Now AGOA girls complain over poor pay, insults- The Monitor
By Carolyne Nakazibwe & Mwanguhya Charles Mpagi
Girls undergoing training at the Academy of Apparel Technology in Bugolobi have threatened to destroy the factory if their needs are not addressed.Four of the girls The Monitor talked to on phone yesterday claimed they were being beaten, underpaid and insulted by their Sri Lankan bosses.
The girls, who requested anonymity, said they had refused to attend classes and demanded to talk to President Yoweri Museveni, before they sign any contracts with Tri-Star Apparel Exports Ltd.
Tri-Star is running the training programme meant to promote the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), spearheaded by the president. Six hundred and fifty girls have been undergoing the tailoring course for five months, and they have been offered jobs at the factory starting Dec. 1.
The girls said they could not sign the contracts offering a Shs 70,000 (about $35) monthly salary.
They say the money is too little.
�We did not come here to develop our stomachs, but our future. They [Sri Lankans] are now bringing in Indians to do the jobs and they are marginalising us. How can you be slapped in front of everyone for a small mistake?� one of the girls said.
However, Special Presidential Assistant on AGOA Susan Muhwezi said the girls were lying about the strike and Indian workers.
�There is no strike, they only had some complaints about salaries. The girls coming from poor families are happy, but there are those that went in through [wrong means] expecting salaries of Shs 300,000,� Muhwezi said.
She said she had been to the factory and talked to Tri-Star Managing Director Vellupillai Kananathan.
When The Monitor visited the factory, there were no signs of a strike, but a few girls were loitering in the compound. Sources at the factory said Trade minsiter Richard Nduhuura was addressing the girls, but some had stayed away and refused to listen to the minister�s speech.
Muhwezi laughed off the girls� threat to destroy the factory, saying governme nt had done its part.
�How can they destroy the factory? This is a private enterprise. Government said the girls were to be trained by Tri-Star. If Tri-Star wants to retain them, that is their business,� she said. �When you have 650 girls, it is like a school and they can be quite unreasonable sometimes.�
Kananathan was reportedly in a meeting when The Monitor tried to contact him.
November 30, 2002 06:28:32
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