POST ECONOMIC REFORMS, there has been a massive increase in women’s employment, particularly in industries in Special Economic Zone (SEZs). Women have moved from purely unorganised informal sectors, to formal employment sectors like manufacturing and services. Does that mean that women have emerged as an organised work force? Have they been empowered? Unfortunately, no.
There has been a government policy shift from strict enforcement of Labour Laws “to ease of doing business” and “profits”. The new Labour Codes which are yet to come into force talk of voluntary declaration by the employer and almost normalise violations. Collective bargaining has been weakened and in many industries, there are no trade unions. Increased contractualisation of workforce has left workers at the mercy of contractors who do not follow labour laws.
Women workers who emerged into the formal sector in this background are really no winners, being forced to work in sweatshops, in confined spaces, under strict work discipline, under poor working conditions, with heavy workload, facing occupational health and safety hazards and being practically ill-informed of their rights under the Labour Laws.
Let us look at the electronics industries like Samsung and Foxconn. The largest iPhone production factory outside China is run by Foxconn at Sriperumbudur near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It employs a large number of young women (aged 18-25 years) from rural areas around the factory sourced through recruiting agencies.
