In late 2025, a United Steelworkers Wood Council delegation travelled to India to visit Steelworkers Humanity Fund (SHF) partners. The USW members witnessed first-hand how local unions play an important role in securing basic rights, health and safety protections and social security programs.
For 10 years, the SHF has supported the work of the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) in India’s forestry sector, where the majority of workers are women who often face rigid gender norms and male-dominated structures that limit their access to formal employment opportunities. Many find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty involving informal and manual labour, without basic rights or legal recognition.
Delegation members met with powerful women-led national organizations affiliated to BWI that are helping to change this reality, among them the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a two-million-member union of women in the informal economy who are fighting for their rights at work and formal employment status.
Canadian delegates were deeply moved by the commitment of the activists they met in India, especially those involved in trades and skills-training programs.
“As we went around the table and each woman shared her story, I was deeply moved by hearing the challenges they had faced and what led them to join SEWA,” said Tamara Brown, a participant from USW Local 1-2017,
“There was strength in every voice and resilience in every journey. It was a powerful demonstration of how SEWA’s power lies in its organizers and their unwavering commitment to lifting up other women.”
Tamara shared experiences of Women of Steel in Canada who, on a different scale, face workplace challenges but earn respect and victories when it comes to union leadership, pay equity and recognition in industrial and trade sectors.
SEWA is part of a new project seeking to empower women in the construction trades, offering advanced and certified training in specialized skills such as masonry and painting. This initiative also supports women who organize into co-operatives to collectively bid on contracts, as well as providing mentorship to participants to sustain their enterprises and income-generating opportunities.
Part of the SHF Women’s Global Solidarity Program, this project reflects our union’s deep commitment to building gender equality globally. By supporting workers’ rights and communities across borders, we ensure that women’s rights are not secondary but are front and centre in the fight for greater economic justice.
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