More than one billion people in the world are employed in agriculture, and most work in extremely precarious conditions. They cannot guarantee the food security of their families. Improvements will come only if these workers are better organised and better able to engage in collective bargaining. The IUF is working with its affiliates to make this happen.

contract labourers working at the Banduhurang mines in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand went on strike last month demanding health facilities and minimum wages. The protesting workers said the mine operator, Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (ucil), had turned down their demand to give information about radiation levels in the open cast mines.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which entitles rural households to 100 days of casual employment on public works at the statutory minimum wage, contains special provisions to ensure full participation of women. This paper, based on fieldwork in six states in 2008, examines the socio-economic consequences of the nrega for women workers.