Hosiery Workers Go On Strike Demanding Minimum Wages

The hosiery industry faces a grievous crisis today. The employers have taken an inhuman and rigid stand towards the wage issue raised by workers. They are refusing to pay the State Government declared minimum wage of Rs.7575 per month, especially in the stitching department. As per the law of the land, payment of minimum wages cannot be made conditional on productivity. Despite this, the employers have directly connected payment of minimum wage to production, pressurising workers to work at levels which are exhausting. Thus, their inflexibility about payment of minimum wage is not only illegal, it is also inhuman and immoral. The hosiery workers demand:

• immediate and unconditional payment of minimum wages
• attendance register and wages register in all factories
• appointment letter for all workers.
• safe and clean working environment in all factories
• equal wages for equal work for all women workers.

The Joint Action Front of all hosiery worker unions has called for a strike on all the above issues from 11th to 14th May 2015.

The Oshongothit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Manch extends its full support to the strike.

Swapan Ganguly, Somnath Ghosh

Convenors