2005 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
March 01, 2006
San Diego, CA
In recognition of her courage, innovation and leadership, we are honored to present the 2005 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to Sister Ela Bhatt, on behalf of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a 700,000-member union of women workers in India. Sister Bhatt and SEWA are committed advocates for the rights of poor, women workers in the unorganized, informal sectors of the economy. Through their work, hundreds of thousands of street vendors, rag pickers, incense rollers and other self-employed workers have overcome political, social and economic oppression.
Founded in 1972 out of Gandhi’s Textile Labor Association, SEWA strengthens the collective bargaining power and financial security of its members, while it campaigns for social change based on Gandhian principles of truth, non-violence, the integration of all faiths and people, and the development of good jobs that allows workers to be self-reliant. SEWA advocates for women and workers’ rights, economic justice and non-violence, and against gender bias, caste inequities, religious divisions and violations of worker rights.
With India’s rising economic power, workers need strong unions. The informal workforce in India is an estimated 93% of the total workforce, with women comprising one-third of these workers. These women work without legal protection, secure contracts, worker benefits or social protections. By organizing women in their communities, addressing gender discrimination and working to change labor law to include informal workers at the local, national and global levels, SEWA is at the forefront of organizing the largest sector of workers in the global economy.
SEWA is unique within the global trade union movement for many reasons. It is the largest trade union movement led by and for women. It has brought hundreds of thousands of uncounted, poor, invisible women workers into a union and into the global labor movement. SEWA represents a confluence of movements: the labor, cooperative and women’s movements. By bringing these movements together, women workers gain the skills needed to improve their bargaining power within and outside their homes and increase their representation in policy and decision-making.
Ela Bhatt is the founder of SEWA and served as General Secretary of SEWA from 1972-1996 and continues to serve on the Executive Committee. To ensure economic power for India’s poorest women workers, she founded and chaired SEWA bank that has increased women’s savings and ability to secure loans. As a member of Parliament, she brought the voices of self-employed women workers into policy debates. She also is a founding member of Women in the Informal Economy Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), a global research-policy network that seeks to improve the status of working women in the informal economy, StreetNet, an international alliance of street vendors, and HomeNet, an international network of home-based workers.
Sister Bhatt and SEWA’s achievements are a source of inspiration for workers worldwide. SEWA’s advocacy for the rights of self-employed women workers and challenge to gender, class and caste bias is a source of hope for all workers. For their commitment to worker rights, economic and social justice, and women’s rights and tireless work to improve the lives of self-employed workers around the world, the AFL-CIO is pleased to award the 2005 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to SEWA.