TAMIL NADU TASK FORCE CALLS FOR CHANGES IN VEDASANTHUR TEXTILE INDUSTRY

Textile workers in Vedasanthur block of Dindigul district , located in Tamil Nadu are enduring numerous rights violations, according to reports from the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) Task Force - Tamil Nadu. In response, the task force is calling for action, targeting public authorities in the district to takes steps to ensure that workers' rights are respected.

Background

While employers in the area are earning large profits with the export of yarn, the industry is characterized by the use of forced overtime, child labor, and the denial of fundamental union rights, reports the CCC Task force - Tamil Nadu. Information on working conditions in Vedasanthur was gathered by local unions CITU and others and during interviews with workers organized by HOPE, a local NGO. Workers reported age-based discrimination. They said that experienced workers are forced to resign and have no option other than getting jobs at other textile mills at beginner's wages.

Workers in Dindigul are regularly denied their right to free association. Of the 167 cotton mills in Dindigul, only 56 mills allow trade unions. One obstacle to worker organizing is the prohibition on trade unions conducting gate meetings in front of the mills. The unions view these meetings as important opportunities to strengthen workers' solidarily and organizing efforts, as it is the only opportunity for workers who are drawn from scattered villages to meet together. Mill owners have obtained a stay from the Munsif Vedasanthur district court to prevent workers from assembling in front of the mill gate for a radius of 300 meters.

Workers report that employers will dismiss them if they try to start trade unions or join any existing trade union, and that they will be placed on a blacklist and unable to obtain work in the region. There have been several cases of workers being beaten up and dismissed for their organizing efforts.

An estimated 950 children are employed in the Dindigul cotton mills. In some of the area's textile mills workers, including child workers, are beaten with sticks, either as punishment or to keep them working at a fast pace. Conditions are unsafe, with old machinery in use, fingers are often cut and sometimes amputated. Conditions are also unhealthy due to poor air quality - find cotton dust has negative effects on the respiratory system of the workers.

Textile workers are regularly denied benefits they are legally entitled to. For example, workers do not receive Employees State Insurance (ESI), Provident fund ( a social security retirement system for which workers make contributions through wage deductions and employers are also required to make contributions), paid maternity leave, and other benefits workers who have worked for as long as three year are still categorized as temporary workers. Workers are paid below the legal minimum wage. Workers generally live in 300 square foot tiled houses, without toilet facilities, and are unable to maintain a nutritious diet on the wages they earn.