Improving security and skills for Indian homeworkers

Several thousand homeworkers in one of India's poorest regions are developing a new sense of identity and security, greater awareness of their rights and improved working conditions thanks to the efforts of a ground-breaking coalition of companies, NGOs and trade unions, supported by ETI.

The fashion industry's invisible workforce

For many retailers, India is the place to find the skills required to produce the exquisite hand-worked, embellished clothing and accessories that fashion-conscious consumers love. Yet although homeworkers are the backbone of this Indian export industry, the complex and informal supply chains that typify the garment industry mean they are often hard to trace.

And because of their informal status in the economy, homeworkers often suffer poorer living and working conditions compared to formal sector workers. Low wages, irregularity of work, lack of social protection, high rates of occupational injury, lack of access to training and information about rights and entitlements, as well as weak bargaining power have been identified as common concerns for homeworkers in India.

The first national multistakeholder body on homeworkers

In July 2006, recognising the the need for collective action to tackle homeworkers' conditions, ETI members together with Indian suppliers finalised draft guidelines on applying the ETI Base Code to homeworkers. We helped set up a national multi-stakeholder body in India to begin joint implementation of the guidelines. This is the first time that trade unions, retailers, suppliers and contractors - the people who give work to homeworkers - have cooperated on this issue.

Work has initially focused on Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, one of the poorest regions in India and a major sourcing destination for UK retailers. The Bareilly Homeworker Group (BHG) was created in late 2006, comprising contractors (who give work to homeworkers), two NGOs and a trade union. So far work has focused on training homeworkers about health and safety, quality control and record keeping, linking them to government-subsidised insurance and credit schemes, and building demand for, and lobbying the government to provide, decent quality schooling. To date, over 15,000 homeworkers have been touched by BHG's work.

BHG aims to expand its work across a wider range of villages and to help homeworkers set up a village-level resource centre where they can help link homeworkers to various government schemes.

Tackling homeworkers' issues across India

Meanwhile, the National Homeworker Group (NHG), as well as overseeing the BHG's work, is focusing tackling homeworkers' issues across India. So far it has supported its supplier members to set up written contracts with their contractors, which will increase trust and traceability down the supply chain; delivered training to suppliers and their internal teams and successfully lobbied the Indian Government to formally recognise homeworkers.

In 2009-10, the National Homeworker Group will expand its operations to oversee the start of work in the New Capital Region - an area including both Delhi and its surrounds, from where a significant amount of homeworked product is sourced.

Ongoing challenges - increasing wages

A major issue that remains to be addressed effectively by BHG and NHG's work is that of low wages. Reports from a variety of sources suggest homeworkers across India are paid below the minimum wage. A first and vital step will be to research wage-setting systems at each level of the supply chain, with a view to examine how wages are set throughout the supply chain. With the beginning of a new phase of work in Delhi and its environs, members have agreed a common approach which will involve using time and motion studies to improve understanding of how piece rates are set, and investigating how to create a system that informs homeworkers how much they should be paid for a piece and allows them to report when they do not receive this rate.

Get involved

We urge all retailers, exporters and agents that source from homeworkers in India, and other trade union and not-for profit organisations working with Indian homeworkers, to get involved in this groundbreaking work.

Membership provides opportunities to:

• get involved in a new, more sustainable approach to improving homeworkers' conditions
• join the only multi-stakeholder initiative working on these issues
• benefit from over four years of multi-stakeholder work and trust-building among existing members
• have a far greater - and cost-effective - chance of improving conditions than if working ‘alone'
• get involved in the cutting edge of corporate social responsibility
• gain from the productivity improvements that stem from organising homeworkers

Contact the National Homeworker Group on +91 996 845 0952 or nhgindia@hotmail.com