“Krishnamurthy, a production manager (PM) at Vidya Creations (a garment factory in Bangalore), used to hit us with a ruler, throw chairs at us, lash the cut cloth against our faces, make us stand at our workplace without work for hours, abuse us in filthy language and even spit on our faces for our inability to meet production targets. We were too afraid to protest for fear of losing the job and used to cry helplessly. I used to wonder, `Is there none to help us?` ” So remembers Rukmini, a garment-worker.

It was then (in 2002) that Rukmini came across a pamphlet of Civil Initiatives for Development & Peace-India (CIVIDEP-India) calling women garment workers for an awareness programme. The meeting was a revelation to her. She had never known that there were so many laws, most of which were not being implemented, to protect women workers like her in the garment sector. She began to visit CIVIDEP`s office for succour along with two to three other workers. Under the guidance of CIVIDEP, she got the courage to take complaints regarding the working conditions in her factory to the State Women`s Commission and the Labour Department. She was thrilled when officials from these bodies took the owners of the unit to task and got Krishnamurthy dismissed. This was the beginning of her activist life.

Soon a 20-women workers` committee called Munnade (loose translation: Onward March), of which Rukmini was a member, was set up with CIVIDEP`s help in the factory. This became a trade union covering six factories called Garment Mahila Karmikara Munnade (GMKM), of which she is currently one of three convenors. Since the Labour Department was not willing to take complaints from unregistered unions, GMKM was registered as a trade union on 29 March 2006.

There are 6 lakh garment workers in Bangalore of whom more than 80 per cent are women workers. The famed IT sector in Bangalore has much less. Yet only about 35,000 workers are said to be aware of unions and only 1,200 workers are members of GMKM. 

GMKM was soon affiliated to the Garment and Textile Workers` Union (GATWU), which covered unions in several cities. It was only when Rukmini`s name appeared in The Guardian, for having spoken at a two-day seminar and rally organised by GATWU, that her current company, Texport Creations, first came to know of her union activities. Promptly, she was shifted from the prestigious stitching section, to the finishing section which had fewer workers. The company hoped that this move would curb her influence. But Rukmini continued to fight against the harassment.

Working in the union has been an uphill task. The company promoted a set of women workers, who trumped up charges against Rukmini and got her suspended.  This led to a protest against her suspension by the women workers, supported by leaders of the women`s and trade union movements. An injunction order was brought against her by the company to prevent her from speaking to the media. Her husband received threatening calls asking him to control his wife`s activities. An enquiry committee tried to inveigle Rukmini to give up her union work by offering Rukmini a house and Rs 10 lakhs in cash. “Why don`t you learn to live well and enjoy life instead of taking on all these problems of workers on yourself?” they tried to tell her. However, Rukmini told them, “I will accept your `gifts` only if you give all the other 800 workers in the union the same benefits.  I would rather drink gruel than eat the ghee rice given by you.”

GMKM brought the fact that their code of conduct was not being followed by the company to the notice of the buyers, GAP. A meeting took place between the buyers, the owners and the workers in which the workers placed their demands: that the injunction order should be taken back, that a workers` committee should be set up for each section – the cutting, stitching and finishing sections, and that Rukmini should be re-instated. 

As a result of the meeting with GAP, several improvements have taken place. The abusive scolding and announcements over the mike, naming slow workers, have stopped. Instead, phones have been installed at every work table. An ambulance has been bought for emergencies and workers` committees set up.  But Rukmini is yet to be re-instated. 

“Why are managements averse to unions? If the factories are not allowing unions, it is evidence that they are exploiting workers,” says Sakamma of Texport Creations. “The government should support the garment sector unions as a large number of women workers are involved in this sector,” she says. Often, union workers are not allowed inside many factories. In such cases, the State Women`s Commission (SWC) should be proactive and talk to the factory owners, say the members. “The SWC should educate workers and supervisory staff on the laws and core labour standards,” says Sakamma.

 But several issues remain unresolved despite unions. Though the working hours are from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., most factories, except the big ones, are making the women work overtime till 6.30 p.m., without additional payment. Shobha of Triangle 6 says, “If buyers fix a rate of 50 pieces per hour, employers extract 100 pieces per hour. Also, women, who provide their men supervisors with favours, do not need to work at all.  They get any amount of leave whereas many others are not given holidays or leave, even when their close relatives die.”

According to Parijatha, Kusuma, Jyothi and Prabhashini of Garments` Karmikara Sangha (GKS), affiliated to the AITUC, there are no crèches in most factories, and ESI and PF are not paid even one year after recruitment. To avoid paying gratuity, women are made to resign at the end of four-and-a-half years and re-instated as fresh workers. Only when a dispute is raised by unions are such issues settled.

