More rights for organised women!
In the course of 5 grants from the NHRF, the Udeyam Network has become an important driver for change for workers in the informal sector in Tamil Nadu. It has contributed to increased social and economic rights for 10 000 women as well as state level policy changes.
There is a very strong number of informal sector workers in India, and in the southern part of the country, labour unions working with this sector are scarce. In 2003, a coalition of three grassroots NGOs with the Udeyam Networking as the legal holder, established a union to organise women labourers in the unorganised sector working with construction, roadside work (such as street vendors), stone cutting and brick making and the like to defend their rights. Now, after seven years and five NHRF grants, the union has grown to include more than 10 000 women.
The Udeyam Networking project was a cooperation of three grass root level NGOs, mainly working with human rights issues for vulnerable women and children exposed to poor and often inhumane labour conditions in the southern district of Virudhunagar. With financial support from the NHRF, the coalition executed the project Human Rights Literacy and Legal Aid, with the aim to organise women labourers for protection of their rights in a Union.
The project has produced remarkable results. Starting with only 100 registered members, the organisation now constitutes 10 000 active members and has grown to be a powerful labour union in the Virudhunagar district. "It was so hard in the beginning to organise the first 100 members, says the leader of the Udeyam Networking", Mrs.K.Vijaya. "Even 60 Rupees were difficult for some women to set aside for a union membership, but when the women saw what economical and social benefits that came with being organised there has been a steady increase in women who has obtained membership and who has joined us." The leader also explains the importance of facilitating a platform where the women could share experiences and that encouraged them to negotiate for salaries and not to just accept what they were offered. “We have also experienced that women have received compensations for accidents that have occurred, due to their membership in the union”, says Mrs.Vijaya.
"Our aim is to consolidate the standing as a powerful union in the district"
The results of the projects have had positive outcome for the women organised. On an individual level, by possessing ID-cards through the Union, the women have successfully claimed important workers’ rights from the government, such as the right to increased allowances and compensation for accidents. In addition, the union has contributed to a more structural impact in The State of Tamil Nadu, such as increased pensions, maternity benefits and marriage allowances for all workers in the unorganised sector.
The Udeyam Network is currently working on local and district levels, with a long-term vision to influence legislators on a state level. Other informal sector unions are now starting to mobilise, using the Union as a model and learning from their experience. “Our aim is to consolidate the standing as a powerful union in the district, but also to become a resource centre for labour unions, and to successfully press for laws and legislation designed to protect labourers in the unorganised sector”, says Mrs.K.Vijaya