The garment and textile workers of Karnataka have come on streets!
Highly disillusioned by successive governments for their failure to increase the minimum wages, the garment workers, majorly women, were on streets today to demand an increase in minimum wages.
The workers today gathered in front of labour department at 2 PM and started protesting for the delay on the part of the Government to fix the wages.
The protest was organised by the Garments and Textile Workers Union (GATWU).
GATWU said in a press release that “Karnataka’s female labour force amounting to lakhs, who are under the care of the Government, receive only minimum wages. Employers never pay more than minimum wages. Due to this, the minimum wages fixed by the Government are very important for these labourers.”
It also added “The wages had to be revised once in every 3-5 years, but have remained stagnant even after 6 years. This shows the extent of apathy shown by the Government towards female workers.”
A case was previously filed in the Karnataka High Court, which in March 2019, ordered to fix minimum wages within 6 months. But nothing has been done so far.
The workers are now, reportedly, demanding that like the Government has fixed wages for 73 industries, they should do it for garment sector as well.
It is noteworthy that the garment workers in the state are being currently paid paltry Rs. 7,000 to 8,000 per month.
Source: https://in.apparelresources.com