GENDER AND LABOUR DEBATES: WOMEN WORKERS IN THE UNORGANISED SECTOR WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SWEET MEAT STREET IN KOZHIKODE DISTRICT OF KERALA

The unorganised women workers are working in the environment of below the minimum accepted standards without
adequate facilities and having very lower income that did not meet their daily needs of life. There are a lot of people
working in different sectors in SM Street in Kozhikode, a large majority of them working in an unorganized sector.
The more women workers were employed mainly in the field of textile shops as sales women and comparatively more
opportunities are there. The study focused on the women workers of the unorganised sector in SM Street, Kozhikode
and the data were collected from 50 respondents and also from various books, reports, journals and websites. This is
revealed that the working hours of women workers are not fixed. They get daily wages for their work, which is
comparatively less than the pay prescribed by the government. Gender division of labour is an existing reality in the
unorganised sector. Concepts of labour that developed in different arrangements of societies carried a male dominated
frame work. Placing work as a typical male phenomena and each point developed a male-centered class consciousness.
Labour and its related identities got represented only in this class frame which placed workers under certain
categorical representations. The division of labour in the society has historical linkages in different forms. Lack of
toilet facilities and drinking water facility lead to severe health issues of women workers in the unorganised sector in
SM Street. Both the central and state governments have formulated certain specific schemes to support unorganized
workers but which fail in meeting the real needs and requirements of the unorganized labour force. Trade unions are
insensitive to deal the issues of women worker