Women's Employment - United Nations Research Institute for Social ...

Women’s employment in the textile manufacturing sectors of Bangladesh and Morocco
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made. This coercion is justified, in the eyes of most of the factory heads,
by the irresponsible behaviour of the women workers. Interestingly,
such rationalizations sit in stark contrast to attitudes voiced by the
same factory heads about the docility and compliance of women
workers. According to factory heads, authority is exercised in order
to ensure that the jobs are done and that the workers are diligent,
that they respect the hours of work and do not cheat. Once again we
see a social presupposition that attributes irresponsible behaviour to
those in subordinate positions, in order to justify the domination and
authority of the bosses.
The authority of the workshop heads is always present and direct
and it puts the women workers in a permanent state of fear of
authority. As soon as the immediate authority is removed it unleashes
behaviour that is not always responsible. As we see below,
authoritarian practices may trigger off defence mechanisms which
take the form of cheating, sabotage or stealing, which may be
interpreted as signs of agency and protest.
6. Penalties and rewards: Blocked professional mobility
In spite of the authoritarian factory regimes, a surprisingly small
number of women workers reported having received sanctions or
penalties. How can this information be interpreted? One explanation
is that the workshop heads exercise direct control; therefore, women
workers are prevented from committing errors and thus incurring
penalties. At the same time, fear of punishment and deductions from
the pay packet likely deter errors on the part of the women workers.
In the carpet sector, work that is badly done is destroyed, which can
cause the weaver to lose one or two days’ work. In the garment and
knitwear sectors, a mistake means a reduction in wages.
The most serious penalty is dismissal, which is used as an
example to others to avoid mistakes and penalties in the future. All
factory heads try, through their workshop heads, to establish a strict
discipline that leaves little room for error.
It was difficult to establish a regular discipline at the beginning.
But we took steps from the start to instill it. For the Eid celebration
they were given two days’ paid leave, but 25 women workers took
an extra day and they were sacked. Since then no one has been absent
as they know if they prolong their leave they will be dismissed.
They are not allowed to be late either. If a worker is a few minutes
late in the morning, she upsets the assembly line. If she is late once
she is told off verbally, but if it happens again she is sacked. (Head
of garment factory)