Women workers in the garment and textile sector in Tamil Nadu, India

A garment factory, Tirupur. It is virtually impossible to getpictures inside sumangali and camp labour factories.

Homeworkers Worldwide (HWW) are working withpartners in Tamil Nadu, South India:READ Foundation, in Pudukkottai -RuralEducation and DevelopmentSAVE, in Tirupur -Social Awareness and VoluntaryEducationThis work is part of a Women Working Worldwide (WWW)DfID RAGS scheme: improving conditions for womenworkers in garment sector: India, Bangladesh and Lesotho.

Planning workshop, May 2011, Tamil Nadu

Focus: Unorganised women workers in the export garmentand textile sector in Tamil Nadu.Young women workers working in garment factoriesand spinning mills in Tirupur and surrounding areas -READ in PudukkottaiWomen workers in informal homebased workshopsand homeworkers in some areas of Tirupur - SAVEAim: To raise awareness and develop organisation amongwomen workers, with focus on women’s leadershipGeneral Profile: No labour rights or union organisation

Map of Tamil NaduTaken from SOMOCaptured by CottonReport, 2011

Informal homebased workshop, Tirupur

Sumangali and Camp LabourSumangali: young women workers 14-20 years old, recruitedfor fixed period; wages not paid in full with lump sum at end ofcontract, usually 3 years, for “marriage expenses”. Declaredillegal by interim order of the Madras High Court.Camp labour: similar to sumangali except that there is no fixedcontract or lump sum.In both systems, young women are recruited from distant ruralareas and live in company-controlled hostels.Campaigning in India has exposed both systems as violatinghuman and labour rights: sumangali - a form of bonded labour,both have elements of forced labour.

‘The work is heavy and sometimes we have to work 24 hoursnon-stop. The food is not good and our bodies get weak.’Village meeting with women garment workers, Pudukkottai,April 2011

PudukkottaiPoor rural district, about five hourstravel away from Tirupur andCoimbatore, the main centres ofthe garment and textile sector.Young women from the villages arerecruited by agents; targeting thepoorest families, often dalits, whoare living in great poverty withdifficulty in meeting basic livingexpenses.

Read Foundation is working invillages in Pudokkottai to:-contact women workers-raise awareness of rightsthrough training-develop basic organisationSome of the women havecompleted their contracts;others have left their work andsome have returned to theirvillages on leave.

READ Survey Results - October 2011 - 1589 workersThe breakdown of type of labour scheme was:Age when started work:Sumangali scheme 778Camp labour 526Local 199Other 8613-15 46216-18 56119-20 32921 & above 237Education: All the young women had gone to school up to 8th grade, whenthey were approx. 13 years old.About one fifth of the women are married

‘If something changes we can go back to work there… now the garmentfactory is like a prison. There is no respect, there is too much scolding.’Training on women’s leadership with garment workers, Pudukkottai,October 2011

Read Survey Results - October 2011 - 1589 workersConditions of employment and payRupees a month -net1000 – 2000 Rs 6702000 - 3000 Rs 6643000 – 4000 Rs 255Only the last group (one in 6 of the women surveyed) appear to come nearpayment of minimum wage.However, these figures are not exact since many women did not know whattheir gross pay was – the true figure is likely to be even fewer receivingminimum wage.Minimum wage calculations are based on an assumed 8 hour day, and a 6day week while the majority of women reported working much longer hours,with a 12 hour shift, and 7 day week being the norm.

‘The company should not cheat on shift times and overtime.’Village meeting with women garment workers,Pudukkottai, April 2011

General picture is one of violation of human rights, on basis ofage, gender and caste, as well as violation of workers’ rights.UNACCEPTABLE LIVING STANDARDS - Bad standard of food,accommodation and sanitationLIKE A PRISON “It is like a prison” - only allowed out one day a month - nofreedom of movement or associationEXCESSIVE WORKING HOURS - Standard 12 hour shift, with compulsoryovertime. Sometimes 8 am to 8 pm shift, followed by meal break thenworking from 9 pm to midnight or beyond. Frequent Sunday work whenorders needed completing, 7 day working.NON PAYMENT - of lump sum, sometimes when full 3 years work notcompleted.ABUSE - Sexual harassment and/or harsh and abusive treatment bysupervisersISOLATION - Lack of contact with parents, family and friends because ofdenial of leave, difficulty of visits and phone calls.

