History

The Untold Story of ASSRGWA

Pre-2005 Scenario of Working and Living Conditions

The ship breaking activity started in 1983 at Alang-Sosiya. It provides a huge employment opportunities for around 60,000 unorganised migrant workers directly, breaking almost one ship a day. Around 98% of the total work force at Alang-Sosiya are migrant workers from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The migrant workers, however, live in pathetic conditions. There was no provision of drinking water, sanitation and housing facility for the workers for almost two decades from the inception of ship breaking activity. Hundreds of workers have died over the years and fatal and non-fatal accidents continued without any significant intervention. Workers were also not given safety equipment to protect themselves from hazardous activities nor were they paid compensation in case of accidents and deaths. Also, workers continued to do overtime work without getting wages for extra work as per the Minimum Wages Act. It was in such situation, the ASSRGWA came into picture and made possible efforts to address the working and living conditions of migrant workers.

Who We Are?- About ASSRGWA

The Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling & General Workers’ Association (ASSRGWA) was formed in the year 2005 and is the first trade union in the world for the ship breaking workers. The ASSRGWA also got solidarity support from the Mumbai Port Trust Dock and General Employees' Union (MPTDGEU), Steel Metal & Engineering Workers Federation of India (SMEFI-HMS), IndustriALL Global Union & FNV. One of the key factors in entering into Alang Ship Breaking Yard to address and resolve workers' rights at Alang ship breaking industry was the absence of an active and strong trade union to represent the interests of migrant workers. As mentioned earlier around 60,000 workers are actively involved in the ship breaking yard and most of them are migrant workers from the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Till 2005, no trade union in Gujarat was representing the cause of ship breaking workers in decision making and implementation process. Workers continued to work under an oppressive system and were scared to protest against the plot owners or to inform government officer about the working conditions and inadequate facilities to live here. Those who protested paid the price by losing their job. In such circumstances, the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling & General Workers’ Association was formed.

Composition of the Union

With the formation of the ASSRGWA, the shipbreaking workers today have the right to express their concerns through the Union. The ASSRGWA functions in a democratic manner and with proper governance structure. At present, it consists of President, Two Vice-Presidents, General Secretary, Two Secretaries, One Treasurer, Three Organising Secretaries, Twelve Executive Committee Members and around 16500 workers as its members. All the office bearers are elected every two years (Any member of the union can become office bearer of the union). The ASSRGWA Executive Committee meets on every alternative Sunday. The minutes of the meeting are recorded and available for members of the ASSRGWA. The Annual general body meeting of the Union takes place once in a year.
The ASSRGWA is an affiliate of SMEFI, HMS at the national level and also works closely with IndustriALL Global Union for the promotion and improvement of workers’ rights in India.

Activities of ASSRGWA at Alang

The ASSRGWA has been very actively and consistently involved in carrying out a number of activities. These activities include:
1. Documenting the pathetic working and living conditions of workers. Also, making documentaries produced by the Union titled as “Into the Graveyard”, “The Wire Nest”, “ECHOS of Shipbreaking” and “Buss Thodisi Savdhani” is an instruction film in Hindi a regional language.
2. The Union has also represented in Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) constituted by the Government of India for the purpose of overall supervision on the implementation program in pursuance of order dated 06.09.2007 passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. The important issues of ship breaking workers were brought to the notice of IMC. The Chairman of IMC took serious note of these issues and assures to resolve the same.
3. Every year the Union organises a number of meetings at Alang and the participation of workers has been quite encouraging as they participate in a very large scale and with whole hearted participation from the members of this association as well as members of their families.
4. Social Security Measures were undertaken by the Union. For example: Implementation of ESI Scheme, Provident Fund, Insurance, etc. in Alang, .
5. Housing for all has been the mantra of the Union. As per the persistence liaison with government authority by the union to provide residential place, Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has taken initiative to construct worker's colony to provide dormitory accommodation on around 1000 ship breaking workers with provision of potable drinking water and sanitation facilities.
6. The Union received a number of delegations at its Alang Office. For example: The visit of National Human Rights Commission at Alang. The Chairman of NHRC Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, former Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India visited Alang on 25th May 2014, along with his team and expressed their solidarity with workers.
7. Inclusion of ship breaking industry in the Scheduled of Minimum Wages Act: Because of union's efforts the ship breaking industry has been included in the Schedule of Minimum Wages Act by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of Gujarat. The provisions of Minimum Wages Act are now applicable to ship breaking industry.
8. New Code for ship-breaking Industry in India – Law of the land: Based on a 2007 the Supreme Court ruling, the Union Ministry of Steel has issued a new indigenous code for ship-breaking to be followed in India. India is the only country amongst the shipbreaking countries, who have such a code. The Union has suggested the Government of India to strengthen the code.
9. A safety manual “My Pocket Diary – 2014” has also been prepared and circulated among the workers for their orientation about safety measures.

ACTIVITIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

The Union representative participated in International Tripartite Meeting of experts on safety and health in shipbreaking for selected Asian countries and Turkey- Bangkok, on 7-14 October 2003. International Conference on Shipbreaking- Two days International Conference was organised by the IndustriAll Global Union in Mumbai on 19-20 April 2011in order to discuss over all related issues to organised Shipbreaking workers and to build the strong trade unions in the region. Demonstration before the British Parliament, London, Mr. V. V. Rane General Secretary of ASSRGWA along with Shipbreaking workers visited London on 08-12 Oct. 2006. This visit was arranged by the IndustriAll in coordination with ITF. The delegates demonstrated before British parliament and on the shore of River Themes. The purpose of this visit to attract the attention of the British Government and the civil society towards the pathetic working conditions of the shipbreaking workers. The delegation met Mr, Hilary Ben, Minister of Environment, British Govt. and presented the flag. The flag was in memories of hundreds of shipbreaking workers who lost their lives while working in shipbreaking. The Union members represented in various international meetings and forums which include ILO, IMO and BC Joint Working Group meetings and raised the concerns of workers in these meetings Hong Kong Convention 2009: The Hong Kong International Convention for safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships was adopted in May 2009, aiming at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health, safety and to environment. ASSRGWA demands the Indian Govt. to be part of an effective solution to the problem of unsafe and unsustainable shipbreaking and urgently ratify the Hong Kong Convention.

Achievements of ASSRGWA

The most important development in favour of the workers in this period was its recognition as a scheduled industry, which in fact opened more opportunities for the union in terms of wage negotiation. One of the commendable efforts made by the union regarding wages for workers is the representation they made to the Government. The union made a demand for inclusion of “the employment in ship breaking activities” in the Schedule to the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to the Government of Gujarat. Another example, which is worth mentioning in this context is the efforts made by ASSRGWA for the family of four workers who lost their lives in a fire occurred at Plot No 24-0, Ship breaking yard, Alang on 4th August 2009. The Union requested for a fair inquiry to be conducted by the Chief Inspector, Factories; to constitute a Commission of Judicial Inquiry for providing justice to the families of the deceased and other injured workers to the Chief Minister, State of Gujarat and to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India to take necessary judicial inquiry and reiterated the Supreme Court judgment of 11.09.2007 Writ Petition (Civil) 657 of 1995 dealing with strict regulation of ship breaking activities, ensuring protection of health and safety of workmen. All necessary support to this regard was extended by the Union to facilitate providing justice to the workers in Ship Breaking yards of Alang.
• Organised medical examination camps and blood grouping camps for the benefits of shipbreaking workers and members of their families.
• Awareness campaigns were carried out for massive groups of workers on the subject of Occupational health and safety /Union building and organisation/ HIV/ AIDS and other diseases, International Guidelines of the ILO, IMO and Basel Convention and The Supreme Court of India’s directions on safe ship recycling, workers’ rights and human rights; the national and international legislations and trade union movement.
• Created local leadership to handle grievances.
• Struggle for the provision of protective gear for the workers.
• Achieved compensation for death of the workers at site, which can be precedence for the years to come.
• The impact of the union activities is strong in three key areas. These are i) created a sense of confidence among workers by unionisation, ii) bringing visibility and iii) building collective voice of the workers. These impacts may not be measureable in quantitative terms as impacts, but are important to highlight in this context.
• The awareness is being created on the subject of health, safety, welfare and environment besides legal system for protection of human rights.
• Improvement in occupational health & safety, employers are now providing PPE’s to shipbreaking workers.
• Employers are now providing potable drinking water at workplaces.
• Provision of first aid boxes at workplaces.
• Employers and their contractors are now recognizing the union.
• Union is getting stronger day by day as government authorities are coordinating with the Union. For example, the safety instruction film and safety diary have been used by the training centre of Gujarat Maritime Board.
• The Government Authorities and the ship breaking yard owners have also recognised the presence of the union in many ways ranging from discussion to improving the working conditions at Alang.
• There is improvement in working conditions at Alang shipbreaking yard.
• Liaison with enforcement authorities resulted in timely payment of provident fund dues and registration of shipbreaking workers under the scheme of Employee State Insurance Scheme.
• Local leaders from Alang are in position to raise Industrial Dispute with Department of Labour and they are confidently handling the grievances.
• It was also due to the efforts of the Union the ship breaking industry has also been included in the IndustriALL ship building action group and the Vice-Chairman is from the ship breaking industry.
• The shipbreaking workers respond very well to our appeal to them for organizing themselves and participating in the activities for their welfare.
• The shipbreaking workers now have elementary knowledge in respect of OHS, functioning of Trade Union, functioning of IndustriALL, ILO, leadership, coordination and their involvement in union activities.
• The influence of antisocial elements is also gradually reducing because of the active presence of union members at Alang.
• The middlemen between the employers and shipbreaking workers are also likely to disappear from the scene soon and efforts are already made in this direction.
• Workers are now openly sharing their views and ventilating the grievances in the gate meetings, seminars and rallies.