All the four women above were with Revanna Apparels earlier. Says K.S. Melukote, President of GKS, “The factory had been closed without paying one-and-a-half month`s salary and seven months` provident fund.  Kusuma was bold enough to break the lock of the factory when they were locked out. The workers fasted for one month, sleeping in the factory with no water and no toilets, but to no avail. The police, initially sympathetic, refused to help the workers after the factory owners allegedly bribed them. The workers became members of GKS and sought its help. The police cooperated once the union entered the picture. Protests by 100-150 workers were held before the Chief Minister`s house and, later, the owner`s house and the workers were eventually successful in getting the back-payment.” Women are now ready to court arrest to press for their demands and several struggles for justice are on in courts.

With the growing presence of unions, notice periods are now being given before firing workers in many factories. Most factories, except the small ones, are now paying the Rs 93 per day fixed by the government as minimum wages. But there is a huge difference between the wages earned by the garment and the IT sector, prime export sectors in Bangalore. Considering also the cost of living in Bangalore, the unions planned a huge rally in the city on minimum wages and gave a memorandum to the Labour Minister and Labour Secretary, demanding that minimum wages should be raised to Rs 200 per day. 

When questioned whether garment factories would be able to pay this wage considering that they were facing stiff competition in the global markets with the Multi-Fibre Agreement ending and the dollar too falling against the rupee, Rukmini says that wages constitute only 2 per cent of the cost of the garments and there were no losses in the garment sector because companies were merging to form even bigger companies. “An investor who had invested Rs 10 crores a few years ago, is now worth Rs 500 crores. One who owned one factory now owns 10 factories,” says Melukote. Gokuldas, for instance, was looking to set up an SEZ for 600 crores. Since the `90s, companies are making huge profits as the domestic market is also strong. “In spite of huge profits, they are not willing to raise wages,” says Jayashree, treasurer of GMKM. 

On the question of there being so much of abuse, harassment and violence against women garment workers despite the presence of unions, the women say that where workers are slightly older or aware of their rights due to the presence of unions, the women are stronger and fight back. The young and immature workers, such as Renuka, hardly out of their teens and unaware of their rights, are vulnerable, feel humiliated by the verbal abuse and commit suicide. “Since the last five years, factories are expanding, but there is a shortage of workers. As a result, harassment of workers has somewhat lessened,” says Melukote.

However, unions have been able to mitigate some of the abuse. When Sakamma, of Texport Creations, was made to sit in the security guard`s room a whole day long without food and water as punishment for a misdemeanour, all the women workers wore black belts on their arms in protest, while continuing to work. When she was removed from work without notice, the union supported her case in the labour court and she was given Rs 48,000 as compensation. When Ammu committed suicide, GMKM collected Rs 15,000 to help her children.

“Men, predominantly, hold the positions of supervisors. But they come from the helper class and are uneducated and uncultured and know nothing of labour laws and human rights. They abuse us with terms like `Bewarsi Munde`, which is the most extreme kind of insult to a woman in our culture,” says Jayashree. In a shocking case of insensitivity, a State Women`s Commission chairperson once said to the women who had brought a complaint of physical abuse in a factory, “They are paying your salary, aren`t they? So let them beat!” “We are getting a salary to work and not to be beaten,” countered the women. 

On how husbands and families react to their union work, members say that if their husbands themselves belong to trade unions, they are supportive of their wives.  However, many men fear that once their wives join a trade union, they will start asserting their rights and demand equality even at home, which they are not prepared for.  Generally, union work has given women a lot of courage, even in domestic matters.

“The Domestic Violence Act has helped to bring in equality in many a home,” say Shashikala and Mallika working in Bombay Rayon. Akkamma used to be beaten by her drunken husband daily. Through the intervention of the union, he has now stopped drinking and is completely reformed. He brings vegetables home, helps his wife cook and even fetches water. Rukmini says, “I made it clear to my husband and mother-in-law right from the beginning that my work with the trade union is a matter of my life and my personal choice and none should interfere in it as long as I am performing my duties to my children and home.” Her family has accepted that.  

 “We realise that the management and workers are both important for the industry to survive. We are not demanding collective bargaining for higher wages. Nor are we inciting workers to strike. We are not demanding palaces or cars. We are only demanding that the existing laws should be enforced so that we can lead a decent and dignified life,” says Rukmini.

Unions have been taking up welfare issues of women workers also.  To strengthen their economic independence, CIVIDEP has promoted 29 self-help groups of the union members. Some of the groups now have a turnover of one-and-a-half lakh rupees per month. Members are able to take loans of up to Rs 20,000 at 1 per cent interest to pay for house advances, school fees, health care, etc.  

GKS held a press conference in February 2007 and demanded houses for garment workers. As a result, the Bangalore Development Authority has, for the first time, allotted 15,000 –  a lion`s share of sites and houses – to garment workers. Since 10-15 per cent women workers are destitute, deserted or widowed, GKS also demanded BPL cards for them.

Garment workers are better off than women workers, who do mostly unskilled work, in other sectors. The links of the garment sector to global MNCs has also given their campaigns more visibility. The interest taken by broader trade union movements, generally headed by men, to plead their cause at national and international fora, has also helped their cause. These struggles may well herald the beginning of changes at the global level to re-think the way in which production relations, determined solely by the bottom line of the balance sheet, may be re-oriented to look at human concerns.