International Partner Organisations

Thivya Rakini, president of TTCU (2. person from right) at a podium in 2023
Thivya Rakini, president of TTCU (2. person from right) at a podium in 2023. © Textilbündnis

Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU), India

Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU) is a Dalit women-led trade union of textile workers working to end gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), wage theft and caste-based violence in garment factories.

TTCU was founded in 2013 and has now over 1100 members throughout the Indian state Tamil Nadu, where a large number of spinning, weaving and garment units is located. The union was a driving force behind the historic Dindigul Agreement with clothing and textile manufacturer Eastman Exports to end gender-based violence and harassment at Eastman factories in Dindigul.

You can find information about TTCU on X (former Twitter): https://twitter.com/tamil_labour

How FEMNET works together with TTCU

FEMNET is working with TTCU as part of a German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles project initiative to expand and upscale the Dindigul Agreement. The Dindigul Agreement was first signed in April 2022 in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and is an enforceable brand agreement (EBA) in which multinational companies legally commit to labor and allies to use their supply chain relationships to support a worker- or union-led program at certain factories or worksites. Together with TTCU and AFWA, FEMNET is working to extend the existing agreement to other companies and suppliers so that more workers can benefit from the positive impact.

 

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