OCCUPATIONAL WAGE SURVEY SIXTH ROUND 2008

OCCUPATIONAL WAGE SURVEY SIXTH ROUND 2008

REPORT ON TEXTILE INDUSTRY

CHAPTER - IV

PAYROLL EARNINGS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Payroll earnings of workers in different occupations in an industry/region reflect the inter-industry and intra-industry differentials in income and socio-economic conditions of the workers. Data on earnings from payrolls of establishments refer to cash payments received by the workers from the employers. It include remuneration paid to workers regularly in every wage period for normal working hours, overtime payment, bonus (production, incentive, attendance, etc.), dearness allowance, remuneration for time not worked (public holidays, sick leave and other paid leave), other cash allowances of a regular nature, and regular payments made in kind. Payments of irregular nature, such as, profit sharing bonus, ex-gratia payment, etc. are excluded from the scope of data on earnings. Similarly, payments made towards free housing, ex-gratia payments like gratuity, lay-off compensation, etc. are also excluded from the scope of earnings. The requisite information collected during the course of survey from a sample of workers drawn from each selected occupation in five selected Textiles Industries is analyzed in the succeeding paragraphs.

The information on average daily earnings, presented in this Chapter and elsewhere in the Report, relates to wages/earnings per manday paid for. For arriving at the figure of average daily earnings, the total payroll earnings in a pay period is divided by the total number of days paid for during the period i.e. the total number of days worked plus the number of days not worked but paid for.

4.2 AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS BY SEX AND AGE

Table 4.1 gives sex-wise average daily earnings of workers. The overall average daily earnings of men, women and all workers for all the five Textiles Industries combined together worked out to Rs. 155.31, Rs. 78.07 and Rs.146.33, respectively.

The average daily earnings of women workers were less than that of their men counterparts in all the five Textiles Industries under study. However, at the stratum level, the average daily earnings of women workers were slightly higher than their men counterparts in the Punjab stratum of Woollen Textile Industry.

The average daily earnings of men workers were the highest at Rs. 216.18 in Jute Textiles, followed by Rs. 176.83 in Woollen Textiles. Similarly, the average daily earnings of women workers were also the highest at Rs. 125.76 in Jute Textiles, followed by Rs. 113.16 in Woollen Textiles Industry, whereas the average daily earnings of both men and women workers were the lowest i.e. Rs. 131.52 and Rs. 76.41 respectively in Cotton Textiles industry.

4.3 AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS BY SYSTEM OF WAGE PAYMENT

The average daily earnings of workers by system of wage payment are given in Table 4.2. For all the five Textile Industries taken together, the average daily earnings of time-rated workers being Rs. 131.10 were lower than that of the piece-rated workers being Rs. 206.48. At the industry level, the average daily earnings of piece-rated workers were more than that of their time-rated counterparts in Synthetic and Jute Textiles, whereas the average daily earnings of time-rated workers were more than that of piece-rated workers in Cotton, Woollen and Silk Textiles industries. The highest average daily earnings of the time-rated workers was recorded at Rs. 180.19 in Jute Textiles, followed by Rs. 176.57 in Woollen Textiles, whereas the lowest average daily earnings of Rs. 121.50 was reported in Cotton Textiles industry. The highest average daily earnings of piece-rated workers was Rs.225.30 in Jute Textiles and the lowest being Rs.97.57 in Woollen Textiles industry.

4.4 AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS OF TIME–RATED WORKERS

Table 4.3 presents average daily earnings of time-rated workers by sex and age. The average daily earnings of time-rated men, women and all workers were recorded at Rs. 139.08, Rs. 74.95 and Rs. 131.10, respectively. Further, average daily earnings of men workers were higher than that of their women counterparts in all the five Textiles Industries. The highest average daily earnings of time-rated men and women workers were reported in Jute Textiles and Woollen Textiles at the rate of Rs. 181.41 and Rs. 115.97 respectively. The lowest average daily earnings of time-rated men and women workers were reported in Cotton Textiles at the rate of Rs. 131.57 and Rs. 73.78, respectively.

4.5 AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS OF PIECE–RATED WORKERS

Sex-wise information on average daily earnings of piece-rated workers is given in Table 4.4. The average daily earnings of piece-rated men, women and all workers worked out to be Rs. 216.58, Rs. 96.30 and Rs. 206.48, respectively. The average daily earnings of piece-rated men workers was higher than that of their women counterparts in all the five Textile Industries. The highest average daily earnings of piece-rated men and women workers were reported in Jute Textiles at the rate of Rs. 226.05 and Rs. 143.05, respectively whereas the lowest for men were in Woollen Textiles at the rate of Rs. 101.36 and for women in Silk Textiles at the rate of Rs. 45.78, respectively.

