Out of the shadows: Homebased workers organize for international recognition

Abstract

SEEDS is a pamphlet series developed to meet requests from all over the world for information about innovative and practical program ideas developed to address the economic roles and needs of low income women. The pamphlets are designed as a means to share information and spark new initiatives based on the positive experiences of projects that are working to help women generate livelihoods and to improve their economic status. The projects described in this and other issues of SEEDS have been selected because they have served not only to strengthen women's productive roles, but also to integrate women into various sectors of development both social and economic. All projects documented in the SEEDS series involve women in decision-making, organize women locally, and address broader policy issues which affect the economic roles of women. These reports are not meant to be prescriptive, since every development effort will face somewhat different problems and possibilities. Rather, they have been written to describe the history of an idea and its implementation in the hope that the lessons learned can be useful in a variety of settings. They are also being written to bring to the attention of those in decision-making positions the vital roles that women play not only in the economies of their individual households but also in the economic life of every nation. rUYULA '1'l Uij CUUNCIL LJ HlUH(\ ' n Dag 118rnm8r~'k.l()lQ l~laza

Mechanisms of invisibility: rethinking the concept of invisible work

“…Budig, 2006; Craig et al, 2012; Mirchandani, 1998; Osnowitz, 2005) and that of the predominantly women workers who perform home-based piecework in the Global South (e.g. Hassan and Azman, 2014; Hiralal, 2010; Jhabvala and Tate, 1996; Mies, 1982; Prügl, 1999). In the latter case, Jhabvala and Tate (1996: 3) observe that many such workers do not consider themselves ‘workers’ because they work from home, instead identifying themselves as ‘“not employed”, or as “housewives’’, even when they are spending 14–16 hours a day earning income to support their families’ (also see Mies, 1982).…”

Home-based work or non-home-based work? Factors influencing work choices of women in the informal sector

“…However, they work in precarious working conditions in manufacturing units where even basic safety and security measures are not taken care of (Kalpagam, 1994). These ladies are economically disadvantaged, they cannot deny working in such deplorable conditions (Jhabvala and Tate, 1996).…”

Industrial Relations in Emerging Economies

“…Since then, SEWA has organized home-based workers, street vendors and hawkers, construction workers and rural producers into groups, to make them aware of their rights and to help them claim health care, child care, maternity protection, life insurance and other forms of social provision. For example, though beedi workers were protected and regulated by law under the Factories Act (Jhabvala and Tate, 1996), employers seeking to reduce costs often outsourced the work to be done at home, predominantly by women, thereby depriving them of any entitlements. SEWA began to organize these beedi homeworkers in 1979, when they were earning INR8 per 1000 cigarettes rolled, which was about half the minimum wage.…”

“…SEWA began to organize these beedi homeworkers in 1979, when they were earning INR8 per 1000 cigarettes rolled, which was about half the minimum wage. After a struggle of more than ten years, during which SEWA organized worker rallies, sit-in protests and strikes, and filed four cases in various courts, an agreement was finally reached with the employers whereby the beedi homeworkers were paid the minimum wage (Jhabvala and Tate, 1996).…”