An Apparel Exporter accused of treating employees like "bonded laborers"

02 March 2022, Mumbai:

Kitex Garments, India's largest infant apparel maker and exporter, is once again under fire after a study claimed that the firm abuses its employees like "bonded laborers."

Notably, the study also calls for a probe into the company's suspected ties to law enforcement and labor agency authorities. According to the six-member fact-finding team's report on the violent fight between Kitex Garments migrant workers and the police in Kizhakkambalam on Christmas Eve, this is true.

The study, on the other hand, has been dubbed a politically driven witch hunt by the export behemoth. It's worth noting that the squad was formed following a tragic event at the firm during the Christmas season, in which five police officers were injured and 150 Kitex Garments employees were detained.

A scuffle is said to have erupted between sections of Kitex employees, who are mostly from West Bengal, Jharkhand, and the North East. According to local locals, the company's management maintains a parallel government, and anyone who questions it is accused of fabricating evidence.

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It's unthinkable that a corporation could operate in Kerala in flagrant violation of labor and environmental rules, and the government would turn a blind eye to it.

According to media reports, the business's MD, Sabu M. Jacob, dismissed the study as part of a politically driven witch-hunt against the company that has been ongoing for the past eight months.

Workers were not constrained in any way, he maintained, save for Covid limits. Kitex Garments collaborates with a number of well-known brands and stores, including Carter's and Walmart.

The 15-page study, which was compiled mostly by human rights organizations, stated that the employees were locked up in their camps under the watchful eye of security personnel and that even their movements were restricted.

Nandita Shivakumar, campaigns and communications coordinator of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), was mentioned in Western media as claiming that there are several tales of labor breaches in Kitex Garments.

She found none of the complaints of migrant worker maltreatment particularly shocking, and she has stated that, aside from mobility and language barriers, migrant workers are often afraid to speak.

The American Fashion Workers Association (AFWA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting decent wages in the garment industry.

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*CREDITS: newsbreak.com & Apparel Resources.