Indian women braid straps for big brands in conditions ‘worse than sweatshops’

MUMBAI: Every day, after she finishes cooking, cleaning and fetching water for her tiny one-room home in India’s financial capital Mumbai, Saubhagya Nadelkari picks up a stack of leather strips and makes her way to her neighbour’s home.

There, in a narrow alley that is covered with plastic, about half a dozen women sit or stand as they braid long strips for use in belts, sandals and bags. They talk and laugh as their fingers fly, knotting each strip at the end when it is done.