“If it cannot be done…. there are many others waiting at the gate like dogs. We will take them and you can go.”
“To meet the targets .. we cannot even breathe… Or look this way or that..”
“No one asked, no one questioned..we all worked overtime till 7:30..”
These, and other experiences of garment workers in Bangalore, working under abusive management practices that set strict and almost unattainable production targets are documented in this 2004 film, ‘Above the din of sewing machines’, by Surabhi Sharma.
It will be of interest to note that Bangalore is home to a large garment industry that, until 2001, earned more foreign exchange from exporting cloth than through information technology services. This garment industry is largely geared toward exporting to big brand names in the West, yet workers continuously toil with extremely low wages and an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.