KOCHI: In a move, that is being hailed as a welcome one, the government has decided to amend the Kerala Shops and Commercial Establishments Act. The Act will be amended to prevent sexual harassment against women employees and ensure the establishments provide sitting facilities for their employees in the shops.
Welcoming the government’s decision P Viji, state secretary of Asangatitha Meghala Thozhilali Union (AMTU), said, “It is high time. Our union had been on the forefront in highlighting the plight of women working at textile showrooms and other business establishments. Saleswomen and girls are forced to stand for hours at a stretch. They can’t sit or take a break other than the one given by the establishment. Even that break is cut short,” said Viji. According to her, the union came across the issue while taking up the case of a group of women working at a textile shop. “In December 2013, five salesgirls at Kalyan Sarees in Thrissur had gone on strike demanding better working conditions. While interacting with them we came to know that they are not allowed to sit during working hours,” said Viji.
“Can you imagine standing continuously at a stretch from nine to eight every day? These women come to work due to compulsion. They are working continuously right from the time they get up till they retire to bed. They hardly get four hours of rest,” she said. ‘It is inhuman!’
“Imagine not being allowed to take a toilet break!” she said. “We had to fight for this too and that too in a democratic country,” she added. AMTU launched an agitation on May 1, 2014, against this inhuman attitude of the business establishment and also the government’s apathy.
“We approached the Kerala Human Rights Commission and also the Labour Minister. We started uniting saleswomen under AMTU banner,” she said. Such working conditions not only affect the morale of the staff but also their health.
“By the end of the day, saleswomen are left with joint pains and varicose veins. They are not recognised as staff and not given the facilities provided to an employee,” she said.
Viji welcomed the government’s move to amend the Act. “However, the government should be clear regarding all its facets. We can’t decipher the words being used. There are loopholes. It has come to our notice that in the latest amendment it is being mentioned that the saleswoman can sit during the breaks. But, we want to know what does the government mean by this.
Does it mean that the person can sit when there are no customers or during their break time, which they are never able to take,” she said. Viji is very apprehensive about the various loopholes in the proposed amendment and wants the government to plug them. “Otherwise the employers will get away with their high-handedness,” she said.