ITGLWF seeks better working facilities for Indian garment workers

12 Dec '05

3 min read

A fire in Delhi that has claimed the lives of twelve workers, including a ten year old child, is the most recent in a series of fatal accidents where workers have lost their lives in the garment sector as a result of companies attempting to achieve competitive advantage at whatever cost.

In a letter to Indian Minister of Labour and Employment, K. Chandra Shekhar Rao, the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation has called on the Indian government to undertake an urgent investigation into the accident and to develop urgent proposals to clean up the country's emerging clothing export industry.

Says ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney: “The fire occurred on December 7 in a factory which manufactured and packaged ladies' undergarments for export. The company was operating illegally, without a licence and without a fire permit, in an East Delhi neighbourhood which is a hub of illegal sweatshops. Intended as a residential building, not as a factory, the three-floor factory had only a single exit.

The fire broke out on the second floor, apparently caused by a short circuit in a spray gun containing stain-remover. The machine was being used in a room stacked with cotton and undergarments, and the blaze spread within seconds, engulfing the room's only door and leaving a number of workers trapped. The bodies of the twelve who died were so badly charred they have so far not been identified. Another four are seriously injured.

Many of the eighty or so workers who managed to escape did so by jumping from the third floor on to the roof of an adjacent single-storey building. Mr. Kearney said such accidents were the result of the failure of governments to ensure that labour legislation and international labour standards are adhered to.

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