The Garment and Textile Workers Union (GATWU) passed resolutions urging the Karnataka government to fix the minimum monthly wage for garment workers at Rs 42,000 and also prohibit night shifts for women workers in the garment industry.
At a convention held in Bengaluru on Sunday, July 20, GATWU, which is affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), demanded that they also be included in the minimum wage revision notification issued on April 11 this year.
GATWU demanded that the four labour codes enacted by the Union government be repealed, that working hours remain fixed to eight hours a day – which was a “hard-won historical right” – and not raised to 10, and ban women’s employment in hazardous industries, according to a press release. They also demanded that the state government withdraw proposed labour amendments and urged enacting a law that would guarantee recognition of unions with majority worker membership.
A book titled A Life with Needle and Thread authored by GATWU president R Prathibha, released during the occasion, examines the exploitation of workers in garment companies that reaped profits.
“It also chronicles the determined struggles of garment workers through the Garment and Textile Workers Union, through collective organising and protest, which have compelled companies and the state to recognise and uphold their rights,” the release added.
“Despite being the backbone of an industry that contributes significantly to this country’s export economy, garment workers are paid among the lowest minimum wages. All the workers are women. This is nothing short of institutional gender-based discrimination,” Prathibha said, according to the release.
She pointed out that the government was discriminating against garment workers by limiting their wages to Rs 12,800 a month, while workers in other industries received Rs 18,000.
Rangamma, GATWU vice-president, said it was impossible to live on wages of Rs 12,000 a month. “Rent, food, school fees, medicines—everything costs more. Do women not have the same needs as others? Why are we excluded from wage revisions? Why are we treated as lesser workers?” she said.
Chikamma, executive committee member of GATWU, criticised the Union government’s move to introduce night shifts for women and the state government’s eagerness to amend the laws to allow this to happen.
“Pushing women to work late nights in unsafe and unregulated conditions is not empowerment—it’s exploitation. Women’s health, family lives, and safety are being sacrificed at the altar of profit,” she said.
Renukamma, another executive committee member of GATWU, spoke about the continuing and extensively documented harassment and humiliations they face every day on the factory floor.
“We get shouted at if we take a toilet break, so many of us avoid drinking water during the day. This has such a severe impact on our health,” she said, according to the press release.