Leadership training with garment workers, Pudukkottai, April 2011.Four of the women in this group reported starting workin spinning mills at 12 years old.

These abuses lead to serious long-term health problems…Overwork leading to exhaustion and ill healthBreathing problems – caused by inhaling lint.Anaemia and lacking strength due to poor food.Menstrual and reproductive problems.Health problems which persist after they have stopped workingin factories or mills, e.g. reproductive or breathing problems.A ‘disposable’ workforce? Worn out after a few months or yearsof overwork in poor conditions - there are always more youngwomen to fill their shoes.Fatalities – 12 deaths recorded by SAVE

RanukaOn a September 2011 field visit to Melappatti wemet with a group of young women and the motherof Ranuka.Ranuka died at a spinning mill in Dindigul, aged18, having worked at the mill for 2 years.She worked on spinning and cone winding.Regular hours were 12 hour shifts, 8am-8pm butoften they worked overtime, sometimes throughthe whole night. Gross wages were 1500Rs amonth, but take-home was only 900Rs.On the day she died, Ranuka worked all day,though unwell. She complained of chest painsthat night, and was given some ointment but shedied.Her family believe her death was the result ofwork-related breathing problems. Suganya,Ranuka’s sister, and 25 other young womenworking at the mill returned to the village afterRanuka’s death.Ranuka’s mother, inMelappatti, Sept 2011

‘We need hygiene and good food. The idli are like a stone, we can throw them.’Training session, October 2011

Campaigns and OrganisingThere have been a number ofreports, campaigns and otherinitiatives exposing conditions inthe factories and mills, particularlyfor young woman workers -mainly ‘adolescents’.SAVE has been centrally involvedin these campaigns, through theTirupur People’s Forum (TPF)which involves 40 NGOs fromareas of recruitment, includingRead Foundation.Sketching supply chains at a campaignplanning workshop, May 2011

‘We have to know the law and insist that the government implement thelaw. We have to demand our rights and raise our voice.’READ Foundation training women leaders to set up Sangam (localorganisations with up to 20 members). April 2011.

Training for organisingREAD Foundation•working with young women andtheir parents on sumangali andcamp labour issues•collecting information aboutconditions•leadership and rights trainingwith groups of young women•setting up sangams (localorganizations) in some villages•helping women claim unpaidwages from companies.SAVE•working with informal womenworkers in homebasedworkshops and those working intheir own homes•leadership and rights trainingprogramme•supporting women in setting upSelf Help Groups (SHGs) linkedto an existing Federation ofSHGs.

SAVE fieldworker discusses establishing a Self Help Groupwith homebased garment workers. October 2011

Context for organisingMARKETSIn the case of READ’s work, most garment companies produce forexport. Spinning mill production is more varied, with a mix of export,national and local markets.In the case of SAVE’s work on informal workshops and homework inTirupur, production is for a mix of export, national and local markets.ALLIANCESGood relations with local and state-level trade unions. But tradeunions mainly organise among the ‘core’ workforce in factories(mainly men); rarely organise informal workers and are not allowedby law to recruit workers under 18.PROJECT AIMSMedium term - no forced labour; social security; min wages.Long-term - decent working conditions for all textile and garmentworkers

Workers under 18 cannot, by law join trade unions.Village meeting, October 2011

Actions for the ETI and companies•Current conditions are unacceptable•Employment in textile and garment industry wanted andneeded.•An opportunity for companies to go beyond prohibition ofsumangali/camp labour.•Promote transformation into decent work for women incompliance with both national law and international standards.•First step in wider improvements throughout the chain -addressing the many forms of irregular work, where womenare concentrated and violations are most likely to take place.

Young migrant women working in homebasedchecking centre on garments for export, Tirupur.The garmentsector can andshould be a routeout of poverty,rather than intoexploitation.

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