Archives of Indian Labour

This collection contains the documents and reports generated in the ILO and The Rights Education and Development Centre (READ) Project on Industrial Relations in the Garment Industry of India which was undertaken in three garment manufacturing hubs located in - Tirupur, Gurgaon and Bangalore during 2020-2021. The project was executed on the ground by the READ (Tirupur), Alternative Law Forum (Bangalore) and Gurgaon Shramik Kendra (Gurgaon). The project focussed on documenting industrial disputes and different modalities of their resolution through formal and informal channels. The process of resolution of the disputes began with conciliatory hearings through the labour office followed by efforts for resolution either through adjudication by the labour courts or through informal settlements. Details of the dispute resolution, whether informal or formal, provide insights into the nature of the evidence submitted, time taken for dispute resolution, possibilities and challenges in accessing justice. Nature of the disputes broadly represented workers' claims for their rights at the workplace and complaints about employers’ unfair labour practices such as illegal retrenchment, sexual harassment and victimisation for unionisation. There are 25 case studies from each cluster and within the cluster there are different categories specific to the material from that region.