Althea Women’s Collective Demands Detailed Investigation into Labor Violations in Film Industry

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A week after the release of the Justice Hema Committee report that highlighted gross violations in the Malayalam film industry, the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) and the Althea Women’s Collective have stressed the need to look at other aspects of abuse besides sexual exploitation, as mentioned in the report. Speaking to Express Dialogues, WCC member Beena Paul spoke about the need to address labour rights violations and exploitation apart from incidents of sexual violence in the film industry.

As a first step, the Althea Women’s Collective published a draft petition to be submitted to the Labor Department. Althea demanded that the movie theater industry be re-emphasized as a for-profit, labor-based industry.

“The Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) at Workplace Act, 2013 should be implemented in the shooting for both women and transgenders. Equal pay should be given for equal work and also 30% of employment, except in acting roles, should be reserved for women. The Ministry of Labour should set up a website where women employees can get information about job opportunities. A work experience certificate should be given to all employees who have worked on a project at any level,” the draft reads.

“A seminar will be organised at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) on the concept of the petition, ensuring participation of all stakeholders,” Althea convener PE Usha told TNIE. “There is no minimum wage system and equal pay in the Malayalam film industry. The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) was also not functioning. There should be government-level intervention to address these issues,” she said.

However, Labour Minister V Sivankutty said that artists do not come under the ambit of labour laws. “Technicians do come under it. However, we could not intervene in the wage issue of artists as they do not come under the Employees Compensation Act and Minimum Wages Act. All the government could do was issue a notification for the welfare of workers,” he said.

CITU, the trade union wing of the CPM, is yet to demand intervention on the basis of labour laws. However, the CPI’s AITUC has demanded equal pay for equal jobs. Women’s organisations, including the All India Democratic Women’s Association, have been criticised for remaining silent on the violation of labour laws in the sector.