An office-bearer of a trade union for landless agricultural labourers initiated by PACS Programme partner Kalapandhari Magasvargiya and Adivasi Gramin Vikas Sanstha ( Kalapandhari), that is how she sums up the impact of the union.

Like 15 fellow women union members in this village, Meenakshi now gets proper wages for the manual work she does on the lands of big farmers. The women do the work as a group, on a contract basis, and receive proper wages without any gender discrimination.

Citing another benefit, Golinbai Nathrao Kukde of Godhala village, Renapur taluka, points out how earlier in her village employment in works undertaken under the states Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) were given largely to upper caste workers. With the formation of the union, and a successful agitation in 2007, work is now being allotted to union members.

Importantly, the union has given these hitherto unheard voices the platform and ability to address issues of health and food security in the village, at panchayat proceedings. Dalits are standing for panchayat elections even in the open category and many union members have become sarpanchs (elected panchayat heads).

Dalits have also become productive farmers and landowners thanks to the impetus given to the gairan land movement by the union (to read a backgrounder on the gairan land movement, click here).

The idea of trade unions for unorganised landless labourers was mooted in 2000 by Manviya Haq Abhiyan (Campaign for Human Rights [CHR]), which was started in Marathwada in 1990, with support from Oxfam, Intermon Oxfam and CRY. The aim was to set up a civil society network to secure social justice for dalits and landless labourers. Trade unions were suggested as a means of legalising and strengthening structures that could address livelihood issues.

Six trade unions were registered between 1991 and 1999 in Beed, Osmanabad, Latur, Jalna, Aurangabad and Nanded districts. Committees were formed in villages, although the process did not gain momentum because of lack of information inputs and capacity-building. Membership drives too were limited.

It was with PACS Programme support in 2006 that the movement at the village level was strengthened, says B P Suryawanshi of Kalapandhari, which is a member of CHR. The PACS Programme laid stress on active participation of women and gave CHRs vision for dalit empowerment a definite direction and the right process.

Background

Marathwada, which encompasses the districts of Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Osmanabad, Beed and Latur, lags behind the rest of Maharashtra in the human development indices. Agriculture is the prime source of livelihood here but the land ownership pattern is feudal and landless poor provide the bulk of labour for farmers. The caste system is deeply entrenched.

Dasharath Jadhav, Kalapandharis PACS Programme coordinator, says: Typically, a landless family will get agricultural work for some four to five months in a year. Local construction work carried out by the gram panchayat would provide work for about a month and the EGS provides work for two to three months. Several families migrate for six months to cut sugarcane and work in the factories. The wages for agricultural labour were Rs 20-Rs 25 per day for women, and Rs 50-Rs 60 per day for men before the unions were set up.

One of the major challenges CHR faced was disunity at the village level. Dalits were divided into two camps: those who worked for farmers and those who did not. Even the gairan movement had created divisions. Gairandharaks (those dalits who staked a claim on gairan land) came into conflict with villagers and, often, dalits sided with villagers in their boycott of the gairandharaks.

Another major problem was that CHR did not have the resources for trade union activities. There was no proper system for accounting and recording funds or donations received. Although CHR had put up signboards proclaiming its presence in the villages, it did not have any registration or presence as an organisation.

Under the PACS Programme, it was decided that the trade union process would be strengthened. Apart from being a legal body for unorganised agricultural labourers, this was viewed as an opportunity to build self-sustaining structures. The movement, it was believed, would have a broader basis with the inclusion not just of dalits but other poor and landless people who could collectively secure their rights and lead a life of dignity through organised strength.

It was envisaged that the trade unions would focus their attention on issues at the micro level and would also give CHR the strength to deal with advocacy issues and policymaking at the macro level.

The model for this concept, explains Jadhav, was provided by activist Vivek Pandits Shramajeevi Sanghatan and Vidhayak Sansad for landless agricultural labourers in Thane district of Maharashtra. Exposure visits were made to Usgaon in Thane district, where some workers received training.

Inspiration also came from veteran unorganised sector labour leader and social activist Baba Adhavs union for porters and head-loaders in Pune, and his efforts in demanding social security benefits like insurance for them.

Structure and strategies adopted

As mentioned earlier, CHR had already started trade unions of unorganised landless agricultural labourers in six districts of Marathwada. But the movement gained momentum only after the PACS Programme, when a process of forming new unions and strengthening existing ones was initiated.

The process began with a survey of landless labourers in 164 villages in 10 blocks of four selected districts: Beed, Latur, Parbhani and Nanded. The target was to identify and motivate 18,000 unorganised labourers from these areas to join the unions. As of January 2008, 17,360 labourers from the PACS Programme area had joined the unions, and the number continues to grow.

As Suryawanshi of Kalapandhari explains, the first step in organising landless labourers is forming committees at the village level. Typically, a village committee has 20 members, half of them women. Then, cluster-level committees are set up with five villages forming a cluster. A 21-member executive committee is formed at the cluster level with representatives from each village (two men and two women). Four clusters or 20 villages thus make up a unit which is then registered as a trade union.

