 Welcome to New Sleek and People's Dispatch. Today we have with us Anima, who is an advocate and who has been associated with the right to sit movement that has been originated in Kerala. So today we will talk to her about this movement. So Anima, can you just tell us what is this movement about and how did it start? It was started in 2014 in Calicut by the group of women workers called Penkota. It's a collective of women workers. They started this movement and it was over the lack of seating facilities and textile shops. The women workers of textile shops are supposed to stand throughout the working hours. They are not supposed to sit. There are no seating facilities provided in the workspace. They are supposed to stand throughout the workspace. They work for some 10 to 12 hours. Throughout the working hours, they are standing and due to the prolonged standing, they have serious health implications on their bodies. They have varicose veins. Some of them have uterus problems, a lot of issues and most of them are women. So they are suffering different kind of problems due to the prolonged standing. And this is how the movement started. After starting of the campaign by the Penkotas to strikes happened in Alapura and Trishur to different districts of Kerala, those sitting strikes. It was erupted in two different textile shops, big textile shops where more than 200 workers were working. They demanded their rights, right to sit and a lot of things were raised. Minimum wages were not provided. A lot of things were raised, no boners, no minimum wage. The working hours were another problem and no weekly off. A lot of labour right violations and fundamental right violations were also faced by the women workers and textile retail sector. All these were highlighted by sitting strikes and yeah. The main issue of the textile sector is that we can't sit. In the morning, at 9 o'clock in the morning, we get a lot of work. When we reach 9 o'clock in the morning, we get a lot of work to do. It is the same with all the textile shops. Not only for marriage, but also for all the textile shops in Kerala. After that, they give us half an hour to drink tea for 10 minutes in the morning. We have to do it within 10 minutes. It was a big problem for us not to sit. So, what was the journey of this movement? How did this unionization of women workers take place? What were the challenges that they were facing? Can you tell us a bit about that? Earlier, it was Pencooter. It is a small collective of women workers of an organized sector. And even the formation of Pencooter happened in 2010. They started a strike of a right to P that there was lack of toilet facilities in SM Street, Calicut. It is a street in Calicut where a lot of trading happens. So, it happened in 2010 and they started this right to P strike. That is how Pencooter was formed and the right to P strike was the first issue that was taken up by Pencooter. The small collective of women workers in the city. The reason why Pencooter was started was obviously the constant neglect of the mainstream trade unions. The mainstream trade unions were not addressing the problems of women unorganized workers. So, there was no other option for them other than getting unionized themselves. They were getting organized by themselves and they started demanding their rights. That is how it happened. Otherwise, there was no union, there was no collective, there was no one to stand up for each other. Pencooter means women for each other. Women are standing for each other. The women workers started standing for each other. This is what the idea of Pencooter. It was the idea of the women workers themselves. It is not that some external agency has influenced them or made them start up this. But it is a small forum, the Pencooter. It was a small forum. Later on, they realized that they need a trade union. Then only they can demand their rights because they have led so many strikes in the city. Later on, they realized that there is a need of union because only a union can represent them as a kind of labor officers and labor courts or wherever. So, they understood the necessity of a union. So, they formed a union. It was AMTO. That is how Asan Khedidamegala-Tolali union happened. It means an organized sector workers union. It is Kerala's first women's trade union. I guess there were many instances where money was deducted from their salaries because they sat or just leaned against a wall. Inhuman practices were being practiced in Kerala. So, there are multiple issues with these workers like you are saying because they don't have access to toilet facilities and everything. But this somehow became the highlight of the movement because I think it is the fundamental right to sit. So, how do you see that? Why do you think this has become basically the highlight of the right to sit? Right to sit, yes. There are different issues that are faced by women workers and this is I think most of the other issues that are raised by them like minimum wage, bonus and weekly off, the timings, everything. There are explicit law that speaks about their right. It is clearly provided in the Shops and Commercial Establishment Act of Kerala State. It is clearly provided. It is clearly mentioned somewhere in the legislation. But right to sit is mentioned nowhere. So, it is not explicit, it is not explicitly mentioned anywhere but there is no law that says women's workers should not sit. But at the same time it is not explicitly recognized. This right is not recognized properly. So, that might be the reason why they highlighted it. This was not the situation when there were only small and medium establishments but when the big textile establishments started functioning in the city, in the state, it all changed. The whole work culture changed. The feminization of the labor happened. The feminization of the workspace happened. The employers started preferring women for this job and because for various reasons like cheap labor, it is easy to control women, women will not bargain, they will not get associated with trade unions. A lot of things that attracted traders to prefer women over men. So, the rapid feminization happened in the textile retail sector and they were not supposed to sit. And even when the customer comes, even when there is no customer, they are not supposed to sit. So, they are supposed to stand. I have only a second information. I have only observed it. They were not supposed to sit in the workspace. That might be the reason why they constantly get harassed. In case if they sit, there will be cameras in the workspace. So, they are under surveillance throughout the working hours. So, in case they sit, the people will notice it and come and shout at this woman, maybe harass this woman. A lot of things happen. That might be the reason why they highlighted right to sit as a... Basically, let them move in a way. So, now the Kerala government has acknowledged their demand and they have passed an amendment. Yes, there is an amendment. The amendment has come in 2015. No, not 2015, now 2018. Okay. And what does it promise to you know? What all changes has it brought? Actually, there is explicit provision that speaks about right to sit is there in factories act which is not applicable to the unorganized workers of textile retail sector. There is explicit provision. The factory's act, 1948 factory's act has well incorporated the concept of right to sit in the statute book. But Kerala shops and establishment act doesn't have it. So, in factory's act, it was explicitly says that if the nature of the work permits, a seat should be provided throughout the working hours. If the nature of the work does not permit to sit, there should be a seat in the reasonable proximity in the workspace itself so that the worker can make use of any opportunity to sit during spare time. So, this is how it's in factories act. Similar provision has incorporated in Kerala shops and commercial establishment act now. So, it's there now in it. And it's a huge victory of the workers and their fight. Now, that's about Kerala. If we speak about other states where, for example, Karnataka where textile is a very strong sector, do you see anything happening there or is it the absence of women's unions that is responsible for absence of such a movement in other states? The situation we all know, we all go to textile shops and we all know that they are not provided. You can just check whether there is a seat. There won't be a seat. So, the situation is same in everywhere. I mean, we all know that. Of course, I have only a peripheral idea like you when it comes to other states because I haven't studied it. But the situation is almost same. Shops act comes under stateless. So, other states should also incorporate the concept of right to sit anyway. And now that it has happened in one state, maybe there is no other workers from the other states. And among factory workers, I think, I mean, the textile factory workers, there are unions that organize women factory workers in Bangalore and all. But I don't know whether they are organizing the textile retail sector workers. I mean, retail sector workers. Thank you for watching Newslake and People's Dispatch.