ABSTRACT
The case studies draw on individual and group interviews/discussions with women workers, activists and organisers (at least ten, sometimes many more), carried out by myself, sometimes with various colleagues.1 They also use whatever documentary material is available: collective agreements wherever they exist, court cases published in the Bombay Government Gazette and Maharashtra Government Gazette, and Annual Reports, leaflets, pamphlets and other publications by the groups being studied. My association with the pharmaceutical workers is an ongoing one, dating back to the early 1980s, and recent information is from male union activists; the association with the garment workers is also ongoing, but started much more recently (i.e. in 1998). The other cases were carried out by staying for some time in the places where they are located during the period 1994-6. A case study approach seemed the best way to do justice to the diversity of circumstances and strategies. It also provided a good opportunity to find out how the women themselves felt about their work and organisations.
