International Partner Organisations

Das Munnade Team mit Gisela Burckhardt bei einem Projektbesuch
© FEMNET

Munnade and GLU (Garment Labour Union), India

The women's organisation Munnade was founded in 2004 from a local initiative of women textile workers. In 2011, the women of Munnade founded the GLU (Garment Labour Union), which is run exclusively by women. Since then Munnade and GLU have been fighting together for the rights of women workers in Bangalore, South India - one of the centres of the country's textile industry. Together they form a strong, independent organisation with access to over 25,000 women workers, working closely with other organisations such as Cividep.

Internship with Munnade/GLU

FEMNET regularly places interns at Munnade/GLU and Cividep. Their reports offer exciting insights into their work.

Internship reports from India (German)

Support for women workers is twofold: as a trade union, GLU negotiates labour rights issues, while as a women's rights organisation, Munnade looks after the other needs of women living in economic insecurity, such as childcare and psychosocial counselling.

Munnade/GLU are fighting for the protection of workers' labour rights, for decent wages, for women to be able to organise. They advise them on labour law issues, problems with domestic violence or daily life.

The focus of Munnade/GLU's work is on

  1. Organisation of trainings, seminars, demonstrations and campaigns.
  2. Legal assistance for workers and training of five to seven women per month to be able to take up leading positions in the union.
  3. 3. Offering support programs and cultural activities for workers.

Website of Garment Labour Union (GLU): glu.org.in

What we have achieved together with Munnade/GLU

With our donations, Munnade was able to help women workers in 2018 in more than 500 cases of labour law violations, social and domestic problems. This is an enormous increase: 300 cases in 2017, less than 60 cases in 2016. In 2017/2018, trainings with almost 250 participants were held. Trainings informed workers about their rights and supported them to organize themselves.