SEWA Union
SEWA Kerala was officially registered as a union in 2008, though it had been active for over a decade earlier under SEWA Gujarat. After gaining recognition as a Central Trade Union, it established its presence in Kerala. SEWA works to build awareness among self-employed women, helping them recognize their identity as workers, access welfare benefits, and organize for better wages. Starting in Thiruvananthapuram, it has expanded across multiple districts and, as of 2015, has around 15,000 members from various informal sectors.
The Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Union was registered in Kerala only in 2008. Although it existed for over a decade prior to this date, the members of the SEWA union in Kerala were affiliated to the SEWA Union in Gujarat. It is only after the SEWA union got the status of a Central Trade Union, did it get registration in Kerala.
At the women workers level, SEWA builds awareness among the women who work for a living but who themselves do not consider themselves as workers because they do not earn a regular wage. Helping them unionize has also meant that women have been able to take advantage of benefits of welfare boards where they exist and other benefits like the RSBY. In specific cases like the bamboo workers and domestic workers, SEWA has helped women organize their own self activity so that they are able to also get decent wages. While the SEWA union in Kerala was initiated in Trivandrum District, it then built up in Ernakulam District and now is gradually spreading to Kollam, Kottayam, Allapuzha, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts and more recently in Idukki and Pathanamthitta Districts. It has a registered membership of 15000 workers from different sections of the informal sector. (2015)
Women workers are categorized into different trades like
• Domestic work • Street vending • Fish related work • Tailoring • Reed work • Home-based work SEWA Kerala has established a strong and growing presence across 11 districts in the state as of 2025. These include Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Wayanad.
President: Sunita S. L 9388137989
Secretary: Sonia George 9446551484 sewaunion08@gmail.com
Contact:
SEWA - Union (State office) KRAD-47, Kunnumpuram Road GPO, Thiruvananthapuram 695001 Phone No: 0471-2465007 Pathanamthitta
2nd Floor, Amprayil Shopping Complex, Opp. YMCA Jn
Near Ann’s Bakery, T.K road, Thiruvalla 689101
9946363180
Kottayam
Opp. Thirunakkara Bus stand
Near Aishwarya Studio, Kottyam
9895756173
Alappuzha
SEWA UNION
Room No-124
Sathram Shopping complex
District Court ward
Thathampally PO
Alappuzha
8547490042
Ernakulam
Judges Avenue
Kaloor, Trivandrum
8089724662
Malappuram
Tanur
OPK Building,
Near Railway Station Road, Tanur PO
Malappuram 676302
8848017381
Nilambur
SEWA UNION
Chanthakunnu
Veliyamthode
Nilambur
Malappuram
Phone: 9847322105
Kozhikode
Mufis Building
Ground Floor
Nadakkav Cross road
Kozhikode
9745737624
The Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Union was registered in Kerala only in 2008. Although it existed for over a decade prior to this date, the members of the SEWA union in Kerala were affiliated to the SEWA Union in Gujarat. It is only after the SEWA union got the status of a Central Trade Union, did it get registration in Kerala.
At the women workers level, SEWA builds awareness among the women who work for a living but who themselves do not consider themselves as workers because they do not earn a regular wage. Helping them unionize has also meant that women have been able to take advantage of benefits of welfare boards where they exist and other benefits like the RSBY. In specific cases like the bamboo workers and domestic workers, SEWA has helped women organize their own self activity so that they are able to also get decent wages. While the SEWA union in Kerala was initiated in Trivandrum District, it then built up in Ernakulam District and now is gradually spreading to Kollam, Kottayam, Allapuzha, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts and more recently in Idukki and Pathanamthitta Districts. It has a registered membership of 15000 workers from different sections of the informal sector. (2015)
Women workers are categorized into different trades like
• Domestic work • Street vending • Fish related work • Tailoring • Reed work • Home-based work SEWA Kerala has established a strong and growing presence across 11 districts in the state as of 2025. These include Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Wayanad.
President: Sunita S. L 9388137989
Secretary: Sonia George 9446551484 sewaunion08@gmail.com
Contact:
SEWA - Union (State office) KRAD-47, Kunnumpuram Road GPO, Thiruvananthapuram 695001 Phone No: 0471-2465007 Pathanamthitta
2nd Floor, Amprayil Shopping Complex, Opp. YMCA Jn
Near Ann’s Bakery, T.K road, Thiruvalla 689101
9946363180
Kottayam
Opp. Thirunakkara Bus stand
Near Aishwarya Studio, Kottyam
9895756173
Alappuzha
SEWA UNION
Room No-124
Sathram Shopping complex
District Court ward
Thathampally PO
Alappuzha
8547490042
Ernakulam
Judges Avenue
Kaloor, Trivandrum
8089724662
Malappuram
Tanur
OPK Building,
Near Railway Station Road, Tanur PO
Malappuram 676302
8848017381
Nilambur
SEWA UNION
Chanthakunnu
Veliyamthode
Nilambur
Malappuram
Phone: 9847322105
Kozhikode
Mufis Building
Ground Floor
Nadakkav Cross road
Kozhikode
9745737624