Collective Actions to Advance Working Conditions for Sugarcane Workers in India
Coca-Cola is enhancing its collaboration with Solidaridad in India, focusing on better health, safety, and working conditions for Maharashtra’s sugarcane workers. Initiatives include clean water access, shaded rest areas, and training on worker rights and recruitment. The company also supports the Coalition for Responsible Sugar in India (CRSI), aiming to improve migrant worker conditions and promote sustainable sugarcane farming.
Though authorized bottlers purchase less than 1 per cent of the total volume of sugar produced in Maharashtra, Coca Cola is committed to driving progress, maximizing the influence and impacting in the region to the extent possible through partnering with critical stakeholders such as suppliers, NGOs, peer companies and local communities
This year, Coca Cola refreshed and expanded its collaboration with Solidaridad in India—which began in the state of Uttar Pradesh in 2016 and Maharashtra in 2022—to introduce new health and safety and working condition measures at farms that supply the Maharashtra mills with which the Coca-Cola system contracts. These measures include access to clean water, sanitation, shaded rest areas, ergonomic scythes, feminine hygiene products, and grievance mechanisms. We are also working with our partners to implement training for mill management and labor brokers to improve worker recruitment and labor conditions.
Additionally, Coca Cola has further advanced a multi-year effort to help establish the Coalition for Responsible Sugar in India (CRSI), a multi-stakeholder group focused on driving improvements in working conditions and sustainable farming for the Indian sugarcane sector. In January 2025, CRSI is expected to participate in the launch of a project to support migrant sugarcane farm workers at their districts of origin in advance of their migration to certain districts of Maharashtra. The project will aim to establish migration centers that provide pre-departure onboarding, worker rights education, first aid, health and safety training (including women’s health), links to government programs, and training for entrepreneurship, as well as improved access to grievance mechanisms.
While noticeable progress has been made, it is believed that more work is needed, and Coca Cola remains committed to collaborating with relevant stakeholders to drive positive change and create meaningful impacts on the ground in India.
To read more about Sugar Industry continue reading Agriinsite.com
Source : Agro Spectrum
Recommended for you
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
