The issue of minimum wage for garment workers in Tamil Nadu is getting momentum from the Supreme Court as well as from on the ground, as an industry body has approached the court and at the same time, workers and members of the Garment and Fashion Workers’ Union (GAFWU) have protested outside the labour commissioner’s office in Chennai. They express their anger against what they say is a “prolonged delay” in the announcement of a new floor wage.
However, the industry, especially in Tirupur which is the major hub of garment manufacturing in the state, claims that workers are getting more than minimum wage and its unions are doing it only for their own interest.
Last week, when the wage case was brought back to the Supreme Court, through a special application by GAFWU, union members present noted that the judge was appalled to see that the revised wage notification had not yet been issued by the state.
It has been said that responding to protesting workers’ demands, the deputy commissioner of labour assured workers that the wage would be determined in accordance with the draft notification of 2014, before the next Supreme Court hearing.
“We need stronger and more robust mechanisms to deliver a just minimum wage to stop wage arbitrage in the global supply chain,” said Gautam Mody, convener of Unions United, the industrial federation that counts GAFWU as a member, as well as a member of IndustriALL Global Union’s executive committee.
According to the Minimum Wages Act of India, it is required to increase the minimum wage every five years. Tamil Nadu did this last in 2014.
As per the workers’ union, for the past decade, the monthly pay for garment workers has stalled between Rs. 9,875 (US $ 119) and Rs. 10,514 (US $ 127). With the implementation of the new minimum wage, the monthly wage will range between Rs. 15,211 (US $ 183), for the lowest category, and Rs. 16,379 (US $ 197) for the highest category, depending on skill.
While on the other hand, Raja Shanmugham, Former President, Tirupur Exporters Association told Apparel Resources, “In Tirupur, unskilled workers are getting monthly wage of Rs. 13,000 – 15,000 while skilled workers get Rs. 30,000 or even more. There are proper social audits and monitoring regarding the wage payments and industry is concerned about the workers.”
IndustriAll strongly claims that the increase was never implemented because more than 500 manufacturers took the matter to court, claiming that it would be practically impossible to pay the new wage.
Sujata, an activist associated with Garment and Fashion Workers Union (GAFWU) insists that there are large number of workers who are not getting a proper minimum wage and those who are getting a certain wage, work for long hours and there is not any kind of social security for them as well. If the industry is concerned about workers, they should not go to court against the wage revision.
