The Human Cost Of Elegant Luxury

For the past 22 years, at 9 am on a Sunday, the workers of Michael Aram, an American luxury brand, use their only day off to travel to Sarita Vihar Park in Delhi in June’s scorching heat with nothing but the clothes on their backs and their worn-out footwear. There they begin their weekly three-hour sit-in for minimum wages, and against exploitation.  

Under the shade of a tree, they open their well-worn notebooks, on the pages of which they meticulously document every legal update, every incident from the factory, and every interaction with their superiors. They inform the world about these developments through their Twitter account (@WorkersofMA). Desperate to amplify their voices, they declare that they have all the necessary documents along with the unwavering will to fight for their rights against Michael Aram. 

Their meetings are not only rituals of camaraderie but sessions of resistance. Here, they find solidarity. 

Michael Aram is a renowned US-based artist and designer who owns a handicraft company that manufactures luxurious metalware products. Based in Noida, India, this company specialises in producing high-quality brass items plated with gold and silver. These products, including tableware, cutlery, and vases, are sold in high-end department stores as Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, hotels, and galleries worldwide.  

Michael Aram set up a production unit in India called ‘Michael Aram Exports Private Limited’ to supply finished products to Michael Aram Inc. (USA). The company operated production units at Okhla Phase I, Lado Sarai, Kishangarh, and Sahibabad, Uttar Pradesh. Inspired by a trip to India at age 25, Aram established a second home and workshop here, eventually building a brand with an estimated annual revenue of $33.5 million. Today, around a hundred skilled artisans work under him, crafting intricate pieces that define the brand.   

The company’s official website declares Michael Aram's personal involvement in the creation process, showcasing photographs of him sculpting and crafting these luxury items. It proudly states, "Nature is his biggest muse, as is the handmade process," emphasising the artisanal quality behind the products.  

However, the narrative presented by the website does not fully reflect the reality of the production process, as alleged by the workers. The true craftsmanship lies in the hands of labourers who toil in the Noida factory, without a minimum pay. Currently, they receive Rs. 13,408 in hand, with a meagre Rs. 143 allocated for house rent. As of today, Delhi's minimum wage for a skilled labourer stands at Rs. 20,903.

Today, and for the past two decades, these workers have been in a relentless battle with Michael Aram for minimum wages, addressing wage discrepancies, securing proper rations, and fighting against exploitation and overwork. Rampal, working in Michael Aram since 2002 said, “This is our land of duty, against exploitation.” 

Past Exploitations

The worker’s struggle is not new. In 2005, Michael Aram faced immense backlash as the owner's name made headlines in every newspaper. On November 1, 2005, seventeen workers stood with placards in Connaught Place and Janpath Lane Market, protesting the denial of work since March that year, non-payment of wages, and withholding of their Diwali bonus.  

Michael Aram told the workers that he was in a dispute with Francis Joseph, an Indian director of his company, but assured them that he would resolve the issue within two weeks. However, as time passed, essential facilities like water, electricity, and tea were cut off; wages were paid late, only after workers filed complaints with the Labour Department.  

After their protests and continuous visits to the Labour Department—efforts that led to the death of a worker, Ramdev, who was killed in a traffic accident while returning from the South Delhi Labor Office—the workers eventually received their wages and resumed work. For a few months, conditions improved. 

Then in 2007, the factory was abruptly relocated from Okhla Phase 1 to Noida Sector 63, with the management citing the end of their lease agreement. The workers were promised wages in line with Delhi's rates and assured that their work would continue uninterrupted. A notice dated September 3, 2007, signed by M.A. Design, read, ‘Your service will be considered from the time it began in Delhi, and your future benefits will align with Delhi's standards’. As time passed, these promises faded into oblivion, leaving the workers grappling with lower wages and a deep sense of betrayal. “The company has promised everything in writing, but we don't even get annual increments or the minimum wage,” laments Rampal, a worker in his early fifties.

On March 17, 2023, their Twitter account stated, “The company shifted to Noida in 2007, but the management stopped paying us the Delhi rate in 2009—exactly when the minimum wages increased to give us some kind of a decent life.” Fifteen years later, they add, “Labor inspectors have come and gone in these years, have told the management to pay us our dues, but the factory management remains against giving our wage increase, without any support for us.”  

Their protests led to the management “calling bouncers and goons to threaten to kill” them, they say. 

Homes in Ruins  

In the dusty lanes of Sant Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, lies the broken home of Brahmanand, a 54-year-old factory worker whose life has been marred by hardship and tragedy. Brahmanand began working at Michael Aram in 2002 and has been living alone in Delhi since then.  

“The company's exploitation has reached a point where it cost my wife her life,” says Brahmanand, his voice trembling as tears well up in his eyes.

While making luxury home décor for Aram, Brahmanand's own village home had fallen into disrepair. One morning, his wife called him, desperate for money to fix their house. He could only manage to arrange a thousand and two rupees, far from the lakh needed. “What kind of work are you doing, where our children's future is in darkness, and we can't even feed them properly? What's the use of such a job?” she would often say, he laments. Unable to bear the financial burdens and loans, his wife succumbed to a heart attack on April 25, 2023, at six in the morning. 

