Women’s labor union in India wins workers “the right to sit”

The Kerala government is to amend its labor laws to include a clause obliging employers to let women sit.

Many owners of textile shops and other retail outlets in the state forbid women, the majority of their workforce, to sit during their shifts. Leaning against a wall and talking to colleagues can also be punished by salary deductions, while toilet facilities and breaks are limited. Employers often monitor CCTV footage to ensure compliance.

Saleswomen are suffering from varicose veins and joint pain from standing for long periods of time and getting urinary infections and kidney problems as a result of avoiding drinking and eating, knowing they cannot go to the toilet when they want to. 

Traditional male-dominated unions in the state previously failed to address the problem because they did not have enough members in these jobs. The leader of the Penkootu women’s collective, Viji Penkoot, was forced to form the women-led union, AMTU, to fight the issue when the state refused to engage with the collective because it was not a registered union.

On July 4, the Kerala state cabinet announced it would amend the existing law, which fails to specify the amenities sales assistants should be provided with, to include “the right to sit”—irippu samara (in Malayalam).

“In many countries, the minimum wages and working conditions set in collective bargaining contracts negotiated by a limited set of employers and unions are subsequently extended to all the employees in an industry,” says Ernesto Villanueva, in his article about the extension of collective bargaining agreements to all workers in an industry or region.

“Those extensions ensure common working conditions within the industry, limit wage inequality, and reduce gender wage gaps.”

The new law will stipulate a minimum monthly starting salary of 10,000 rupees (£110/US$146), an eight-hour day, a chair or stool, an afternoon tea break, and a lunch break, with a duration still to be decided by the Kerala cabinet.

Villanueva warns, however, that the benefits of extending collective agreements can come at the cost of reduced employment levels: “Reformers stress the adverse impact on employment, while defenders argue that extensions play a crucial role in maintaining workers’ income levels and avoiding wage inequality,” he says.

Read more articles on trade unions, collective bargaining, and the labor market.