Child-and-adult-labour-in-the-export-oriented-garment-and-gem-polishing-industry-of-India

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Adult labour in the garment export industry of Bangalore
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were not living or need-based wages as all the workers complained about financial problems. The
financial problems concerned the difficulty workers faced to pay the house rent, and/or the food,
water and electricity bills. The financial problems occurred especially in times of illness or when
one of their family members was ill.
- The wages of the interviewed workers were not minimum wages, especially not the wages of
women workers. If one calculates the wage level according to the official minimum wage plus the
extra money for the overtime work, the wages of the workers should have been much higher than
they received at present, especially the female workers should have earned much more.
- Though the interviewed workers stated that they were paid statutory benefits like ESI, PF,
bonuses, sickness leave, maternity leave, 1,5 to 2 times paid wages per hour which is worked
overtime etc., I have serious doubts with the truth of their answers. The workers were so afraid of
losing their jobs that it is likely that they withheld crucial information. The answers of the
workers were checked with various sources in Bangalore like the National Centre for Labour and
a development journalist from Bangalore. These sources could not check the information given
by the women with the respective employers of these women. In general, the sources said, 'the
majority of the employers do not pay workers the statutory benefits and extra payments for
overtime work'. The majority of the interviewed workers said that they would have been
dismissed from the job when they fall ill, or when they ask for benefits. The interviewed women
said that they were dismissed from the job when they had to give birth to a child.
- No bargaining agreement existed between the employers and the workers. Workers were not
permanent, not registered, unorganized, forbidden to join labour unions, did not have job security.
In slack times the factory closes its doors and the workers are jobless. Work could be ended at
any time if the employer decided to do so, and that happened long before there is a chance a worker
could become permanent. Workers had to find a new job again in another manufacturing unit
where they had to start in the probationary period again.
- Health hazards included knee, back and body pain due to being in a standing position for the
whole day. Other factors which had repercussion on the health of workers were: work pressure,
harsh attitudes of supervisors, stress for becoming ill or pregnant, and continuous threads made
by employers that workers would lose their job if they did not work overtime or if they joined labour
unions.
- The case study of a garment manufacturing company in Bangalore revealed that the exporter
forbade workers to join labour unions and that a bargaining agreement between the employer and
the workers of this unit was absent. The European retailers who buy their garments from this
exporter in Bangalore in whose company the labour conditions and standards were poor, are:
C&A and Quelle.