Gurgaon Workers News: Updates from factory struggles
The article sums up workers struggle in 3 factories in the Gurgaon area in North India: Liliput Kids Wear factory, Unistyle ,and Wearwell. It is sourced from Gurgaon Workers News.
Liliput Kids Wear factory
On 11th of April 2009 about 600 skilled tailors struck work in the Liliput Kids Wear factory (D-3 Okhla Phase 1) in order to increase the piece-rate payment. Two managers were beaten up after they tore a cardboard on which another skilled worker had written the demand “25 Rs per hour”.
The factory kept on running, but on 12th of April the tailors did not resume work. On Monday the police stopped the skilled workers at the gate: if you want to work, go inside; if you won’t work, stay outside. As no-one went inside the police started to disperse the crowd with a lathi attack. After the intervention of the Parishad the police withdrew from the gate and the tailors went inside the factory. The company offered to increase the rate from 18 to 19 Rs, but the tailors did not agree. When work still did not resume on 14th of April the first rumours about dismissals emerged… some 10 or 12 workers who had talked too openly and loudly during the dispute were made to hand in their notice one by one – and the company had them beaten up by some young goons when they had left the factory. It is known that the company pays 20 Rs in the NOIDA factory – here work resumed for 19 Rs when the company told us to. While the tailors were on strike the workers in the finishing, washing and cutting-department had continued working. On 18th of April the company started to shift machines to NOIDA.
Unistyle Workers
The factory is situated on plot B-51 in Okhla Phase 1. In the factory 200 workers are employed, only 10 by the company itself. The women workers who cut threads get 80 Rs for an 8-hours shift. The rest of the workers work longer hours, starting at 9 am and finishing at midnight. For a certain order of garments the tailors were asking for 25 Rs per piece, but the company offered 15 Rs.
The tailors answered by stopping work on 30th of January 2009. The manager told them to go back to work and that he will talk to the company director. After two hours he said that he could not fix a new rate yet. The tailors stopped working again. On 31st of January 2009 we worked for four hours, but after not getting the desired rate we stopped the machines again. The same on the 1st and 2nd of February. On 3rd and 4th of February we did not work at all, we sat inside the factory and the machines did not run. On 5th of February at 12 am – after having seen us sit idle the whole day – the company offered a rate of 20 Rs and work resumed. In the end they gave 19.5 Rs per piece. In the company documents shown to the client they note down a rate which is 2 Rs higher – the 2 Rs are cashed by the production manager and the contractor.
And the story continues. In May 2009 we had to work on an order for Elisa and Mara. On 30th of May 2009 the company announced a piece rate of 11.65 Rs and 28.85 Rs for the order. Hearing this the 40 tailors stopped working. The company then offered 13 Rs and 32 Rs respectively, but the tailors refused the offer and demanded 17.80 Rs and 40 Rs instead. The strike continued on 30th and on 31st of May. The conflict continued in June 2009. On 13th of June the tailors stopped work and reiterated their demand for 40 Rs per Elisa T-Shirt. On 15th of June management at first repeated their offer of 32 Rs, when the tailors refused they offered 35 Rs. The tailors were still not happy and refused work – the pressure from the contractor’s master made no serious impression on them. On 16th of June all machines were silent till 12:30 pm, the company’s ‘in-charge’ then offered 37 Rs. The tailors decided to start working after the lunch break. While the tailors were on strike the workers in the finishing department continued working, but only 8 instead of 11 hours. The 20 female workers who cut threads in the finishing department still get only 2,300 to 2,400 Rs per month.
In July 2009 the young worker told us that in the end they succeeded in increasing the piece rate by 50 per cent – but after the order was finished the management announced in mid-July that for the next two weeks there won’t be any work available…
Wearwell Workers
The factory is situated on Plot B-134 in Okhla Phase 1. One of the main buyers of Wearwell is Marks and Spencer.
www.marksandspencer.com/
Workers have to work from 9 am till 1 am. Management swears at us a lot. Over-time is paid at single rate, you have to pay 20 Rs for a meal in the factory, but the food is pathetic. The 150 to 200 casual workers don’t get ESI or PF. The 25 women workers who cut threads get 1,800 to 2,000 Rs per month.
On the 9th of July 2009 at 10 pm about 400 workers had to squeeze through a side entrance in order to get out for their break. Officially work stops at 9 pm, all over-time is paid unofficially. A security guard started pushing people with his lathi, a dangerous situation given the masses of people in a very confined space. Some workers pushed him back, five more security guards arrived and started hitting with their lathis.
Workers got rather angry about that, all the workers present got engaged in beating up the security guards. The management called the cops, the cops asked for names. Workers answered that they would all beat up the guards and that they would beat up the manager, as well. The cops left after mumbling some empty threats. Work continued as usual till 1 am. The next day management singled out six young workers – they told them that they would pay 20,000 Rs to the police in order to take them to the police station and beat them up. A common practice in Delhi’s industrial areas.
What is unusal is the fact that management did not suspend these workers! First of all, because they were unsure about the reaction of the other hundreds of workers, both permanents and casuals, after having seen their joint fist-fight with the guards and their behaviour in front of the police. Secondly, because in the charge and suspension letter they would have to admit that the factory was running at 10 pm, while it should have been closed.
The workers were not too impressed. The following day they were ordered to the police station. The police and a middle-man were present. They asked the workers for 1,500 Rs in order to settle things. On 8th of August five workers were stopped at the factory gate to take their final dues, but they refused. The Workers inside protested and 21 more workers have been stopped at the gate. A union middle-man started to negotiate about leaving pay, but by end of August things remained unsettled. One of many little conflicts under the surface.
