Leadership-cum-capacity building workshop for District level officials of Central Trade Unions in Telangana
A Leadership-Cum-capacity Building Workshop for District and Mandal (field) level officials of partner Central Trade Unions and their affiliates in agriculture sector in Telangana was organized as a part of the Promoting fundamental principles and rights at work in the cotton supply chain project.
The state level key representatives of the implementing Central Trade Unions participated to understand the key action points, helping them to guide respective district officials in implementation of the ‘Action Programme’.
The objective of the workshop was to explain the key concepts of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) and its inter-linkages with the activities of the Action Programme. It will enable the participants to convey clear messages to beneficiaries with regard to implementation of FPRW.
The workshop was attended by 48 senior and mid-level officials from State and District level representatives of the two Central Trade Unions. Participation of women leaders was encouraging.
The workshop provided an opportunity for officials from both the implementing partners to develop a common understanding on the four tenets and related ILO Conventions of FPRW as well as implementation strategy for effective outcome of the Action Programme. It also helped in enhancing the capacity of the second line leaders of all the participating Trade Unions to lead the activities at the grass-root level. Special attention was given to explain the meaning and relevance of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, particularly for the cotton-growing workers and farmers (small and marginal).
The popular pattern of the Trade Unions to mobilize the workers through Literature and Songs was encouraged during the training programme. In similar fashion, the workshop had such songs sung by the members of Prajakala Mandali, at regular interval, which conveyed the untold struggles of child labour, farmers etc, and inspired the participants to work together and with full commitment in the field to make the Action Programme successful.
Technical Session on Equality and Non-discrimination, and Prevention of Violence and Harassment were facilitated by the Gender Specialist, ILO DWT for South Asia and CO for India. The participants discussed and benefitted with the understanding on key nuances of gender and their implementation at local level. The outcome of the session helped the participants was that strict implementation of laws and mechanism to deter sexual harassment should be made mandatory at workplace.
Group works, preceded by thematic discussions, helped the participants to understand the operational modalities of the Action Programme. A work plan was discussed and facilitated by ILO for implementation of the capacity building, second level leadership building and increased participation of women in Trade Unions, in focused and timely manner. It was decided to promote a joint forum at district level consisting of various unions and other stakeholders for encouraging social dialogue and consensus building for smooth operationalization of FPRW.