Women Garment Workers Organize Against Inhumane Conditions in India

[Omaha Steve]

Textile workers in Bangalore, India, put garments together for American companies like Walmart and The Gap, on July 26, 2004. (Photo: Namas Bhojani/The New York Times)

http://truth-out.org/news/item/28603-women-garment-workers-organize-against-inhumane-conditions-in-india


Sunday, 18 January 2015 09:16
By Pushpa Achanta, Waging Nonviolence | Report

Rajasthan, northwestern India’s largest state, is popular for its palaces, desert and folk arts, but notorious for child marriages and the poor social status of women. In June 2014, its government amended several laws - including the Factories Act of 1948, Contract Labor Act of 1970 and Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 - to restrict worker unionization, while relaxing employer obligations after they lay workers off. The Indian government might also modify these laws, as the political party governing Rajasthan and India prefers deregulating companies and favoring employers and industrial growth over human rights. These modified laws adversely impact garment workers, most of whom work in inhumane conditions.

“Married at 15 and a mother a year later, I have toiled in exploitative garment factories for two decades, as I need money but lack skills,” said a 38-year old woman from Ramanagaram district, near Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, a state in southwestern India. She is among Bangalore’s 400,000 garment workers, who manufacture many domestic and international brands that are sold locally and exported. Women comprise over 80 percent of Indian apparel workers concentrated in Bangalore, Tirupur in southern India, and Gurgaon in northern India.

Garment workers sew nearly 150 pieces an hour, and make up for any shortfall in daily targets without overtime pay, even if pregnant or unwell. If they don’t meet their quotas, they face deductions from their wages and, sometimes, lose their jobs. Wages are currently around 252 rupees, or $4.00 per a day. A few employers do not make their mandatory payments to the provident fund, or social security, for their employees, which amounts to 12 percent of their monthly salaries. Furthermore, male supervisors abuse women workers, verbally, sexually and physically.

Typically between 18-25 years old, Karnataka’s women garment workers are minimally skilled and belong to socioeconomically disadvantaged families in villages and small towns, who share overcrowded accommodation in Bangalore. They stitch while standing or sitting upright for around nine hours a day with poor lighting and ventilation, and minimal breaks for using the bathroom and meals; they often suffer from backaches, respiratory ailments and itching.

FULL story at link.