Working In the Factory Workshop Area


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Working In the Factory Workshop Area

Case: 4

In the factory- workshop Area

I wanted to have zari work done on one of my dresses which I needed for a special occasion. My cousin said that she knew nirmala who works in a garment factory. Nirmala’s neighbours do zari work and embroidery. So we caught a bus and headed towards the factory area. The bus was really crowded. At every stop more and more people got on and hardly anyone seemed to get off. People were pushing others to make more space for themselves. My cousin guided me to a corner so that we wouldn’t get squashed. I wandered how people travel like this every day. As the bus entered the factory area people started getting off. We also got off soon at a crossing. What a relief that was!

There were a large number of people sitting on railings or in groups at the crossing. They seemed to be waiting for someone. Some groups had people on scooters standing by and talking with them. My cousin explained that this place was called “ labour chowk”. These were daily wage labourers who work as helpers to masons. They dig at construction sites, lift loads or unload trucks in the market, dig pipelines and telephone cable and also build roads. There are thousands of such casual workers in the city.

We entered the factory area to find it full of small workshops. There seemed to be endless rows of them. In one section we saw people working in small room on sewing machines where cloth was being stitched. One person operated one sewing machine. Clothes that had been stitched were stacked on one side of the room.

We located nirmala in the stitching unit. She was happy to meet my cousin and promised to get zari work done on my dress. Nirmala works as a tailor in an export garment unit. The factory where she works makes summer clothes for people in foreign countries like U.S.A., U.K., Germany and the Netherlands. Workers like nirmala have to work very long hours in the monts from December to april. A normal working day begins at 9 a.m. and finishes only by 10 p.m., sometimes even later. She works for six days a week. At times when the work needs to be done urgently, she works for six days a week. At times when the work needs to be done urgently. She works on Sundays, too. Nirmala is paid Rs 80 a day for eight hours and Rs 40 extra for working late. By june the work is over and the factory reduces its staff. Nirmala will also be asked to leave. For about three or four months in the year, there is no work for her.

Most workers, like Nirmala, are employed on what is known as casual basis i.e. they are required to come as and when the employer needs them. They are employed when the employer gets large orders or during certain seasons. At other times of the year they have to find some other work.

 
 


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