4.6 AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS BY COMPONENTS

The average daily earnings by components are presented in Table 4.5. It may be seen from the Table that the basic wages and dearness allowance were the two main components of worker's earnings. Both these components taken together accounted for about 91.88 per cent of total average daily earnings for all the five Textiles Industries taken together. The other components of earnings in order of their percentage share in the total average daily earnings were ‘other allowances’ 4.54 per cent, house rent allowance 3.27 per cent, and bonus (0.31 per cent) City Compensatory Allowance was paid only in Maharashtra stratum of Synthetic Textiles, however, it's share in average daily earnings was insignificant.

4.7 DISTRIBUTION OF WORKERS BY LEVELS OF AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS

The distribution of workers by different groups of average daily earnings is shown in Table 4.6. For all Textiles industries taken together, the average daily earnings of 6.68 per cent of workers were Rs. 250.01 and above, whereas for 21.28 per cent, 35.34 per cent and 36.54 per cent workers these ranged between Rs.200.01 to Rs.250.00, Rs.100.01 to Rs.200.00 and Rs.25.01 to Rs.100.00 respectively. The average daily earnings of only 0.16 per cent of workers were upto Rs.25.00.

In Woollen, Synthetic and Jute Textile Industries, the average earnings of 16.79 per cent,14.37 per cent and 10.32 per cent of the workers, respectively, were Rs. 250.01 and above per day. On the other hand, in Silk and Cotton Textiles, only 2.61 and 2.45 per cent of the workers respectively earned more than Rs. 250.01.

At stratum level, 23.35 per cent of the workers in Gujarat stratum of Synthetic Textiles and 22.79 per cent of the workers in Punjab stratum of Woollen Textiles earned Rs. 250.01 and above per day. In Cotton Textiles 0.77 per cent workers of Tamil Nadu stratum and in Woollen Textiles 0.24 per cent workers of Residual stratum earned upto Rs. 25.00 per day. It is observed from the Table that 13.41 per cent, 50.65 per cent and 44.82 per cent of the workers in Cotton Textiles, Silk Textiles and Jute Textiles of Tamil Nadu stratum earned only upto Rs. 50.00 per day. None of the workers in Silk Textiles earned more than Rs.150.00 per day in Tamil Nadu stratum whereas none of the workers in Jute Textile earned more than Rs. 150.00 in Kerala stratum and Rs. 125.00 in Tamil Nadu stratum. The low wages prevalent in Tamil Nadu stratum are partly contributed to the 'Thirumana Thittam' and "Sumangali Thittam" schemes formulated by the Textiles mills under camp coolie system of hiring workers on contractual basis wherein low wages are paid to the unmarried girls with a promise that at the end of three year contract period they would be paid a sum of Rs. 30,000 for marriage expenses.

4.8 DISTRIBUTION OF WORKERS BY WAGE LEVEL AND OCCUPATION

The percentage of workers in each occupation and the percentage of total wage bill accrued to them have been presented in Table 4.7. It is observed that in each Textile Industry, there were only few main occupations, which employed bulk of workers in that particular industry. These main occupations accounted for the major portion of the wage bill in the industry. In Cotton Textiles seven occupations viz., ‘Winder’, ‘Weaver’, ‘Spinner’, ‘Frame Tenter’, ‘Mescer feeding operator' ‘Doffing Boy/Doffer and Helper’ accounted for 52 per cent of the employment and 49.04 per cent of the wage bill as well. In Woollen Textiles, seven occupations viz., ‘Rag cutting Machine Operator’, ‘Picker/ Ring Spinner’, ‘Winder’, 'Helper', 'Fitter', ‘Roving Machine Man and Blendman', accounted for 61.13 per cent of the employment and 64.10 per cent of the wage bill in the industry. In Silk Textiles, six occupations viz., ‘Helper', 'Winder', 'Operator', 'Jobber' 'Weaver Auto loom' and 'Card Tenter', accounted for 67.10 per cent of the employment and 65.02 per cent of the wage bill in the industry. In Synthetic 'Textiles', five occupations viz., ‘Helper’, ‘Head Jobber’, ‘Weaver

Power loom’, ‘Winder’ and 'Jet Dyeing Machine Operator' accounted for 40.46 per cent of the employment and 41.24 per cent of the wage bill in the industry. In Jute Textiles, six occupations viz., 'S.H.Loom Weaver', 'Sacking weft spinner', 'Head Mistry', 'softner feeder', 'cop Winder', and 'Hessian Warp Spinner' accounted for 58.84 per cent of the employment and 59.95 percent of the wage bill in the industry.

