News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership) 03 December 2018 Partnership initiative Tamil Nadu successfully launched Exhausted girls in a spinning mill in Tamil Nadu who sleep during the day because they worked at night. Photo: © FEMNETBonn. On July 1, 2018, the Partnership Initiative (BI) Tamil Nadu started as part of the Textile Alliance, a first progress report is now available. The BI has three components: dialogue; b) training of young women in factories, c) Training of inspectors. FEMNET’s Partner SAVE The training is carried out in around 300 spinning mills. More than 80 trainers from 40 NGOs were trained for this purpose. The text industry is considered the powerhouse of the region and contributes significantly to economic success. Around the metropolises of the state there are about 2,000 spinning mills in which 80 percent of young women and girls produce yarns in three layers. They work hard and often work a lot of overtime. Sexual harassment also poses a threat to them. Many girls and women from poorer Indian regions have found a job in the spinning mills. They have come alone and some lack the support of family and friends. They often do not have a point of contact for questions and complaints at their workplace. The fewest are organized in trade unions The central lever is dialogue.The Alliance Initiative "Systemic improvement of working conditions in Tamil Nadu" addresses this issue and has been supporting the local multi-stakeholder initiative Tamil Nadu (MSI TN) since last July. With the help of the non-governmental organisation SAVE, a partner of FEMNET, the measures are implemented on the ground. A key lever for change is constructive dialogue. In Tamil Nadu, existing law is not always clear and has so far been insufficiently enforced. It is therefore desirable that, in addition to trade unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and local initiatives, senior representatives of the Tamil Nadu government as well as leading business associations such as SIMA (Southern Indian Mills Association) or TASMA (Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association) are involved. The initiative builds regular exchanges between the government, business (factories and associations), NGOs and trade unions both at the state level and at the level of the four main production districts. This should help to anchor a comprehensive understanding of sustainability among all stakeholders and jointly initiate social improvements in the textile sector in Tamil Nadu. Dialogue processes and structures are to be expanded. In addition, two major annual conferences will be held in Tamil Nadu with the participation of the Alliance members. In addition, the initiative plans at least six dialogue meetings at state level and bi-monthly meetings at district level. Local actors from the private, public and civil society sectors take part. Building Knowledge and Consciousness In addition, the alliance initiative works directly with the people in the factories. On the one hand, managers should be made aware of compliance with basic labour and human rights standards, on the other hand, workers must be aware of their rights and have access to complaint mechanisms. For this reason, since November 2018, extensive training programmes have been carried out in 300 factories, mainly spinning mills, in which employees and managers are informed about complaint mechanisms as well as labour rights and standards. On this basis, legally prescribed complaints and conciliation bodies (Internal Complaints Committee, Grievance Redressal Committee) are set up and staffed. In order to ensure the long-term functionality and effectiveness of the newly formed committees, the members elected by secret ballot are additionally trained. The training programmes described are carried out by a total of 80 trainers from 40 local NGOs, who acquire the necessary knowledge and qualifications as part of a ‘training of trainers’ in order to subsequently carry out training themselves in factories. In cooperation with the Tamil Nadu government, a total of 40 state labour inspectors will be trained to improve the quality of inspections at workers' factories and shelters. By February 2020, the Alliance Initiative will provide workers in the 300 spinning mills in Tamil Nadu with the necessary knowledge on how to defend themselves against bad treatment and enforce their rights. The wish is that the systemic improvements in working conditions work in such a way that they also draw further circles through the multipliers involved in the process. Status: 11/2018
