Question

‘Job recruitment as factory worker takes a different pattern’. Discuss.

Answer 1

1. In the past, many workers got their jobs through contractors or jobbers. In the Kanpur textile mills, these jobbers were known as mistris and were themselves workers.
2. They came from the same regions and communities as the workers, but because they had the owner’s backing, they bossed over the workers.
3. On the other hand, the mistri also put community-related pressures on the worker.
4. Nowadays, the importance of the jobber has come down, and both management and unions play a role in recruiting their own people.
5. Many workers also expect that they can pass on their jobs to their children.
6. Many factories employ badli workers who substitute for regular permanent workers who are on leave.
7. Many of these badli workers have actually worked for many years for the same company but are not given the same status and security. This is what is called contract work in the organised sector.