A Role of Working Class Women in the Industry

Working class women suffered the most during this new industrial time. Women's wages were pitifully low. Single women could only make enough money to pay the rent, but not enough to buy food and clothing. So it was the aim of every girl to get married. Once married, the woman had to continue some sort of job in addition to raising their family and taking care of the house (Kumari and Kiran, 2012). Men did not help with the chores or children. If the men did, then they were ridiculed by being called mop rags men. Women who failed to manage adequately or spent too much could be expected to be physically abused. No one intervened unless a man beat another man's wife or there was fear that the woman would die. Mothers usually ate less than their husbands and children. We know now that some mothers resorted to infanticide, the willful killing of an infant, because of poverty. For thousands of years infanticide has been practiced throughout the world cultures (Madhok, 2005). Domestic servants were especially vulnerable to this because if they got pregnant, it was usually automatic grounds for dismissal. Most women prosecuted for infanticide in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were domestic servants (Richard and Gelleny, 2007). When a French servant was dismissed by her mistress for being pregnant in 1847, after she gave birth to a boy, she crushed his skull, and buried him in a field. Infanticide was now equally practiced on boys as well as girls. Before the 19th century, girls were the usual victims of infanticide. Mothers were desperate. Some mothers placed their children in foundling homes. Infants in England were often dosed with "Godrey's Cordial", opium mixed with molasses, to keep them in a constant stupor, and easier for them to carry on their piecework or some other type of work (Rai and Sarkar, 2012). In Germany, parents practiced angel- making. Children were intentionally mutilated and made sick or malformed so people would take pity on them when they were sent begging. With the advent of the tremendous increase in the middle class, their women folk did not need to work, thereby perpetuating low wages for the working class women (Tiwari, Gangopadhy, 2011).

Industrialists of the middle class did not want to limit women's work because they could pay women low wages, thus insuring higher profits. A few radical reformers wanted to pay male workers enough to support their families, thereby excluding women from wage work entirely. Attempts to reform the negative conditions of work for working class women were led by middle class reformers in England and elsewhere. There ensued a dichotomy. Middle class reformers

Night Shift for Women: Ever since India opened its doors to liberalization in the early 1990s there has been a steady transformation in India‘s economy. Self-reliance helped in building great institutions of learning and taking strides in various field of life in keeping pace with the rapidly changing world. Women who earlier stayed at home to attend their domestic duties now maintain both work and home simultaneously, participating in the process on an equal footing with men in social and economic development. Women have moved away from their traditional roles of homemaker and child rearing to social and business solutions. Women have become equal participants in many respects at all levels of society. The future would see more women venturing into areas traditionally dominated by men. Women in the Night Shift Work: Today, women are far more educated than they used to be before, have higher aspirations and are better prepared for greater challenges to fulfill their ambitions and strive for higher positions in organizations and corporations, on equal foot with men. This shows that women are progressing on the upward graph, towards attaining higher levels of education and employment (Abdin, 2008). Since the early years of globalization women are seen as major beneficiaries with a massive increase in the labor force participation. The traditional role of a housewife has gradually changed into working women and housewife. Women have now taken up professional roles in order to create a meaning for themselves. The major factors responsible for this change are: - a. Better education b. Changes in socio-cultural values c. Supplementary income. Thus, throughout the world women‘s participation in economic activities is increasing, relatively high wages and the opportunity to be part of an upscale, globalized work environment draw many in India to the call center industry. At the same time, night shift employment presents women, in particular, with new challenges alongside the opportunities. This book explores how beliefs about what constitutes "women's work" are evolving in response to globalization. Women working in the Night Shift: Indian Scenario: In India, labor laws come in the concurrent list of Indian Constitution. Both Indian Parliament and State Legislatures have the right to make laws. Therefore, we have in relation to labor laws, The Factories Act, 1948 and various State Shops and to work in any factory except between the hours of 6 AM and 7 PM, provided that: 1. State government may make rules providing for the exemption from the restrictions to such an extent and subject to such conditions as it may prescribe, of women working in fish-curing or fish canning factories, where the employment of women beyond the hours specified in the said restrictions is necessary to prevent damage to or deterioration in any raw material. The rules made under the Sub Section (2) shall remain in force for not more than three years at a time. Women working in Hospitals & Agriculture are exempted from Factories Act, 1948 and State Shops and Establishment Acts regarding ban on nightshifts for women employees. 2. According to the Factories Act 1948, Factory means, any premises including the precincts (i) Where ten or more workers are working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on with the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on, or (ii) where twenty or more workers are working or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on without the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on but does not include a mine subject to the operation of the Mines Act, 1952 (xxxv of 1952) or a mobile unit belonging to the armed forces of the union, a railway running shed or a hotel, restaurant or eating place. 3. The Factories Act, 1948 states that manufacturing process means any process for (i) Making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, packing, oiling, washing, cleaning, breaking up, demolishing or otherwise treating or adopting any article or substance with a view to its use, sales, transport, delivery or disposal or (ii) Pumping oil, water, sewage or any other substances or or (iv) Composing types for printing; printing by letter press, lithography, photogravure or other similar process or book bindings or (v) Constructing, reconstructing, repairing, refitting finishing or breaking up ships or vessels or (vi) Preserving or storing any article in cold storage.

Abdin, M. J. (2008). ―Women Empowerment in Bangladesh‖. Social Science Research Network. pp. 1-17 http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/ourwork/womenempowerment/in_depth/ http://www.naukrihub.com/industrialrelations/women-employment.html Kumari, N and Kiran, U.V. (2012). Occupational profile of child labor in Chikankari Industry, Advanced Research Journal of Social Science, 44 (4), pp. 247-250. workers in the construction industry National commission for women New Delhi. Rai, A. and Sarkar, A. (2012). Workplace Culture & Status of Women Construction Laborers ; A case study in Kolkata, West Bengal, Indian Journal of Spatial Science 3.0(2) Winter Issue, pp. 44 – 54. Richard, D. L. and Gelleny, R. (2007). Women's Status and Economic Globalization, International Studies Quarterly, 51(4), pp. 855-876. Tiwari, G., Gangopadhy, P.K. (2011). A review on the occupational health and social security of unorganized workers in the construction industry, Indian Journal of Occupational and Environment Medicine 5(1).

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