Anannya Bhattacharjee is a prominent local labour organiser and trade unionist in the northwest region of India. She believes that addressing gender-based violence is integral to securing broader labour rights, such as a living wage and freedom of association. As the International Coordinator for the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, she leads a global effort by Asian trade unions. The goal is to secure fair wages for predominantly Asian women garment workers, who produce a significant portion of the world’s clothing. She has also been an active voice in various discourses, speaking and writing extensively on topics including domestic violence, South Asian communities, immigrant identities, and women workers in informal industries.
We spoke to Ms. Anannya about the major problems informal women workers face across the globe, and the lack of social security measures at their workplaces.
” Both unions and cooperatives contribute in different ways, with unions transforming employment relationships, and cooperatives offering an alternative economic model and collective ownership. The cooperative movement is crucial and calls for its expansion on a larger scale.”
Anannya Bhattacharjee, International Coordinator, Asia Floor Wage Alliance.
Q1. Can you tell us about your work as a labour organiser and at the Asia Floor Wage Alliance.
Anannya: The Asia Floor Alliance is a prominent organisation that organises workers, primarily women, in Asia. This is a region that plays a significant role in global clothing production. Asia Floor Alliance serves as the largest union body in the government sector across eight countries, with a focus on mobilising women workers in industries like mobile manufacturing and garment production. The organisation addresses the challenges of working in global supply chains by advocating for a living wage benchmark, acknowledging the gap between minimum wages set by governments and the actual cost of supporting a family.
Asia Floor Alliance emphasises that closing this gap is the responsibility of fashion brands. The organisation also focuses on gender-based violence and harassment, viewing it not as a cultural issue but as a business model that capitalises on gender inequality. They promote methods like “safe circles” to empower workers to address workplace issues. Lastly, the organisation has a Women’s Leadership Committee working on enforcing gender balance and enhancing women’s leadership in trade unions across Asia.
Q2. How different or similar is the situation of women in the informal economy across the globe?
Anannya: Low-wage informal workers, be it in the formal sector or informal sector, are occupied largely by women workers. Women who are working in the informal sector in different countries experience very similar conditions. Notably, these positions are not only filled by women but also by vulnerable communities, including migrant workers. In the United States, for instance, many immigrant and third-world workers occupy such roles due to the lack of alternatives, stemming from the unfavourable working conditions associated with these jobs. Thus, I’ve identified numerous parallels in the challenges faced by workers across countries and sectors.
Q3. According to you, what are the major problems informal women workers face at the workplace?
Anannya: I have personally organised workers in the state of Haryana. My focus has been on organising garment workers and domestic workers, who are predominantly migrants. Regardless of whether they work in formal factory settings or informal employment, the working conditions are consistently challenging. Workers face the risk of arbitrary termination, delayed or unpaid wages, and widespread issues of violence and violations.
Wage theft takes various forms, such as paying skilled workers at an unskilled rate, forcing overtime without proper compensation, and manipulating pay slips to underreport hours worked. There are also instances of workers being coerced into working seven days a week, without receiving the appropriate overtime pay.
Violations extend beyond wages to social security issues, where employers may falsely claim to deduct Provident Fund or Employee State Insurance without actually contributing to the workers’ accounts. Various random deductions and unclear welfare reductions further contribute to the complexity of the situation.
In addition to economic issues, disciplinary measures create a hostile environment for workers, especially women. The garment industry, driven by fast fashion demands, imposes inhumane production targets. Workers face physical and mental strain, including standing for long hours, restricted access to basic facilities like toilets and water, and overall dehumanising working conditions. Gender-based violence and harassment are pervasive, with male supervisors exploiting gender inequalities to sexually and verbally harass female workers, coercing them into accepting lower wages and increased workload. Globally, there is a trend of increasing productivity but declining wage share for workers.
Collectivization efforts are actively discouraged, and workers are vulnerable to termination or transfer if they associate with unions.
Q4. Can women’s collectively owned businesses / cooperatives owned, managed, and run by women be a vehicle to ensure that women workers not only get access to their rights but also to work and income security?
Anannya: Unions play a crucial role in protecting workers’ rights and addressing workplace issues, while cooperatives offer an alternative economic arrangement. Cooperatives involve women coming together to develop a mode of production and enter the marketplace collectively. However, cooperatives may not directly address workplace conditions like unions do. Both unions and cooperatives contribute in different ways, with unions transforming employment relationships, and cooperatives offering an alternative economic model and collective ownership. While unions focus on changing workplace dynamics, cooperatives challenge profit-centric production modes. Accessing and sustaining the market remains a challenge for women’s cooperatives, emphasising the importance of values and collective ownership provided by cooperatives as an alternative way of constructing the economy. The cooperative movement is crucial and calls for its expansion on a larger scale.
