Informally working women are visible

For fifty years now, the Indian trade union SEWA has been focusing on organising informally working women. They transport cargo on their heads, sort paper, roll cigarettes, sell products on the street, do cleaning jobs or sew clothes. Whoever gets to know SEWA, is immediately won over. This explains why Mondiaal FNV has been a partner of this women’s union practically from the moment of its formation.

Jyoti Macwan. Photo: U-producties

There was a modest celebration in April, says Jyoti Macwan, General Secretary of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). Despite the formidable achievements accomplished by the organisation. “Our next target is to reach a hundred.” SEWA’s history reads like a dream development. It was founded In 1972 by Ela Bhatt, who at the time was active in the Textile Labour Association in Ahmedabad. She became outraged about the position of female workers in the informal sector, who are totally without any rights. The organisation began with over a thousand members, with the objective of becoming a fully-fledged trade union. SEWA achieved this status in 2005. The women’s union now has no fewer than 2.1 million members. 

Fighting together 

Not only is India a poor country, but it is also a divided one in terms of religion. SEWA consciously chose to adopt a non-religious approach. “Our values are still the same”, Macwan tells us. “Every SEWA meeting begins with a song that contains four prayers: a general prayer, followed by a Muslim, a Hindu and a Christian prayer. We believe in non-violence, and we are respectful of all religions. We are all one and we fight for economic freedom.” 

This is what has given SEWA the strength to survive. It empowers the union to stand firmly behind its members, in any sub-group in the informal sector. “In India, the informal sector has always been substantial”, says Wilma Roos, policy officer at Mondiaal FNV, who first got to know SEWA in 2003. “In the Western world, working relations are also becoming increasingly more informal. Here in the Netherlands, take for example the flex workers, the baggage handlers and the increase in subcontracted work. SEWA is one of the first trade unions in the world to have successfully organised workers as a trade union. We can all learn from this.” 

Visible and loud 

Jyoti Macwan talks about SEWA’s first few years, the successes and how they steadily built up their ‘army of women’. “SEWA’s first campaign was focused on making these informally working women visible. To let these workers’ voices be heard and their value be seen at national level. They’re now most definitely visible and they can be heard loud and clear! The second result that has been achieved is membership. SEWA started out with 1,070 members. We now have 2.1 million, including many young people.” 

Previously, all labour legislation in India was geared to the workers with a labour contract. “This is no longer the case”, says Macwan. “Far greater attention is now paid to the informal economy.” SEWA initiated two laws. The first is the Social Security Act in 2008, ensuring provision of health care and pensions for informal workers. The second is the Act for Street Vendors in 2014, offering them protection. Internationally too, SEWA has put informal work firmly on the map, for both the ITUC and the ILO. 

Holistic approach 

“SEWA is an example of how to successfully organise employees”, contends Roos. “Particularly noteworthy is that the women’s union has a holistic approach. They not only involve themselves in the terms and conditions of employment, but also in running their own credit bank, a SEWA university, 110 cooperatives and three businesses of their own. It has been said for quite some time now: SEWA is not a trade union, but a movement or an NGO. But, SEWA is in fact all three.” 

A game of cat-and-mouse

As already said, SEWA has achieved a good many successes. Macwan is asked which they have achieved thanks to social dialogue. “There are just so many!”, she says. Among them she refers to the negotiations for the tobacco workers, which ended up as a game of cat-and-mouse. “Time and time again our leaders organised social dialogues for implementation and they held tripartite meetings. In the end, the employers did give in and they paid us an adequate wage.” 

SEWA is now fifty years’ fighting further on. The adagio 'Voice, Visibility and Viability', especially that of the informal workers, continues to apply, says Macwan. “Providing a decent livelihood and social protection and the fight against poverty still remain for us the greatest challenge.” 

More reading

A more comprehensive article on SEWA's anniversary, its history and cooperation with FNV is at Vakbondshistorie.nl