Bangalore: Even as women the world over celebrate March 8 as the International Women's Day, the plight of working women in many sectors is far from satisfactory.

One of the starkest examples of this is the garment industry, which employs nearly three lakh women in Bangalore.

A fact-finding team, which investigated the death of a garment factory worker in Bangalore, has thrown up the seamier side of the industry which has seen a large economic boom in the recent years.

Labour rights

The Joint Action Committee for the Rights of Garment Workers has drawn attention to "gross violations of human rights and labour rights" in the garment industry, which has a large number of women employees, in a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

These violations came to the committee's notice while it was investigating the death of the garment worker, Ammu, in February 13, 2007.

Protest

The committee has organised a candlelight vigil on Thursday at Town Hall in Bangalore to focus on the conditions of women in the garment industry, with specific reference to the death of the woman.

While observing that the death of the 25-year-old worker was the result of the harassment allegedly by her superiors in the factory over an extended period of time, the committee has said that this incident points to larger violations in the industry as a whole.

The committee, which consists of 15 non-governmental organisations, labour organisations and human rights groups, has said that garment workers are often paid below the statutory minimum wage, made to work beyond eight hours and subjected to harassment thought the industry is seeing an economic boom.

These violations are always denied by the companies themselves and covered up by the authorities and the police, claimed Hassan Mansoor of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Shakun of Vimochana here on Wednesday.

Another instance

Citing another instance of alleged harassment, the committee has pointed out that V.P. Rukmini, general secretary of Garment and Textile Workers' Union, was suspended by her employer for taking up issues of labour rights violations.

The management of the company for which Ms. Rukmini worked has even got an injunction against the union and its office-bearers against communicating anything about the company to outsiders, the committee has said.

The committee has noted that these cases hold a mirror to the "sorry state of affairs of a city that prides itself as being choice destination for investment and modern business."

Tripartite meeting

The committee has appealed to the Chief Minister to ensure that a tripartite meeting of the Labour Department, garment industry employers and employees organisations be held, an impartial investigation of the death of Ammu be initiated and the Labour Department be instructed to be vigilant on protecting the rights of workers in the garment industry.

The member organisations of the committee include Vimochana, Fedina, Garment Mahila Karmikara Munnade, Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women, Garment and Textile Workers' Union, Alternate Law Forum, People's Union for Civil Liberties and Hengasara Hakkina Sangha.

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