The Garment Sector in India

The garment sector is among the most globalised industries in the world economy today. The global textiles and apparel trade estimated at about US$ 700 billion.

For India, the USA and the EU, are the largest export markets.

Cividep-India helps workers in the garment sector to form pre-union and trade union organisations

It has collaborated with national and international campaigns to pressurize manufacturers and brands to improve working conditions.

Different activities are taken up to organise women workers considering their vulnerability and uncertainty of employment. Apart from helping the formation of the Women Garment Workers’ Front (Munnade) and the Garment and Textile Workers’ Union (GATWU), the following activities continue to empower workers.

Solidarity Groups

Self help groups among workers served as an initial entry point for organising. These groups have 15 to 20 workers as members and they do savings and credit activities. These groups also discuss labour rights and help communication of issues among workers.

The Youth Group

Includes young women workers who are enthusiastic to help organise workers through their talents. The group comes together around theatre and other cultural activities like singing of songs on labour rights and social transformation. The youth group performs at factory gates and also at gatherings of workers.

Legal Counselling

Despite labour laws and the legal system, workers in the garment sector have not been able to obtain justice. To enable workers to take recourse to the legal system to redress their grievances, Cividep-India has been offering legal counseling services regularly.

Health Education

Garment workers face many occupational health hazards. Most women workers also experience various reproductive health problems. Groups of workers go through several modules of health education that could help them understand health issues better and access health services.

Social Audits

Cividep-India works with the Fair Wear Foundation of the Netherlands and International Social Compliance Verification (ISCOM) of Switzerland to enable social audits in garment manufacturing factories in Bangalore. Cividep-India works as an initial contact point for workers who have grievances in the factories being audited.

Documentary Films

Cividep-India has in association with Oxfam-GB produced a two short documentary films – ‘Above the Din of Sewing Machines’, and ‘Labels from a Global City’, both directed by Surabhi Sharma . The films capture the intensity of work in the sector and look at working conditions from the workers’ perspective.

Newsletter

The media is an important tool of empowerment and awareness for workers. Cividep-India assists the women workers organisation, Munnade, to publish a newsletter that covers important developments in the sector, events of significance to workers and information on labour laws and labour related institutions.