TUC Aid and ETI improving the conditions of women textile workers in South India

TUC Aid funds granted to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) are being used to fund a trade union coordinator for the ETI programme to improve the condition of women in the textile sector in Tamil Nadu, South India. This programme has brought trade unions, NGOs, local employers and ETI member companies together to better understand the kind of problems women workers face and develop activities to address them. 

IndustriALL identified that a trade union coordinator directly employed by IndustriALL would enable trade unions to play a fuller role in the programme and ensure unions effectively collaborate with ETI companies to improve working conditions for women workers, particularly focussing on forced labour which is widespread in the sector. 

TUC Aid funding will be used to cover the salary and expenses of the IndustriALL coordinator from November 2015 – 2016.  IndustriALL will conduct an evaluation of the coordinator’s progress after a year.  After this time, should TUC Aid or other external funding is not be available, IndustriALL plan to fund the coordinator after this time so that a sustainable source of support is provided to unions in Tamil Nadu and a relationship with local stakeholders and ETI member companies sourcing from the area can be sustained.