Garment factory management used coercive techniques to fire workers: Study

Bengaluru: In a study conducted by Garment and Textile Workers' Union (GATWU) and Alternative Law Forum (ALF) it is revealed that stealthy closures and the widespread practice of forced resignations in the garment industry in Bengaluru in the latter half of 2020 were prevalent.

"Factory management claimed to their employees that they were under loss and were closing down. They also used various strategies to force workers into resigning at very short notice. These strategies included threatening workers that they would not get their dues if they did not resign immediately, stopping transport previously provided to workers, transferring workers to other units within the company without providing adequate transport or promising to hire them back when situation stabilises," the study read.

In these situations of duress constructed by factory managements, workers had no other choice but to resign. By getting workers to resign, factory managements were able to bypass the legally mandated requirement to pay retrenchment or closure compensation.

The report said that even as these mass resignations were taking place in factories across the city, the labour department has been oblivious to it. "We know of no instances where any inspections or enquiries have been launched into these mass resignations.

In the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday, Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar stated that nearly one lakh garment workers across the state had lost their jobs. But the question is when such a large number of women workers losing employment during the pandemic, did they get legally mandated compensation? Has the labour department kept track and ensured workers got their compensation?" the study said.

Workers in the study reported great distress when they were suddenly made to resign and had no savings to tide over the period of unemployment. Most workers' spouses worked in the informal sector and had either lost their jobs or had seen their wages reduce significantly.

"This loss of income significantly affected nutrition security of working-class households, increased the burden of debt and impacted educational opportunities for children. The question that needs to be asked is what has the state done to identify these women who have 'lost' their jobs and help them tide over the crises?" the report read.