call. The ad shows laborers in hard hats and reflective vests lining up to use the machine—and grinning, for the first time in the video, as they wait. “I’ve saved one more cap, so I can talk to my wife again tomorrow,” one man tells the camera. More than forty thousand people made calls using the machines and 134,484 minutes of calls were logged during the 10 hours a day they functioned from March 21 to April 21 in unspecified labour camps in Dubai.

Stories from the South: Dhanalakshmi, from AREDS

Dhanalakshmi shared this story with us:
I have been working as a health worker with AREDS for the past 18 years. I have two daughters, one who is twenty years old, named Anuschka, doing her second year MBB and my second daughter is doing tenth standard. My husband works in a trade union sector with AREDS for unorganized workers. I started the work because of the support from my husband. My husband believes that, if you approach things with a positive state of mind, we can change things, we can do great things. That positive energy pushed me to go work in the same field. Now, I work with pregnant women and since I’m happy, I can give words of encouragement to the pregnant women. I believe that if pregnant women receive positive energy and words, they can give birth more easily and to a healthy child. So we should all strive to have positive energy and thoughts. 





I try to ensure continuous follow up and a trust relationship with each family. We’re not there just for one or two months, we follow the same family for over five years. It means we sort of become members of that family. Starting with the pregnant mother, being there for the delivery, to when the child turns five years old, it creates a real bond. 

My first daughter got in the nursing school on merit basis, because of her high marks on the final examination, so she didn’t have to pay admission, but the other expenses for uniforms and study material are still very high. We get some support from AREDS, and we also have some land that we farm. Both our parents have also contributed from their savings.  I’m also a member and the coordinator of a self-help group supported by SWATE, which also promotes the education of the girls of members and provides educational support for higher studies. 

CWM India assembles...

During my first visit to India and the partners here, I started off with the General Assembly of the Christian Workers Movement from India. People are sometimes quite critical towards trade unions, and a lot more so than towards NGOs. Trade Unions are sometimes described as trouble makers or used for political goals. I'm not saying nothing bad ever happens, but I still have never really understood why people are so critical. All our social security comes from the hard work trade unions have done. And when it comes to advocacy and lobbying, one thing trade unions have is a lot more representativity than NGOs. Social elections are a corner stone for trade unions and help guarantee some accountability and democratic structures.
Here, a couple of pictures of the CWM General Assembly, which took place in the mountains in Ooty, India on the 10 till 14th of July 2014.

Some impact stories from CWM

96% of the workers in India work in the informal economy. Domestic workers, construction, you name it, most is unorganized, and so no taxes are paid. An important doorway to get the informal sector organized, is through social security. Employers in India often don't want to provide their workers with certification, because of course it would expose them. And the social security system can't accept anybody on their simple claim that they are working in a specific sector. This is where the trade union comes in. Pathinathan, from the Sivanganai Diocese, where he presides the local Christian Workers Movement India unit, explains how they set up a workers union for the construction that was registered in 1999. Hence, they can offer ID cards that allow the members access to social security. This gives them the right to education support (especially for daughters, to stimulate girls going to school), pension schemes (of 1.000Rps per month after 60 years) and insurance in case of death or accidents (max. 100.000Rps). Currently, they have over 650 members that can thus enjoy these benefits.

When asked what was the most significant change he had witnessed, he also shared the story of Boss, a Hindu guy with two children, who is illiterate. After getting involved with CWM and their awareness program regarding the importance of education, Boss went to great lengths to send his two children to schools and motivate them to study. The daughter has obtained a B Sc in chemistry and the boy... has just become a teacher in a public school. Such a change in a generation time.


Xavier, the representative from CWM from Trichy, brought up Regina, a dalit christian. Her husband and Regina worked as day workers, coolies, for big landowners. The revolving fund program of CWM allowed Regina to get a goat, which provided milk for cheese and she could quit working as a day worker, though her husband continued. With the money she made from the goat, she managed to get a piece of land, allowing her husband to also quit working as a coolie and now they produce their own crops. Regina lives in a dalit village, where her example had a snow ball effect among several of the 15 families living there. Regina now serves as the general secretary for the local CWM unit...

Blog visite Philippines

De blog van de delegatie van LBC-NVK die momenteel op bezoek/solidariteitsreis is in de Filippijnen, op uitnodiging van KMU, een onafhankelijke vakbondsconfederatie waarmee ook Wereldsolidariteit en ACV contacten hebben .

Ici le lien vers le blog de la délégation du LBC-NVK qui pour le moment fait une visite/un voyage de solidarité aux Philippines, sur invitation de KMU, une conféderation syndicale indépendante avec laquelle aussi Solidarité Mondiale et la CSC ont des contacts.

W-Connect: our newsletter

W-Connect, June 2014

So, what have I been working on these past few days? Well, we also have a newsletter we use to share good practices among our Asia partners. With help, it has received a bit of a make-over, and I suggested a new name:"W-Connect" referring to the WSM slogan "We are all connected" and the W of World in WSM, connecting our partners. 

