by IUF Asia/Pacific | Jul 3, 2025 | English language, Freedom of Association, Quality Apprenticeship, women's rights, Workplace safety
In India, food sector corporations are following the trend to recruit more women workers but failing to provide safe, secure, and sustainable employment to women workers. Like some major companies are proudly announcing their plans of high number of women workers in their units like Coca Cola at Sanand 66%, Nestle at Sanand 62%, ITC at Medak 50%, AB InBev at Aurangabad 50%, and Ferrero Baramati 33%.
Some companies started the recruitment without any consultation of workers representatives and due diligence and hence, it is failing miserably and leaving women workers with no alternatives other than resigning from work. Many of these women workers are the first generation of industrial workers and failure of these companies to ensure strict implementation of their own policies, impact a large section of women workers in long term. Without sufficient consultation with all stakeholders and trainings, retaining these women workers is going to be very challenging.
In judgement of the honorable Supreme Court of India said there are serious lapse and uncertainty in the implementation of the Protection of Women for Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, leaving many working women no choice but to leave their jobs. Indian PoSH act mandates that every employer must form an internal complaint committee at each workplace that has 10 or more employees.
In one of the instances, women workers recruited by labour hire agency in one of major multinational corporation in India reported Sexual Harassment complaints against company HR Executive. Instead of fair investigation, company failed to take any immediate action which helped accused to misuse his authority. Finally, women had to approach the local police station to ensure her safety and justice.
This is not the first incidence and certainly not the last. In the absence of an independent & democratic strong union, women workers especially in precarious employment may continue to suffer.
In one of the major beer sector multinational company manufacturing sites in Maharashtra India, the company ensured gender balance in recruitment but even after five years, due diligence failed to ensure women workers safety through basic amenities like door-to-door transport, separate changing room, hygienic water & sanitation facility.
Image 1: IUF Asia Pacific Educational Training of Young Workers in Maharashtra, India.
All these incidences are self-explanatory in nature to help unions understand that in the absence of their active involvement, all these important policies including related to gender balance & workplace safety are bound to fail and have catastrophic implications.
IUF Action Program for Equality 2023-2027 calls on affiliates and on the IUF itself to make urgent progress and priorities work including preventing and eliminating gender-based violence and harassment. 3rd IUF Asia Pacific Regional Women’s Conference passed resolution which mandates to focus on more women in better paid, skilled, and secure jobs.
IUF Affiliates in India negotiated collective bargaining agreement in Ferrero company site, to form an women workers committee to resolve women workers concerns in the plant and converting precarious employment into permanent employment. Other affiliates in India continues to focus on gender equality and working together with the companies to ensure gender balance.
Despite these legislations, committees & company policies, due to unilateral approach of companies, there remains a significant and important journey ahead to safe, secure, and sustainable employment for these women workers.
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Jun 30, 2025 | Collective Bargaining Rights, English language, Freedom of Association, Labours' Rights, women's rights
Indian rural workers working in these village level primary milk collection centres remains unorganised and deprived of their labour rights but organising and fighting of workers at Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited successfully helped them to win their workers right.
The village level primary milk collection centres are responsible to collection, testing of milk, maintain collection records, milk payment to farmers, and also implementation of policies at the local level. These milk collection centres are legally registered with the state authorities as cooperative and provides on ground required support to small-marginal farmers. However,
The workers employed at the centres are from the same village and works in the morning and evening shift at the time of milk collection. Due to lack of implementation of one village, one primary co-operative, in some states like Maharashtra, multiple centres in the villages creates competition and reduce milk collection quantity and ultimately reduces the income of centres and their workers.
The employment of these workers is with the centres and district cooperative pays centres like per litre of milk collection i.e., INR 0.6 paise per litre (means INR 6 for ten litres of milk) as employee cost and 0.8 paise per litre (means INR 8 for ten litres of milk) as centre administrative cost.
Despite all odds, milk collection centres workers at Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (brand name Gokul) organised themselves under the legally registered labour union called Kolhapur Zilha Sahakari Doodh Sanstha Karmachari Sanghatana. Currently, the union represents around 9626 milk collection centre workers from Kolhapur district of Maharashtra and the membership continuous to grow. The union is also officially recognised by Gokul management, and the state authorities and invited for policy discussions.
