Transnationals Information Exchange-Asia (TIE-Asia): is a non profit, independent, regional labour network.

TIE-Asia began in 1992 in response to the growing number of mostly women workers, who are largely unorganised and precariously employed in the export orientated textile, garment and related industries, within and outside of the zones, which are dominated by suppliers to transnational corporations (TNCs).

TIE-Asia's vision is to: encourage and support the development of unions and democratic workers' organisations (where it is not possible for unions to exist), new forms of organising and broader social coalitions in the export orientated industries (with a focus on the garment and related industries) of South and South-East Asia; to promote and implement the rights of mainly women workers and to bring about improvements to their livelihoods, their families, communities and society.

TIE-Asia regional office is based in Kajang, Malaysia, and has specific programmes implemented through resource people in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia. A regional coordinator based in Kajang, travels regularly throughout the region.

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Funding for this website has been made possible through DFID - Department For International Development and War on Want (UK).

More about TieAsia

TIE-Asia is managed by a board of experienced activists from the Asia/Pacific region. The Coordinator, is responsible for implementing decisions of the board, coordinating TIE-Asia's regional and country specific programmes and day to day operations, including fundraising, administration and financial accountability. To see an organisational chart of TIE-Asia click here.
TIE-Asia's vision is achieved through:

• Encouraging women into leadership positions within the broad labour movement at the local, national, regional and international levels;
• Supporting self organisation of workers and the development of unions and democratic worker organisations;
• Supporting the development of a woman led garment and textile network in Asia;
• Identifying, documenting and analysing new issues, trends and developments and their impact on workers and the labour movement;
• Ensuring information is accessible to workers on for example trends, issues, workers rights (labour law) and ILO Conventions , activists/leaders and organisers in their own languages;
• Extensive training programmes;
• Regional and national seminars;
• Supporting campaigns from the factory floor and initiating campaigns on broad labour issues at the national, regional and international levels;
• Facilitating (in workers' own languages) the sharing of information, experiences and strategies through focused regional exchange programmes, national seminars and internal exchange programmes;
• Re-establishing links between urban and rural workers through internal exchange programmes. In Sri Lanka exchange programmes are also held between women workers of the FTZs and Tamil workers in District factories and Tea Plantation workers;
• Networking with other labour and related organisations  

Since its inception TIE-Asia has worked on the following:

• Capacity building and awareness raising activities with democratic local and national unions and worker organisations;
•  Supported worker campaigns through lobbying government and campaigning at regional and international level (with a central focus on the freedom of association and the right to organise unions and collectively bargain), and played an active role in the codes of conduct debate providing a workers perspective, based on the experiences of some Asian workers and their unions;
• Developed and supported Leadership Training Programmes, Train the Trainer Programmes for Organisers and seminars on current trends and issues within the garment industry, Free Trade Zones and broader labour movement;
• Researched, distributed and publicised work on current trends in the textile and garment industries (for eg the impact of the phase out of the MulitFibre agreement in 2005 and bilateral trade and investment agreements), life-stories of actual workers struggles, (for use as resource material and studies across Asia);
• Conducted various exchange programmes between factory floor activists and organisers aimed at developing a women led regional textile and garment workers network, a concrete understanding of organising along the international subcontracting chain and train the trainer programmes;
• Regional Training Seminars that are focused and strategically relevant to worker organisations;
• Occasional publication of newspapers and newsletters. Translated and distributed in five languages, targeting garments and textiles workers;
• Development of spoken and written English language capacity for activists who identify this as important for their work, particularly in a regional context 

TIE-Asia works with over 33 local and national labour organisations, reaching over 50,000 workers in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia. At the regional and international level TIE-Asia works on a regular basis with approximately 10 labour organisations and informally with many others.
For contact information about the different organisations TIE-Asia supports and works with, go to the relevant section in 'Countries'.

TIE
an international network

Transnationals Information Exchange (TIE) is an international network of workers. TIE-Asia is part of this network. The TIE network includes both organised and unorganised workers in the industrial, agricultural and informal sectors, which are dominated by transnational corporations (TNCs).

TIE aims to help workers understand economic, social and political developments within the international context. Developing this understanding enables workers to organise and formulate their own strategies and facilitates the building of international solidarity as a response to the policies of these companies.

Since its formation in 1978 TIE has organised a range of local, regional and international conferences, exchange visits, exposure tours and educational seminars. It has produced publications and other materials targeted mainly at the support and the creation of international networks of workers.

Today, TIE still supports these networks, however, the dramatic changes of the late 1980s have led TIE to focus more on neo-liberalism, lean production and social, political and economic exclusion, its mechanisms and how workers' interests are going to be represented in the future.

TIE is a politically independent non-profit organisation that receives project funding from development and church-based agencies, participating workers' organisations and its network of activists. TIE has offices in The Netherlands, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Russia, Germany and the United States. 

Contact details for TIE offices worldwide:

TIE-Germany
TIE Bildungswerk
Bleichstr 9
63065 Offenbach
Germany
email: tie.germany@t-online.de

TIE-Netherlands 
De Wittenkade 25 
1052 AK Amsterdam
Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 6642191
Fax: +31 20 6730179
E-mail: info@tie-netherlands.nl 
Website: www.tie-netherlands.nl 

TIE-North America
7435 Michigan Ave
Detroit
MI 48210
USA
email: tienortham@mindspring.com

TIE-USA (South)
PO Box 961768 Riverdale
Georgia 30269
USA
email: binta@mindspring.com

TIE-Russia
121099 Russia
Moscow
Smolenskaya St 10-290
email:tie@atom.ru
tiemos@cityline.ru

TIE-Brazil
c/o Rua Elisio
Medrado No.127
CEP 03222-040
San Paulo
Brazil
email: tie-brasil@uol.com.br

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