Success Mantra of the Union: Adherence to Core Principles

The Union strongly believes in working towards a sustainable society. In this regard, the Union has made every attempt to emphasis on certain principles which are crucial to protect and improve the interests of the workers. The Union has been working to strengthen a set of core principles and advocate to evolve principles which are progressive in nature and at the same time, the Union has opposed any kind of principle or policies which are regressive in nature. The principles which the union believes include:
• Sustainable development with emphasis on social justice and equity: The Union is of the opinion that development, environment and human rights need to be balanced and not be seen as opposing to each other.
• Democratic decision-making process: From workers to leaders of the Union, every members has equal right to participate and share his/her views towards the development of workers' interest.
• Accountability: The Union is also accountable for its activities ranging from mobilisation to advocacy.
• Responsibility: Every member and office bearer of the Union is responsible for his/her assignment and decisions taken for the welfare of the workers' interest.
• Transparency: All the activities of the Union are accessible and available for any public members.
• Participatory approach: All the members have equal rights to participate in the activities of the Union without any discrimination on the ground of gender, religion, and sex.
• Consensus and dialogue based approach: The Union believes in constructive dialogue of stakeholders which can be useful and beneficial to promote the interests of the workers.
• Inclusiveness: There is no discrimination to any members or workers who are interested to participate in the Union activities
• Effective implementation of the principles: The Union is adhered to implement the core principles for which it stands for.
• Consistency: The Union keeps itself updated with the day-to-day activities of the workers welfare and also consistently engaged with various stake from local to international level.

Major Challenges

While the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling & General Workers’ Association (ASSRGWA) has played an important role in protecting and promoting the rights of workers, especially migrants workers at Alang ship breaking yard, the absence of political will and cooperation from the implementing agencies in protecting the rights of workers as advocated by the trade union has posed a number of new challenges before the ASSRGWA. The biggest challenge for the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling & General Workers’ Association has been to mobilize workers to raise their voice consistently and demand for rights and justice if their fellow workers are thrown out of job or compensation has not been paid to workers for injuries or demanding fair wage for extra hours of work or provisions for adequate infrastructure facilities at the work place. The major challenges include:
• Effective enforcement of rules and regulation
• Ensuring better working and living conditions, especially housing facilities for the workers
• How to ensure that the workers get their salary by cheque and not cash.
• Implementation of Ship Recycling Code 2013
• Rectification of Hong Kong Convention 2009 and its implementation
• Implementation of European Union Regulation
• How to bring multiple authorities under one platform to address workers' rights, environmental problems and development requirements
• To demand shipping company cess for workers welfare
• Level playing field at the competitive international market and find ways for win-win situations for the ship breaking countries
• Create a regional platform for Trade unions for exchange of information/best practices and how to come under one platform.
• Implementation of international guidelines/convention/instruments
• Education in regional language needs to be arranged for the children of migrant workers.
• Extend Public Distribution System service to the migrant workers and also Voting Rights.
• Health facility to be provided and also make sure it is effective.

Work Ahead

India, as we know, is undergoing significant politico-economic changes, led by the forces of economic liberalisation and globalisation. These changes are posing serious challenges to the trade union movement. At stake are hard won trade union rights of the workers. The role of State in India is undergoing major changes and trade unions are getting divided day by day and influenced by political party ideologies. In such circumstances, working for the interests of the unorganized sector workers, the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling & General Workers’ Association (ASSRGWA) needs to be more consistent and should adhere to its principles. The union also needs to introduce a number of strategies ranging from mobilisation of workers about their rights, capacity building, orientation programs, dialogue with stakeholders involved in ship-breaking activities, engagement with other trade unions having similar interests and to make representation before the government to protect and promote the interest of the workers. Over the last two decades, many attempts have been made to dilute labour laws and promote economic policies that side line the interests of the workers. The union should oppose any policy and rules that are regressive in nature as far as workers' rights are concerned. In the 21st century, if trade Unions have to remain relevant and strong enough to influence policies associated with workers' right and welfare, then there is no alternative but to unite, unite and unite.