The union also started different welfare schemes for their members from additional annual collection of INR 400 per member. They provide health insurance, term insurance, accidental insurance, retirement benefits, scholarship for children, etc,. to centre workers and their families.
The union also regularly followed with the social security (Provident Fund) Office and allowed their registration as employees. Hence, their Provident Fund amount is also directly deposited in to their PF account whereas in other state cooperatives like Karnataka Milk Federation (brand name Nandini), PF account is not allowed for centre workers in Karnataka, with the justification that centre does not qualify the requirement of minimum 20 employees at workplace. In an exchange visit, organised by the IUF Asia Pacific, unions from Maharashtra agreed to provide all the required technical support to lobby with concerned authorities to start Provident Fund membership to milk collection centre workers in Karnataka state.
GOKUL center workers representatives at Karnataka Milk Collection Centre
During IUF Asia Pacific outreach in Kolhapur, centre workers mentioned that majority of women workers in rural areas are involved in dairy animal management and bring this milk to centres. Hence, any state decisions directly affects the livelihood of millions of women dairy farmers in rural areas, including women dairy farmers.
Indian dairy production continus to grow annually and at the heart of this success are the unsung heroes of the rural dairy ecosystem—the workers at primary milk collection centers. These individuals serve as the first point of contact between millions of smallholder farmers and the broader dairy supply chain. Their dedication ensures that milk is collected efficiently, tested for quality, and transported under hygienic conditions, safeguarding both farmer incomes and consumer trust.
The Indian dairy industry mainly relies on these workers to collect quality milk supplies but in the absence of stronger union to protect and promote their rights, this whole arrangement is unsustainable. Hence, the future of Indian dairy industry directly linked with safe, secure and sustainable employment to these milk collection centre workers.
Women Dairy Farmer while supplying milk to village level milk collection center of Karnataka Milk Collection Center
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Mar 7, 2025 | မြန်မာဘာသာ Myanmar language, ភាសាខ្មែរ Khmer, नेपाली Nepali, मराठी Marathi , हिन्दी Hindi, অসমীয়া - Assamese, বাংলা Bengali, ગુજરાતી Gujarati, தமிழ் Tamil, සිංහල Sinhala, ภาษาไทย Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Collective Bargaining Rights, 繁體字 Chinese , Our Union Our Power, Tagalog, Urdu اُردُو, Women Unions & Power, women's rights, 日本語 Japanese, 中文 Chinese, اردو Urdu, سنڌي Sindhi, ދިވެހ Divehi
অসমীয়া Assamese
Bahasa Indonesia
বাংলা Bengali
繁體字 Chinese
ދިވެހ Divehi
English
ગુજરાતી Gujarati
हिन्दी Hindi
日本語 Japanese
ភាសាខ្មែរ Khmer
मराठी Marathi
ဗမာဘာသာစကား Myanmar
नेपाली Nepali
سندھی Sindhi
සිංහල භාෂාව Sinhala
Tagalog
தமிழ் Tamil
ภาษาไทย Thai
اردو Urdu
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Mar 3, 2025 | Collective Bargaining Rights, Our Union Our Power, Women Unions & Power, women's rights
IWD 2025 – English [PDF]
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Dec 12, 2024 | Bahasa Indonesia, Our Union Our Power, Right to a Safe Workplace, Women Unions & Power, women's rights
Pada peringatan 76 tahun Deklarasi Universal Hak Asasi Manusia pada 10 Desember 2024, Federasi Serikat Pekerja Hotel, Restoran, Plaza, Apartemen, Katering, dan Pariwisata (FSPM) yang berafiliasi dengan IUF menggelar aksi unjuk rasa di Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan untuk menuntut segera diratifikasinya Konvensi ILO No. 190 di Indonesia. Sejak November lalu, FSPM bersama 20 serikat pekerja dan organisasi perempuan lainnya mengintensifkan kampanye mereka, setelah berbulan-bulan melakukan kajian sejak konvensi tersebut diadopsi, untuk mendesak pemerintah melaksanakan tanggung jawab mereka dalam melindungi hak pekerja atas tempat kerja yang aman dan bebas dari segala bentuk kekerasan dan pelecehan.