The news of his wife's death reached him late. Workers are not allowed to use their phones during shifts and must submit them before work begins. The General Manager did not inform him about his wife's condition; instead, a co-worker told him. The company, which had already refused to pay him an advance for his wife’s medical treatment, or even his own spinal injuries incurred while working for them, denied him any financial aid for performing her final rituals.  

His salary, barely enough to cover his children's education, house rent, and daily necessities, left little for anything else. The financial strain was unending, exacerbated by his spinal injury. One of his legs is now non-functional, further limiting his employment options.  

In 2020, Michael Aram bought a house in Florida’s Palm Street Beach for $5.2 million and owns a high-end apartment in Lutyens's Delhi. While the company was denying Brahmanand basic income and compensation for on-the-job injuries, it made a peak profit of four million dollars – over eight crore rupees.   

Brahmanand's tale is not just one of personal loss but of systemic exploitation. The luxurious products crafted at Michael Aram come at the cost of the silent suffering of workers like him.   

Adding to his grievances, Brahmanand states, “What the company has been doing to us from the beginning is a complete crime,” reflecting that the company's attitude remains unchanged and was, in fact, worsening.  

The Health Toll on Michael Aram's Artisans

Rambachhan, a 50-year-old worker from Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, also joined Michael Aram's factory in 2002. Rambachhan moved to Delhi, leaving behind his ancestral home to secure a better future for his five children. Each child walks a different path in life, their father's hard-earned money paving their way. But the cost of this dedication is steep. Rambachhan's days are long and gruelling, his nights filled with worry over his children's future and the unending financial burdens.  

In the summer of 2011, the Noida factory, home to around 150 workers, became the site of a life-altering incident for Rambachhan. At 10:30 in the morning, a supervisor asked him to create two new items—ice tongs. As Rambachhan worked under the supervisor's watchful eye, his leg became trapped in a three-phase machine spinning at 2800 revolutions per minute. He fainted instantly and was rushed to Balaji Hospital.  

Fifteen days later, despite his inability to work due to the injury, the management threatened to demote him to a helper if he refused to come into work and operate the machines. Eventually, he underwent surgery at Asian Hospital, but the company provided no financial support or compensation, says Rambachhan. During the nine months he spent recovering at home, his salary was deducted, forcing him to depend on rations from neighbours to support himself and his family.

“They put 1500 rupees in my pocket and told me to buy some juice,” he recalls. The amount was later deducted from his wages as an advance. The ice tongs, which he was making at the time of injury, are priced on Michael Aram’s website for $65 (or Rs 5500+) each.

"We create many pieces during our working hours, just one-piece costs around 50k—some even in lakhs. If we got the money from selling just one of those goods for a month, we'd be happy," says Ramkumar, a 46-year-old worker at Michael Aram.  

In 2019, misfortune struck again for Rambachhan. After a gruelling day's work, the company bus transporting workers home collided with a divider two km from the factory. Seated at the front, Rambachhan’s stitches from his previous surgery reopened, necessitating yet another operation. Though the company covered the medical expenses this time, they continue to deduct a thousand rupees from his salary every month. Rambachhan claims that the company gave him fifty eight thousand rupees initially to cover the hospital bills, but he anticipates it will take at least another year to settle the remaining expenses. 

“Meri beti apahij hai aur ab main khud ek viklang ho gaya hu” ("My own daughter is disabled, and now I myself have become handicapped"), Rambachhan murmurs, shifting uncomfortably in his seat with a tear-filled gaze. 

The workers shed light on the inconveniences caused by the transport system provided by Michael Aram, recounting a number of incidents. From the bus not being on time and stopping at the wrong pick-up places to the rash driving and the bus services being halted multiple times for various reasons and excuses, these issues make daily commutes a nightmare. As a result, workers have often been forced to travel 30-40 km on their own, without any compensation.  

Just like Brahmanand and Rambachhan, all the workers at Michael Aram endure extreme conditions to create high-end products. Their work is not only arduous but also hazardous. The production process leaves them blackened with soot, wearing tattered and torn clothes. They cough and spit up dark phlegm, suffer from chronic colds, fevers, stomach disorders, chest pains, and even tuberculosis. While the company never paid legal overtime rates, or timely dearness allowances, it also won’t provide its workers clean drinking water or proper pollution masks.  

At the B-156, Okhla Phase 1 location, numerous workers contracted tuberculosis due to the high pollution levels. Among those affected were Lileshwar Singh, Uday Singh, Balram, and Achhebar, who have since left the company. Rajesh and Shivram Gupta contracted bone tuberculosis in 2008, and another worker, Ram Sagar, tragically died from the disease. Shivram Gupta also had to undergo surgery to remove deposits of brass from his lungs.  

Their demands  

Firoz Khan, one of the factory workers at Michael Aram, has been a participant in the protest since its inception. In 2012, he was arbitrarily suspended from the factory.   