4.9 CO-EFFICIENT OF VARIATIONS IN AVERAGE EARNINGS BY OCCUPATIONS AND BETWEEN STRATA

The co-efficient of variation is a measure of relative dispersion and defined as:

Standard Deviation

Co-efficient of Variance (CV) = -------------------- x 100

Mean

It is generally expressed in terms of percentage. The use of Co-efficient of Variance is important due to the fact that the Mean and Standard Deviation tend to change together in many experiments. Also the Standard Deviation is not a very helpful measure of dispersion when studied alone for any distribution, in general. Hence, knowledge of relative variation i.e. co-efficient of variance is valuable in evaluating the consistency of various parameters estimated by a survey.

For comparing the variations in the average earnings at industry, stratum and occupation level, the co-efficient of variation in average daily earnings for all the strata and occupations in different industries were worked out. These have been presented in the Tables 4.8.1 and 4.8.2, respectively. The coefficient of variation for average daily earnings for some of the occupations could not be worked out because of the reason that only one worker was found employed in these occupations in an industry. The parameter for such occupations has been indicated by putting a dash (-) against these occupations.

It may be seen from Table 4.8.1 that at Industry level, the maximum co-efficient of variance was observed at 56.52 per cent in Synthetic Textiles, followed by Woollen Textiles at 53.78 per cent. The lowest co-efficient of variance was reported in Jute textiles at 21.16 per cent. At stratum level, among all the different Textiles Industries, the highest co-efficient of variance at 63.80 per cent was observed in Haryana stratum of Woollen Textiles, followed by 58.42 per cent in Rajasthan stratum of Synthetic Textiles. The co-efficient of variance was the lowest at 13.16 per cent in Residual stratum of Jute Textiles

Table 4.8.2 presents occupation-wise co-efficient of variance in each industry. The highest and the lowest co-efficient of variance in Cotton Textiles was reported to be 68.62 per cent in ‘stripper' and 0.19 per cent in 'Khalasi occupations, respectively. In Woollen Textiles, the highest and lowest co-efficient of variance was reported to be 72.97 per cent in ‘Reeler/Knotter and 1.18 per cent in 'Generater Operator' occupations, respectively. The highest and lowest co-efficient of variance in Silk Textiles was reported to be 67.87 per cent in 'Cooker' and 7.70 per cent in 'Combing Machine Operator' occupations, respectively. In Synthetic Textiles, the highest and lowest co-efficient of variance was reported to be 70.87 per cent in 'Finisher/line boy' and 0.02 per cent in 'Marker' occupations, respectively. In Jute Textiles, the highest and lowest co-efficient of variance was reported to be 50.86 per cent in 'Heamming Machine operator' and 0.33 per cent in "Oilman/Greaser' Occupations, respectively.

4.10 EARNINGS OF WORKERS BY OCCUPATION AND SEX AND AGE

Average daily earnings of workers by occupation and sex have been presented in Table 4.9. The highest average daily earnings in all the different occupations were reported Rs. 299.84 for 'Mechanical/Electrical Foreman’ in Cotton Textiles, Rs.277.29 for ‘Supervisor' in Woollen Textiles, Rs.246.25 for 'Head Jobber' in Silk Textiles, Rs.282.74 for ‘Head jobber' in Synthetic Textiles and Rs.329.16 for 'Electrician' in the Jute Textiles. On the other hand, the lowest average daily earnings were reported Rs.78.75 for 'Motor Mechanic' in Cotton Textile, Rs.82.00 for 'Sorter' in Woollen Textiles, Rs.73.67 for ‘Reeler’ in Silk Textiles, Rs.68.46 for 'Tape man' in Synthetic Textiles and Rs.100.00 for 'Mechanic (General)' in Jute Textiles.

The women workers were employed in a few occupations in all the different Textile industries covered in the survey. Out of 83 occupations in Cotton Textiles, women were employed in 49 occupations and their earnings were less than their men counterparts in all these occupations but for 'Mercerising Feeding Operator' in which their earnings were a little over men. Out of 51 occupations in Woollen Textiles, women were employed in 12 occupations and their earnings were more than their men counterparts in 2 occupations, viz. ‘Darner/Cloth Minder' and 'Drawing Man'. Out of 50 occupations in Silk Textiles, women were employed in 20 occupations and their earnings were less than their men counterparts in all the occupations. Out of 75 occupations in Synthetic Textiles, women were employed in 25 occupations and their earnings were more than their men counterparts in 4 occupations, viz., 'Helper', 'Packer', 'Drawing Frame Tenter', and ‘Sider/Two forone Ten’. Out of 41 Occupations in Jute Textiles, women were employed in 12 occupations and their earnings were more than their men counterparts only in the one occupation, viz., 'Breaker Feeder'.