Sebuah poster yang berbunyi “Katakan TIDAK pada kekerasan di tempat kerja”
Di bawah aliansi bernama Jaringan Advokasi Konvensi ILO 190 (JAK KILO 190), organisasi-organisasi tersebut memanfaatkan media sosial untuk mempromosikan dan meningkatkan kesadaran masyarakat tentang pentingnya konvensi tersebut. Aksi nasional pada 10 Desember digunakan sebagai momentum untuk menyampaikan tuntutan mereka agar pemerintah serius membuat regulasi yang komprehensif, inklusif, dan menjamin perlindungan bagi semua pekerja.
Sehari sebelum aksi unjuk rasa, tepatnya pada tanggal 9 Desember, aliansi menggelar siaran pers untuk mengumumkan pernyataan sikap mereka. Mereka menyoroti minimnya tindakan yang dilakukan pemerintah pada langkah awal untuk meratifikasi konvensi tersebut, padahal pelecehan dan kekerasan di dunia kerja masih terus terjadi di Indonesia. Aliansi juga menyebutkan beberapa contoh pelecehan dan kekerasan yang terjadi di berbagai sektor. Sebuah survei yang dilakukan oleh salah satu anggota aliansi menunjukkan bahwa setidaknya 1 dari 23 pekerja pernah mengalami kekerasan dan pelecehan seksual di tempat kerja.
Brother Galih Tri Panjalu, Sekertaris Umum FSPM, menekankan perlunya ratifikasi konvensi demi peningkatan harkat dan martabat manusia serta untuk membentuk aliansi yang lebih besar yang memiliki tujuan yang sama.
Keikutsertaan FSPM dalam mobilisasi dan kampanye ini merupakan bentuk komitmen mereka untuk mewujudkan tempat kerja yang layak dan aman bagi seluruh pekerja, khususnya pekerja perempuan agar terlindungi dari kekerasan dan diskriminasi berbasis gender yang dapat menghalangi mereka mewujudkan kesetaraan gender di tempat kerja.
Sister Esther Octavia Titaley, perwakilan Komite Perempuan FSPM, berorasi di aksi unjuk rasa
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Dec 11, 2024 | Our Union Our Power, Right to a Safe Workplace, Women Unions & Power, women's rights
On the 76th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 2024, IUF affiliated-Federation of Hotel, Restaurant, Plaza, Apartment, Catering, and Tourism Workers’ Free Union (FSPM) joined a protest action at the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower to demand the urgent ratification of ILO Convention No. 190. Since this last November, the FSPM and other 20 trade unions and women organizations have been intensifying their campaign, after months of study since the convention adoption, to push the government to implement their responsibility in protecting workers’ rights to a safe workplace free from all form of violence and harassment.
A poster reads “Say NO to violence in the workplace”
Under an alliance named Jaringan Advokasi Konvensi ILO 190 (JAK KILO 190), those organizations make use of social media to promote and raise people awareness on the importance of the convention. The national action on December 10 was used as a momentum to convey their demand for government seriousness for comprehensive regulations that are inclusive that guarantee the protection for all workers.
A day before the protest action, on December 9, the alliance held a press release to announce their statement. They highlighted the lack of action done by the government on initial step to ratify the convention, even though harassment and violence in the world of work continue to occur in Indonesia. The alliance also mentioned several examples of harassment and violence happened in various sectors. A survey conducted by one of the alliance members showed that at least 1 of 23 workers have experienced a sexual violence and harassment at work.
Brother Galih Tri Panjalu, General Secretary of FSPM, emphasized the need of the convention ratification for the promotion of human dignity and to form a bigger alliance that have the same goal.
FSPM participation in the mobilization and campaign reflects their commitment to realize a decent and safer workplace for all workers, especially for women workers to be protected against gender-based violence and discrimination that can stop them exercising gender equality at work.
Sister Esther Octavia Titaley, representive of FSPM Women’s Committee, gave a speech on the protest action
