{"id":341632,"date":"2025-08-27T18:31:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epress.am\/?p=341632"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:31:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T06:31:39","slug":"indian-workers-strike-in-ijevan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/2025\/08\/27\/indian-workers-strike-in-ijevan.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sew Faster\u2019 at Gunpoint: Indian Workers Strike at Ijevan Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">205 workers of the \u201cGrand Textile\u201d factory in Ijevan\u2014labor migrants from India\u2014blocked the town\u2019s interstate road on August 6 to protest their harsh working conditions. The protest was immediately dispersed by police, but the strike persisted for six more days.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the strike, workers released a video appeal in Hindi that went viral in India, prompting the Indian Embassy to intervene. In the video\u2014filmed inside the factory warehouse\u2014workers are seen holding their passports above their heads, demanding three months\u2019 worth of unpaid wages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"\u053b\u057b\u0587\u0561\u0576\u0578\u0582\u0574 \u0563\u0578\u0580\u056e\u0561\u0564\u0578\u0582\u056c \u0567\u2024 \u0544\u0565\u0566 \u057d\u057f\u056b\u057a\u0578\u0582\u0574 \u0565\u0576  \u0561\u0577\u056d\u0561\u057f\u0565\u056c \u0561\u057f\u0580\u0573\u0561\u0576\u0561\u056f\u056b \u057d\u057a\u0561\u057c\u0576\u0561\u056c\u056b\u0584\u056b \u057f\u0561\u056f\" width=\"618\" height=\"348\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ex0k4tFDV_Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe owner forces us to work harder, sew faster, pointing a gun at us. But he doesn&#8217;t pay our salaries. We went to the Indian Embassy, but they didn\u2019t help. We went to the police three days ago, but they didn\u2019t help either. We just want our salaries and to return home,\u201d one worker says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On August 11, a representative from the Indian Embassy arrived at the factory to negotiate with the management. Journalists and human rights observers were barred from entering the facility, which is surrounded by security fences, cameras, and guards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An anonymous striker inside the factory told Epress.am that the director promised to repay the wage debt within two days, increase salaries by $50 within 20 days, and cease the use of firearms to intimidate workers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201cGrand Textile\u201d factory operates in a repurposed Soviet-era department store. Workers both live and work on-site, under continuous surveillance\u2014more than 40 cameras are installed throughout the premises. They are forbidden from going out late, forming romantic relationships, drinking alcohol, or visiting central caf\u00e9s in Ijevan, among other restrictions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working conditions are also grueling: at least 10 hours at the sewing machine per day, with one hour-long break and two short coffee breaks. According to the workers, when production targets aren\u2019t met, management resorts to threats and even brandishes weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey have five guns. If you sew slowly, they pull out a weapon and say: \u2018\u0547\u0578\u0582\u0577\u0578\u0582\u057f \u056f\u0561\u0580\u056b\u2019 [\u2018Sew faster,\u2019 in Armenian]. That\u2019s the only Armenian phrase we all know,\u201d said one worker.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During negotiations, the administration reportedly promised to reduce daily production quotas\u2014from five to three or four full uniforms per worker\u2014and to end all forms of intimidation. Management claims that workers currently earn $400 per month. According to contracts, the company is also obligated to cover workers\u2019 medical costs\u2014something it has failed to do thus far.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite their concerns, the workers agreed to the settlement, fearing the company might not honor its promises once media attention fades. Two days later, wages were repaid\u2014but the promised raise has yet to materialize.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Indian Embassy representative told us, \u2018If they don\u2019t fulfill the promise, call me directly.\u2019 We did that today, on August 25. He told us to wait two more days,\u201d a worker told Epress.am via phone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is not the first time \u201cGrand Textile\u201d has faced complaints over labor violations.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to human rights defender Gevorg Kotandjian, in 2022 a group of Indian workers escaped the factory and filed a complaint with the police, prompting a criminal investigation on suspicion of human trafficking. The workers relocated to the \u201cGloria\u201d factory in Vanadzor. After recovering their unpaid wages, they left Armenia. The case was later closed, officially \u201cdue to a lack of complainants\u201d\u2014meaning no complainants remained in the country to testify. Testimonies from remaining workers were reportedly disregarded by police.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"\u0540\u0576\u0564\u056f\u0561\u057d\u057f\u0561\u0576\u056b \u056d\u0578\u057a\u0561\u0576\u0579\u056b\u0576\u0565\u0580\u056b\u0576 \u053b\u057b\u0565\u0582\u0561\u0576\u0578\u0582\u0574 \u0562\u0561\u0580\u0565\u056c\u0561\u057e\u0578\u0582\u0574 \u0565\u0576 \u056d\u0578\u057d\u057f\u0561\u0581\u0565\u056c\" width=\"618\" height=\"348\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l9-VlZN_-vA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Workers both live and work on-site, under continuous surveillance\u2014more than 40 cameras are installed throughout the premises&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tstyn_error":""},"categories":[10,66037,51049,66047,66030,65979],"tags":[78725,92553,92550,92552,92019,21409,92551,92549],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}