It takes around six months to register a union. A constitution has to be formulated, membership cards issued, a working committee constituted, a bank account opened, and membership fees collected. Then, an application is made to the labour commissioner of the region who inserts public notices in newspapers, inviting objections, if any, to the registration of the union under the proposed name.

Following this process, Kalapandhari has initiated 13 unions and reactivated five unions formed earlier. Of the 18 unions, six were registered before the PACS Programme, seven during the project implementation period, and five are in the process of being registered. In 2007-08, five more unions were activated, bringing the total number of agriculture labour unions active in Marathwada, under the umbrella of the CHR, in March 2008 to 23.

Covering around 450 villages, the total membership of these 23 unions is around 54,000 labourers. Of these, nearly 30,000 members are women, over 43,000 members belong to the scheduled castes, and around 3,000 members belong to the scheduled tribes. Typically, members of each union pay a fee of Re 1 per month; the entry fee is Rs 5.

The unions are linked across Marathwada by a federation called Bhumiheen Shetmazdoor Kashtkari Mahasangh, but this organisation has not yet been registered.

Links have also been established with the Nirman Mazdoor Sangh of Mumbai, led by Madhukanth Pathariya, and the Mazdoor Panchayat of Aurangabad, whose leader Subhash Lomte has been involved in several national-level advocacy efforts for landless poor and unorganised labourers, including campaigning for social security legislation for the unorganised sector.

Training on labour rights is conducted by union leaders and activists, and meetings held at the village level. Explains Papuraj Shelke, a trade union activist: At least 11 or 12 members of each village-level committee have undergone training in various aspects of trade union matters and the EGS. The village committees now conduct their own meetings twice a month. One activist is present while members discuss issues related to wages, EGS works, ration cards, NREGS job cards, BPL lists, the Janashree Bima Yojana (insurance scheme for the poor), and so on.

There is one facilitator for 10 villages who conducts meetings, group discussions, goes on home visits, holds workshops and cultural shows and organises campaigns and agitations.

Key decisions like whether to hold a rasta roko or any other form of protest is taken by vote, through a show of hands. The advice of a lawyer is sought at taluka-level meetings.

Challenges

The biggest apprehension, says Suryawanshi, was that the trade union movement would alienate landholders and small farmers, and labourers would lose work opportunities and wages. However, he adds, the farmers have by and large accepted the unions. They have been convinced that the movement will not harm them in the long run and have been persuaded to allot work on a contract basis.

In around 40-50 villages, of the 164 villages covered under the PACS Programme, seasonal work such as sowing and harvesting is being obtained by unions on a contract basis, since 2006, Suryawanshi claims.

However, the labourers are not confident of earning a living if the farmers decide to boycott them. Hence, Suryawanshi says, the State should be pressurised into providing work throughout the year so that the labourers bargaining power increases and livelihood is assured. While the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is good because of the micro-planning approach and its transparency, an assurance of 100 days of work is simply not enough, he argues.

The threat of boycott looms large in Marathwadas highly feudal and casteist culture, and it is accentuated by the occupation of gairan lands by landless dalits. For example, in 2005, a group of dalits from Arijheda village, Renapur, occupied gairan lands and were subsequently beaten up by the villagers. A boycott was imposed on them and they were unable to interact with anyone in the village.

With the help of the trade union, the dalits filed a case against those who had assaulted them, and 21 people were jailed. However, the boycott continues and the dalits do not yet have clear title of the land they have occupied; they are therefore in a weak position to develop it.

The union then took up the issue of demanding EGS work for the dalits, and although they were able to get only eight days of work, Suryawanshi says this has given them some level of confidence in the trade union movement.

Areas of work

Broadly speaking, the trade unions are geared towards three areas of work. The first is related to gairan lands and strengthening the hands of the gairandharaks. Kalapandhari has set up initiatives in 10 villages in Latur district, involving a total of 800 acres of gairan land.

One example is from Wangdari, Renapur taluka, where dalits form 10% of the villages population. In 2005, 11 landless dalit families took possession of gairan lands. Villagers who resented the prospect of dalits becoming landowners threatened them and declared a boycott. Scared of cultivating the gairan land and unable to get work in the village, the gairandharaks were forced to travel 60 km out of the village in search of work.

In 2006, a union was formed in the area and the dalits felt emboldened to work on the gairan lands. Their efforts were met with violent opposition by the villagers who refused to allow tractors to work on clearing the gairan land.

On one occasion when a tractor did manage to do so, the driver was forced to dismount. But women like Surekha Babasaheb Londhe encouraged a local youth, Babasaheb Londhe, to drive the tractor and help them clear the land. The women also received support from union members in neighbouring villages. Thus the dalits were able to plough the land.

Using organic farming methods, the gairandharaks have grown jowar, wheat, tur dal and peas collectively on the land. And there has since been a change in the villagers attitude. Some farmers have accepted the dalits as landowners and have agreed to the unions demand for work on a contract basis with equal wages for men and women.

In the neighbouring village of Dighul (Deshmukh), 40 gairandharaks (20 men and 20 women) witnessed record yields as a result of collective farming on 45 acres of land they have occupied. The net value of their crop was Rs 1.25 lakh in 2005-06.

