Einde inhoudsopgave
Corporate Social Responsibility (IVOR nr. 77) 2010/10.2.2
10.2.2 GATWU, a new trade union
Mr. T.E. Lambooy, datum 17-11-2010
- Datum
17-11-2010
- Auteur
Mr. T.E. Lambooy
- JCDI
JCDI:ADS364598:1
- Vakgebied(en)
Ondernemingsrecht (V)
Voetnoten
Voetnoten
Indian Trade Unions Act 1926, section.4, Mode of Registration of a Trade Union. See also section 7.
Registration certificate issued by the Government of Karnataka, Department of Labour, No. ALCB-4/DRT/TUA/18/2005-06, GATWU Articles of Association and membership list (Form C) which show that there were no FFI/JLPL members.
Confirmed by various Courts and various enactments on this subject (information by Indian legal counsel on 24 March 2009).
E.g.: the State of Maharshtra in India has enacted the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Union and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971. section11 of this Act specifies that in order to gain recognition a trade union should not have less than 30 per cent of the total number of employees employed in that undertaking as its members.
Cividep's work is made possible with support from Oxfam-GB in India, and Netherlands-based OECD Watch and SOMO (source: www.cividep.org, visited on 14 February 2009).
Munnade is linked with Cividep. See: www.cividep.org/munn.htm, all websites accessed on 12 July 2010.
In India, signing up with a trade union is generally not only about labour conditions; it also has political significance, as the more traditional, national unions are affiliated with national political parties.
Report of the Government of Karnataka: Labour Department: No.GLA-l/Investigation/ Report/06-07 dated 19 December 2007, p. 8, and the letter re 'Submission of report on labour situation on the question of child labour at G-Star's suppliers in Bangalore Fiber & Fabrics International (FFI) and Jeans Knit Pvt. Ltd (JKPL) and background of Landelijke India Werkgroep (India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) organisation'; D.O.No.LD84 CLC 2006, dated 26 December 2006. This report discloses the results of an inspection by the Karnataka Government Labour Department on 11 December 2006 pursuant to complaints filed by CCC/ICN on 14 July 2006 regarding 'information sought in respect of labourers and child labourers, employed by FFI/JKPL. ' By a letter of 1 February 2007 from the Embassy of India in the Netherlands, the results of this investigation were shared with CCC.
SGS: Société Génerale de Surveillance, a Swiss-based auditing and certification firm, accredited by Social Accountability Accreditation Services to give SA 8000 certifications. See: www.sgs.com .
Association for Stimulating Know-how (ASK) is a capacity-building, self-supporting, voluntary organisation that works countrywide in India, as well as internationally, to promote the best interests of marginalised groups in society. Its expertise covers capacity building, evaluation and studies, and corporate social accountability, amongst other things. See: www.askindia.org, accessed on 12 July 2010.
SGS Management System Certification Audit Summary Report dated 20 March 2007; SGS Summary Findings from the Visits to FFI Factories in Bangalore dated 27 November 2007; ASK Summary Reports for Workers Discussions of FFI Units 1-5 (audits conducted respectively on 31 October/1 November, 14/15 September, 11/12 September, 2/3 November and 30/31 October 2007). Reports were made accessible by G-Star, also to CCC/ICN. The reasons for workers not becoming union members relate to the good payment and other working conditions at the FFI/JKPL sites, and the possibility to discuss any issues with management, amongst others through the workers committees; workers generally stated that the need to unionise had not arisen.
As responsible as the set-up of FFI/JKPL towards its employees may seem, one may wonder why Dutch campaigning organisations (CCC/ICN) have targeted
FFI/JKPL.
Box 10.2 CCC and ICN
CCC is an international campaigning organisation established in 1991. It aims to improve working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industry, and to empower the labourers in this industry. CCC is made up of an international secretariat and national campaigning organisations. It has special task forces in garment production countries.
ICN is a Dutch campaigning organisation, focused on improving the lot of the dalits - casteless people in India - and specific issues such as child labour and human rights in India. A special focus of ICN is the garment industry. For that reason, ICN is a member organisation of CCC Netherlands. See: www.cleanclothes.org and www.indianet.nl/english.html.
Things started late 2005. A new trade union, the Garment and Textile Workers Union (GATWU), was in the process of being established. As the Bangalore area employs many textile workers, and labour conditions sometimes give rise to great concern, GATWU wanted to obtain a foothold there. GATWU approached the FFI/JKPL management in February and March 2006, but did not find an enthusiastic reception. At that time GATWU had not yet been officially registered as a union or organisation of any kind. The Indian Trade Unions Act of 1926 (as subsequently amended, hereafter referred to as the Trade Unions Act)1 stipulates that no trade union shall be registered unless at least ten per cent, or 100 of the workforce, whichever is less, are engaged in the establishment or industry with which it is connected and are members of this trade union on the date of applying for registration. On 29 March 2006, GATWU was registered under the Trade Unions Act.2 However, Indian labour law jurisprudence3 shows that a union needs to represent a majority of the workforce of a particular establishment in order to be entitled to recognition as a representative, thereby enabling it to enter into negotiations and to reach settlements with the management of this establishment. Moreover, several states in India have enacted separate legislation dealing with the recognition of a trade union, in some cases lowering the representation threshold to a minimum of 30 per cent.4 Since GATWU - once registered - did not have any FFI/JKPL members, it was unclear to the FFI/JKPL management who GATWU represented. Consequently, FFI/JKPL could not recognise GATWU as a representative of the workforce.
GATWU subsequently teamed up with its sister organisations that are also supportive of garment workers: Civil Initiatives in Development and Peace 'Cividep',5 and the Women Garment Workers' Front 'Munnade'.6 Lastly, the New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), a labour union with a communist ideology, joined GATWU's campaign.7 As most of the FFI/JKPL employees were not unionised, this team of organisations (together referred to as: the Indian Organisations) decided to actively persuade FFI/JKPL employees to sign up with GATWU. These actions proved, however, unsuccessful. The FFI/JKPL management therefore considered that there was no legal basis for entering into dispute settlement or collective bargaining negotiations with GATWU.
Later on, in December 2006, the Government of Karnataka Labour Department (Labour Department) investigated whether FFI/JKPL workers enjoyed freedom of association and other issues, pursuant to a complaint by CCC/ICN. The resulting report showed that employees felt free to become union members.8 In March 2007, an SA 8000 audit was carried out by the international audit firm SGS.9 Another extensive audit took place in the autumn of 2007, at the instigation of G-Star. SGS was hereby assisted by the Indian NGO ASK.10 One of the focal aspects was freedom of association. Employees were interviewed onsite as well as outside of the FFI/JKPL premises in order to create an atmosphere in which interviewees could speak freely. Former FFI/JKPL employees were also interviewed to help understand the factory from a different perspective and to make a comparison between the earlier and the present scenario. The answers showed that employees were aware of their right to associate and felt free to do so, but were not motivated to become union members.11
The pertinent question is therefore, what caused the Indian Organisations and CCC/ICN to campaign against FFI/JKPL and G-Star as they did, and to convince other Western customers to cancel their orders with FFI/JKPL?