4.11 EARNINGS BY OCCUPATIONS, SEX AND SYSTEM OF PAYMENT

Average daily earnings of workers by occupations, sex and system of payment have been presented in Tables 4.10.1, 4.10.2 and 4.10.3, respectively. Table 4.10.1 shows that the average daily earnings of time-rated workers for all textiles Industries taken together were lower than the earnings of piece-rated workers. The average daily earnings of time-rated workers were more than Piece-rated workers in cotton Textiles, Woollen Textiles and Silk Textiles. Whereas, the average daily earnings of piece-rated workers were more than time-rated workers in Synthetic Textiles and jute Textiles.

An analysis of data presented in Table 4.10.2, revealed that at occupation level, the average daily earnings of time-rated women workers were higher than that of their men counterparts in only one occupation i.e. 'Mercer Feeling operator', in Cotton Textiles, in two occupations, viz. 'Darner/Cloth Minder' and 'Drawing Man' in Woollen Textiles and in four occupations viz. 'Helper', 'Packer', 'Drawing Frame Tenter' and 'Sirdar/Two Forone Ten' in Synthetic Textiles. In case of Silk and Jute Textiles the average daily earnings of time-rated women workers were less than that of their men counterparts in all the occupations employing women workers.

Table 4.10.3 shows the average daily earnings of piece-rated workers by occupations and sex. The average daily earnings of piece-rated women workers were less than men workers in all the Textiles Industries for all occupations combined together. However, the earnings of piece-rated women workers were more than that of their men counterparts in five occupations i.e. 'Finisher/Attendant', 'Jobber', 'knotter', 'Warper' and 'Winder' in Cotton Textiles. In Woollen Textiles, Silk Textiles, Synthetic Textiles and Jute Textiles industries the earnings of piece-rated women workers were less than that of their men counterparts in all the occupations employing women workers.

4.12 EARNINGS BY OCCUPATIONS AND COMPONENTS OF WAGES

The average daily earnings of workers by components in each occupation are depicted in Table 4.11. It is observed that in all the occupations as well as at industry level, the basic wages and dearness allowance were the major components of the average daily earnings. Among other components of earnings, other allowances and house rent allowance were paid in most of the occupations in all the five Textile Industries. Bonus was being paid to various occupations in all the Textile Industries except Jute Textiles industry in which bonus was reported to be paid in one occupation only. The city compensatory allowance was paid to the workers in one occupation in Synthetic Textiles. The benefit in kind was paid to the workers in two occupations in Cotton Textiles and six occupations in Woollen Textiles.

The percentage distribution of workers as per their average daily earnings by occupations and income groups is given in Table 4.12. It is observed that the workers in 45 out of 83 occupations in Cotton Textiles, 33 out of 51 occupations in Woollen Textiles, 20 out of 50 occupations in Silk Textiles, 36 out of 75 occupations in Synthetic Textiles and 15 out of 41 occupations in Jute Textiles had average daily earnings of Rs.250.01 or more. The occupations with highest proportion of workers having average daily earnings of Rs.250.01 and above in Cotton Textiles, Woollen Textiles, Silk Textiles, Synthetic Textiles and jute Textiles were mechanical/Electrical Foreman (85.75 per cent), Supervisor (76.24 per cent), Mechanic General (75.00 per cent), Front Sizer/Sizer (100.00 per cent) and Electrician (91.26 per cent) respectively.

At industry level for all occupations combined, the average daily earnings of 2.45 per cent of workers in Cotton Textiles, 16.79 per cent workers in Woollen Textiles, 2.62 per cent workers in Silk Textiles, 14.37 per cent workers in Synthetic Textiles and 10.32 per cent of workers in Jute Textiles earned Rs.250.01 or more per day. For all Textiles Industries taken together, 27.96 per cent of workers had average daily earnings of Rs. 200.01 or more. None of the workers in Silk Textiles, Synthetic Textiles and Jute Textiles had average daily earnings of Rs. 25.00 or less in any occupation.

4.13 TREND IN AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS AND REAL EARNINGS OF WORKERS

The trend in average daily earnings of workers by sex-age and system of wage payment over different rounds has been presented in Table 4.13. It is seen that the average daily earnings have registered an increase in all the five Textiles Industries.

In order to assess the improvement in the economic conditions of the workers, it is necessary to examine the data on real earnings. The real earnings for the workers have also been presented in the Table 4.13. The real earnings have been defined on the same line as the real wage rate defined in paragraph 3.9 under Chapter-III.

The Table shows the extent of increase in real earnings of workers in the year 2006 as compared to that in the year 1994. The Table reveals that the real earnings of the workers have increased in all the five Textiles Industries except Cotton Textiles during 6^th round of Occupational Wage Survey. The highest increase in real earnings has been reported at 32.85 per cent in Woollen Textiles, followed by 32.11 per cent in Jute Textiles, 14.39 per cent in Silk Textiles and 8.04 per cent in Synthetic Textiles. The real earnings of workers have declined by 31.98 per cent in Cotton Textiles.