For this first newsletter of the 2014-2016 program, we felt it was appropriate to share what was achieved during the previous program (2010-2013) by the different partners of WSM, especially now that we all spend so much time writing, compiling and analyzing all the data. This way, you can also tell that all the effort put into the reporting was put to good use.

The first page provides some data regarding the indicators that WSM with its partners has achieved in the world. The following pages focus on Asia, with both numbers and some testimonies from you. The last page looks at the Launch workshop for the 2014-2016 program, which took place in March 2014 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

For our next newsletter, due in September-October, we'll write more on the current issues and program. 

If you wish to receive it, send a mail to bruno.deceukelier a t wsm.be.

Why are trade unions working on development?

Sometimes people, when I'm explaining my job, wonder what trade unions are doing in the sector of development and NGOs. They acknowledge that trade unions fight for labour rights, but the link with development work isn't clear to many people. This little video, made by the International Trade Union Confederation Development Cooperation deals with some of those questions.


Why and how are Trade Unions linked to development? Of course, the workers movement has a long history of international solidarity, across the borders and all over the world. Nowadays, Trade Unions (and Trade Union Solidarity Support Organisations- TUSSO) put decent work at the center of their development strategies, and believe that, to lift people out of poverty in a sustainable way, it has to be done by promoting the four pillars of decent work:

1. labour rights
2. living wage
3. social security and social protection
4. social dialogue

Youth bargaining collectively

Heard today during a negotiation between employers and workers :
The manager : « You have to realize, sometimes the relationship between management and workers is like that inside a family. Like the children, they complain about their parents and protest, and it is only once they leave and go out into the world, that they realize how good they had it and come back.”
The worker, smiling, replied with another image: “You know, management is a bit like a well. It has to be clear and transparent for people to drink from it. If they see it’s troubled and murky, they stay away from it.”
Now, this wasn’t a real negotiation, but it is pretty illustrative of the prevailing attitude in Nepal. It surely seemed very realistic to the participants of the role play. This simulation took place today during a training in collective bargaining for youth from our Nepali partner, GEFONT. In the video, you can hear some testimonies from the participants, the facilitator, M Ramesh Badal and our contact person at GEFONT, brother Gopal.


Some of the participants highlight the difficulties they have faced, but also why this training is so helpful. Tara, working in the administration for an eye clinic, says they rarely get a letter of appointment (similar to a contract), are under great pressure while working and no minimum wage. Bhim, who works for a trekking company, notes the discrepancy between what western tourists pay for their hikes and what the porters, who do the heavy work, get paid. Sabin, who works in a 5 star resort outside of Kathmandu, explains how they have successfully used the collective bargaining process to obtain 20 of their 31 demands, while the management initially only agreed to 5.

The participants, forty workers under 30 years old, come from around Kathmandu and represent different sectors and companies. They’re almost all from the formal sector since this is where the Collective Bargaining (CBA) process can take place. The informal sector is unfortunately excluded from this process, though it accounts for more than 90% of the workers in Nepal. Most of them work for companies with between 50 and 300 employees so the potential for substantial impact is huge. Just imagine, that one out of four uses his/her skills to obtain improvements for companies of on average 150 employees, that means 1.500 people could get access to better wages or working conditions! Not to mention the ripple effect in certain sectors such agreements could have...

According to the Nepali legislation, CBA starts when workers depose a Charter of Demands, to which the management has 21 days to reply. If management agree to the demands, a Letter of Agreement is drafted and signed. If not, the workers have to go to the Ministry of Labour, which attempts a mediation during 15 days. In theory, they have 15 days to do so, in reality, it often takes one or two months. Before, this process often led to a Collective Agreement which had force of law and was valid for two years. Now however, also because the Ministry of Labour has weakened, it often fails. Workers only then have the option to strike, after a vote by secret ballot gathering at least 60% of the workers, but they have to wait another 30 days before the strike can take place. Also, the Nepali government has put in place an ‘Essential Service Act’, which excludes certain sectors from this process and weakens the right to strike.

What struck me is that most of the negotiation aimed at... simply implementing and respecting current labour law. Basically, they had to negotiate and threaten to strike to enforce their already existing rights! An illustration of how often, ambitious laws or constitutions are passed, but that is only the start: a lot has to be done to ensure they are actually implemented, and hopefully this training with GEFONT will contribute to that! Because, even if the negotiation techniques and images used during the role play made me smile, it still draws a pretty sad picture....

Office at home

Something a bit more personal today. 

After two weeks of house-hunting, I found a place to live in Kathmandu, and after one week of furniture searching, today finally have a sort of office place where I can work. Landline, inverter to bridge the loadshedding schedule, internet, printer and some music. Still lacks an office chair but we'll get to that...

Just waiting for my first visitors...