Breakthrough in Karnataka garment workers wage dispute !
Fast fashion comes at a cost. As was reported in The Guardian in December 2021, The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) estimates that the entire amount of unpaid wages is over US$55 million, with over 400,000 garment workers in Karnataka not being paid the minimum wage since April 2020.
Workers claim that the consequences of not obtaining this raise have been actual and severe, including restricted access to basic necessities, lost homes, and lost schooling for their children. According to the Worker Rights Consortium, this is the most significant wage theft they have ever witnessed in the worldwide garment sector, resulting in a real-term fall in employees’ already precarious level of life.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
Wait Is Over : 80,000 Garment Workers To Get Their Back Pay
In a major breakthrough Shahi Exports, India’s largest garment manufacturer, announced that it will begin paying its 80,000 workers in Karnataka immediately the correct minimum wage and will provide them with full back pay for the prior underpayment, which the WRC estimates, in the case of Shahi’s workers alone, to total $10 million since a minimum wage increase went into effect in April 2020. Shahi has committed that roughly half this back pay will be paid to workers in the next 10 days; however, workers will still need to wait until May 10 to receive the remainder with their April wages.
India are collectively owed nearly $60 million in unpaid wages. While this is a big win it is vital that other suppliers in the region follow suit. Learn more at www.worstwagetheft.org
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