Stories from the South: Sister Clara - NDWM Tamil Nadu
Channel: WSM Asia
Date: 04/09/2014

Sister Clara – NDW Tamil Nadu Trade Union
 
In the beginning, the domestic workers feared their employer. Today, we are giving some awareness, what are their rights. The government made some policies regarding us. They are motivated through the training, through the talking, through the area meetings. All these ways, we motivate the leaders. Now the leaders are ready to take on cases, get responses to problems, collect the subscription, and conduct the meeting. They are ready to go to the police station, all these things they have developed. Not in all the district, but some district leaders. 
I stay with them in the beginning, when they go to the areas. Then they motivate them. When they have problems, they bring them to me. And we show them how they can go, how they can take the responsibilities. Approach the government offices, the trade union members, all these things I gave in training. Now they improved. Bargaining for the work also. When they enter a house, they demand for this much work, this much salary we want. This is the most important for us. Then on the government level also, they respect the domestic workers. In the beginning, the government officers didn’t respect. So when we went with our demands, one labour officer asked me: ”you are coming for the cripped people”. They quarreled with the labour office in ’98. There were a lot of problems of bribery. I asked the government commissionaire: you go into the field, you get some money, what is the justice. He told me he won’t speak with me. There were a lot of problems, but now, all the people respect us. On the government level also. In the beginning, the domestic workers didn’t understand us. They didn’t even accept their work as work. They told us: domestic workers are not workers, they are servants. We’re only servants, this work is not respected. But when a little bit motivated, now they accept it. Our work is also work, we are also workers. It is a great change from them. Now they told us they’re respected. They’re ready to ask for the payment. If they have to work for one more hour, to ask for more salary, more wage. One day there are working two of us. Sometimes, in the festival season time, they give more work, they pay more wages.
Great changes, also from some employers. In Tamil Nadu, they have the owners association. They only want to hire through the NDWM, because the union gives a lot of awareness, and they are very sincere because they are justice people. So they only want union members working in their houses. 
World Solidarity (WSM) believes strongly in the power of people together. Creating Decent Work worldwide in order to guarantee a better life is our ultimate goal. WSM is the NGO of the Christian Labour Movement in Belgium, funded partly by the Belgian Development Cooperation. 

WSM works with 91 partners in 31 countries regarding the right to social protection. In South Asia (Nepal, Bangladesh and India), WSM supports 10 partners working on issues like the garment industry, domestic workers, access to social security, unorganized workers, labour law reforms and community health. These videos capture some of the stories regarding the projects of our partners. 

For more information, visit
www.wereldsolidariteit.be     -   www.wsm.be     -   www.solmond.be  
For more on the projects in South Asia, visit http://brunowsmasia.blogspot.com/