First workers receive certificates after supervisor training

Twenty very proud participants of FWF’s new supervisor training programme in India received certificates in Tirupur this week.

During a festive ceremony, 14 workers and 6 supervisors received a certificate of completion for the course. Representatives from FWF member Takko who sources from the participating factories, FWF’s local partner SAVE, and the lead trainer all spoke at the event and praised the trainees’ efforts.

FWF’s country representative Suhasini Singh appealed to the management and existing supervisors, encouraging them to support women who take up a new role as supervisor. ‘We were very scared to send our workers to this training programme’, said one of the attending factory managers. ‘But now we are confident giving them supervisory roles. One can see the changes this training has brought about among worker participants.’

New training round
The supervisor programme aims to reduce workplace violence and discrimination against women in garment factories by demonstrating that women can be effective supervisors. ‘I am convinced that I can grow in my career’, said one of the workers during the ceremony. ‘And reach a higher destination like becoming a supervisor in the future. The training sessions deepened and widened my knowledge about my work, operating machines, hierarchical set up in a company and  sexual harassment.’

The first training round of the supervisor programme, funded by the Delegation of the European Union to India, started in September of 2015. Nine factories in Tirupur, South India, participated in the project.  Workers received a three-hour training every month, followed by a test at the end of the year.

FWF and partners SAVE and Cividep will start a new training round soon, with six participating factories in Tirupur, Bangalore and Erode.