INTRODUCTION
In the process of unionizing poor, selfemployed women, the first lesson we learnt was that struggles by the working poor will have to be carried at all levels of exploitation and injustice. But, we soon learnt that mere struggles by protests and court cases do not yield results. They are like hitting your head against the wallbecause the laws, policies, public perceptions do not understand you. I realized this when the chindi workers’ demand for raising their wages could not succeed much in the court nor in negotiations with the traders-cum-employers. Instead, those who raised their voice were victimized.
When those victimized organized their own producers’ cooperative called ‘Sabina’, they could enter the mainstream of the quilt market. As equals, they could face those very traders, contractors, and employers against whom they were fighting in labour court. The important lesson learnt was that the strategy of joint action of union and cooperative can lend bargaining power to the selfemployed to raise their income and much more.
