SETCa finds itself a new challenge in India

Together with the FGTB service “Union collaboration with the South” and UNI (international union for employees),  SETCa was present in Delhi mid October 2008 to participate in a 5-day workshop.

The goal of this workshop was to finalise the UNICOME project planning. Unicome is a trade union which is being set up and will represent workers in the commerce sector in India.

This project will focus on the support given by SETCa and UNI in the launching of UNICOME as a union.

The problems the workers in the Indian commerce sector are facing are similar to those the workers in the Belgian commerce are dealing with: e.g. extreme flexibility, irregular working schedules. The employers’ opposition is huge, which doesn’t make things easier for a beginning union.

For the duration of the project (2009-2011), the focus is put on 3 cities: Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Globalisation is also affecting this sector. Multinationals such as Metro are settled in India and will be considered as a priority within the project in order to organise the workers. This bottom-up functioning will be supported by UNI, that will take action to enter into international framework agreements with these multinationals.

The people of UNICOME did not await the launch date of the project to come into action. A 3-day strike at Metro Hyderabad, under the wings of UNICOME, allowed a union structure to be set up. This does not mean that everything is now settled within Metro, but management acknowledges UNICOME as a social partner.