Meetings are held every fortnight to ascertain who is willing to work, and the kind of work to be undertaken. Through the union, the gairandharaks keep detailed records of each persons work contribution and share in the cost of production. After all the gairandharaks and labourers are compensated for their labour and inputs, the net value is divided equally among the gairandharaks.

Here too, women played a key role in occupying gairan land and converting it into an asset. Says Sumanbai Narayan Dehde: We worked for one year to clear and develop all the plots. We were threatened by the villagers, and the revenue department filed cases against us. But they were undeterred.

The sense of collective ownership is growing among the gairandharaks. In Dighul they collectively celebrate a festival to honour the earth and its crops, arousing much attention in the village.

The second area of trade union activities centres around landless agricultural labourers. Unions set up by Kalapandhari use collective bargaining to get work from farmers on a contract basis. The contracts are verbal and made with groups of union members who take up specific tasks. After the work is completed, payment is made by the farmers to the group, which then divides the money according to the labour contribution of each member, and without discrimination against women.

Women, particularly, have gained from this practice. Surekha Babasaheb Londhe of Wangdari explains: Earlier, we got work on a very irregular basis. We would work for four days and then sit at home for another eight days. Payment was also irregular. Sometimes we would be paid for only half the number of days we had worked. We were also forced to spend long hours in the fields.

With the collective strength of the trade union, the women labourers of Wangdari now undertake work in the fields on a contract basis with flexible timings so that they have enough time for meals and rest. While in 2007-08, the standard daily wage for women agricultural labourers in this region was Rs 30-Rs 35 and Rs 60-Rs 70 for men, women union members of Godhala village, Renapur, claim they get around Rs 60-Rs 80 per day as their share of the total wages paid for work taken on a contract basis.

The third area of work for the unions deals with the EGS. Trade unions have been active in making the EGS more accountable and effective, says Dashrath Jadhav. The unions help labourers get identity cards to avail of the benefits of the employment guarantee scheme. Applications for work are submitted with a covering letter from the unions. In the 164 PACS Programme villages, till the end of 2007, around 13,700 people, including 6,700 women, received EGS identity cards and over 8,000 applications for work were filed. Unions have also agitated for timely wage payments.

One agitation planned for early-2008 was the outcome of a struggle waged by members of a union called the Marathwada Shetmazdoor Kamgar Sangh, in Bobdetakli village in Parbhani taluka, Parbhani district.

The union has been fighting for the commencement of EGS work in the village. When a second application for work, filed collectively on May 16, 2007, did not yield results, members applied for payment of unemployment allowance on July 12, 2007. The tehsildar responded by claiming that he had signed statements from labourers declaring that they did not want work. The union, however, proved that those who had apparently signed on the piece of paper were not the EGS work applicants.

The matter was taken up with the collector who issued directives to the tehsildar. But the tehsildar ignored the directives. As such non-cooperation is common with the EGS-related bureaucracy, the federation of agriculture trade unions planned to organise an agitation across several blocks of Marathwada, in early-2008.

In another instance, on January 2, 2008, union members in Digras village, Parbhani taluka, Parbhani district, surrounded the engineer in charge of building a road between Nandapur and Mandhwa because he had allotted work to outsiders on a contract basis. Union members successfully stopped work until the engineer agreed to use local labour.

The unions efforts have had some effect on the local administration too. Union representatives are often called when EGS works are announced in Parbhani and Latur.

The unions have also helped members access government schemes like the Shiksha Sahayog Yojana that provides scholarships for children of parents covered under the Janashree Bima Yojana. Till January 2008, 48 boys and 39 girl students have availed of this scholarship.

Other benefits

Besides securing obvious economic benefits, the trade unions have also addressed matters related to health and education. In Godhala village, Renapur taluka, Latur, women union members decided to fight for a better school and learning environment. The pressure on the administration to take suitable action paid off. The school in this village is now deemed to be the best in the taluka.

Women members also lobbied with officials to secure contracts for dalit women to cook the school midday meal and distribute food in anganwadis. The officials agreed to the womens proposal but there was a lot of resistance in the village from the dominant Vanjara community. On one occasion, they even allegedly attempted to pour soap water into food cooked by the dalit women. The union members confronted the Vanjaras and told them that they could stop their own children from eating food at the school but that the union members would continue cooking food and feeding their children.

Several union members have stood for panchayat elections and have won. Women like Shobha Gaikwad of Ariukheda village in Renapur taluka have become sarpanchs (elected village heads). Significantly, Gaikwad won from a seat reserved for dalits, not from a seat reserved for women. However, she faces a lot of opposition from upper castes who are boycotting the gram sabha.

Women have also begun to voice other aspirations for themselves and their children. A group of women union members from Godhala village says: We do not want to remain labourers forever. We dream of starting a business of our own and becoming successful entrepreneurs.

Future plans

Kalapandhari hopes to strengthen the federation of trade unions and ensure that every block has one union. The federation is expected to work as facilitator, providing legal support to the unions, helping in cadre development programmes, enhancing skills and taking up advocacy issues. The federation is also expected to be a bridge between landless agricultural labourers and the government, and bring about policy changes.