Indian court ordered 30% pay hike for garment workers

MNA Business Desk: An Indian court has ordered a pay rise of up to 30% for hundreds of garment workers in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the first minimum wage hike in more than 12 years.

But the lawyers for 500 clothing producers and exporters, who supply many global brands, said the new wages would be ‘practically impossible’ to present given the tough international market environments.

Under the governing, workers would see their pay rise from a monthly average of 4,500 rupees to 6,500 rupees ($67 to $97) – which activists say is similar to wages for textile jobs in most other states.

“It is a huge victory in a long drawn (out) battle to get workers their due. Workers have been living in impoverished conditions with inflation and prices on the up.” said Sujata Mody of Penn Thozhilalargal Sangam.

India is one of the world’s largest textile and garment manufacturers. The $40-billion-a-year industry employs around 45 million workers. Under the Minimum Wages Act, introduced in 1948, state governments are required to rise the basic minimum wage every five years, but textile manufacturers have frequently challenged these pay rises in Tamil Nadu.

The last time the state government studied pay was in 2004. But the matter went to court directly and the rise was not applied. In its July 13 ruling, the court asked manufacturers to immediately pay the revised wage as well as arrears backdated to December 2014.

Shirt seamstress A. Dhanalakshmi welcomed the ruling, saying she writhed to get by on the 6,000 rupees she earns each month, working an average 45-hour week at an export firm near Chennai.

“My workload increases but the salary barely does. The court verdict has given me hope,” she told to media

Lawyers for the government blamed the manufacturers of having “unclean hands” and told the court that many had never paid their employees the minimum wage.