The CITU has termed it ridiculous the recent demand of the Tirupur Exporters Association that the job guarantee scheme be extended to the garment sector.
“It is an insult to the workers in Tirupur knitwear cluster considering that the wages given under the MGNREGS is just close to Rs. 150 a day while the garment sector workers here are already drawing much more than Rs. 200 a day,” said C. Moorthy, district joint secretary of the CITU, and general secretary of the Baniyan General Workers Union.
Mr. Moorthy told reporters here that MGNREGS as the name indicates is a rural employment provider scheme aimed at creating infrastructure in mofusils along with job, whereas the garment clusters here were in urban/semi urban locality.
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“Moreover, the garment industry is covered under the Factory Act, and wages are in accordance with rules stipulated in the Act,” Mr. Moorthy said.
The CITU leader criticised some of the recommendations made by the knitwear exporters to amend labour laws in connection with the overtime duty hours.
On the amendments sought to the Labour laws, the association came out with a clarification that the amendments should be in such a manner to have total number of working hours in a week, including overtime, shall not exceed to meet out the compliances.
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“We never meant to increase the normal working hours in a shift,” said sources in the association.