 On August 22, 2012, Firoz recalls when he, along with two other workers, was summoned to the factory. Expecting a routine meeting, they were instead handed suspension notices without any prior warning. This abrupt dismissal was a severe blow to Firoz’s life, who now relies on his wife’s tailoring income. 

Firoz claims that the company had been specifically targeting the 17 individuals who protested in 2005. He believes this was its way of intimidating the remaining workers into not supporting their cause.  

The workers of Michael Aram have long demanded Firoz's reinstatement along with other pressing issues. One major grievance is the wages withheld during the COVID-19 lockdown. During this period, the workers received no payments, despite the Ministry of Labour and Employment issuing an advisory on March 20, 2020, urging all employers not to terminate employees or cut wages due to the lockdown. The workers still await payment.  

Their third demand is for fair wages in line with Delhi's minimum wage of Rs. 20,903, instead of the paltry Rs. 13,408 they currently receive. Despite years of dedicated service, the company has not even increased their salaries.   

"Mehangai badhti ja rahi hai, majdoor ki majduri wohi hai" ("The cost of living keeps rising, but the worker's wages remain the same").   

Ramkumar claims that the company issues two sets of salaries: one that everyone receives and another that includes an extra amount deposited into the accounts of non-protesting workers on the 22nd of each month. “Everyone receives the same salary as us, but on the 22nd of each month, an extra 5,000 to 9,000 rupees is deposited into the accounts of others.” 

When asked why this disparity exists, Brahmanand has a straightforward explanation: "They want to harass us so much that we leave the job on our own". The root of this mistreatment lies in the protest of 2005. Firoz and his fellow workers, who stood up for their rights, are now being punished for their actions, they allege. The remaining workers in the factory endure the mistreatment but remain silent, fearing they will be targeted by the company just as the 12 workers currently are. This fear of retribution keeps them from speaking out, trapping them in a cycle of exploitation and silence, workers claim. 

Their fourth demand is for proper ration provisions. Their X account in one of the posts states that one worker was refused his food ration because he declined to carry a 50kg bag, work that wasn’t part of his job description. Another worker was threatened with the loss of his food allocation because he took a few days off. This highlights the extreme and arbitrary conditions the workers face.  

Ration distribution began in 2009 after relentless demands. Initially, workers received a modest but sufficient amount: four kilos of lentils, ten kilos of atta, two kilos of sugar, and six kilos of rice per month. However, over time, these provisions were significantly reduced. During the Covid pandemic, when sustenance was most critical, the management cut all items by two kilos each.   

One worker laments. "Sustenance is negative now, yet the production targets have only increased."  

In February, March, and April of this year, they did not receive any ration at all. Since then, they have only been receiving ration once a month, a significant reduction from the previous twice-a-month distribution —barely enough to sustain the workers and their families.

Workers vs Michael Aram

The workers of Michael Aram, who hail from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand, are highly skilled, inventive, and hardworking. Despite the adversity they face, they have managed to double the production quantity and enhance the quality of many items since the company's inception in 2001.  

The workers claim that around one crore worth of shipments is made every week, yet the company refuses to pay them minimum wages. This blatant exploitation is a strategy to maximise profit at the expense of those who toil tirelessly, says the workers. As one worker lamented, “It's all a game of capital; these capitalists profit from our exploitation.”

Their long legal battles with Michael Aram further highlight their plight. For the last decade, Firoz has been running up and down the court corridors in the hope of securing rights, a job, or even compensation for his years of struggle. His case, Firoz vs. MA Design India Ltd., stands as a testament to all the workers’ ongoing fight. 

The initial claim under the Industrial Disputes Act was filed in October 2016. The initial pleadings and rejoinders were completed, followed by the management's evidence affidavit, which denied all allegations and justified their actions. 

The case has been delayed due to management changes, with the original respondent, MA Design India Private Limited, being taken over by Michael Aram India Private Limited in 2021. The workers are challenging the new respondent's status in the High Court, arguing that liabilities should remain with the old company. 

Adding to the complexity, the management has repeatedly delayed filing their reply in the high court proceedings. Despite the notice being issued in November 2023, they are yet to respond, stretching the process for nearly eight months. 

When asked about these legal battles, Rampal revealed the dismissive arrogance of their adversaries. "Michael Aram’s staff would tell us, 'Main court kacheri sab khareed lunga' (I can buy out the courts and the legal system)," he said. Yet, this arrogance only fuels the workers' determination. Despite legal threats and an uphill battle for fair wages and justice, they remain resolute. 

Brahmanand echoed his sentiments, saying, “The government is a puppet of the capitalists.”. They also shed light on the labor codes and how they have affected their right to strike. "Ye sarkar rahegi toh mazdooron ke sab kanoon samapt ho jayega" ("If this government remains, all laws protecting workers will be abolished"), they warned. 

Uthara U.R. is an independent journalist and recent graduate of the Delhi School of Journalism, University of Delhi. Her reportage focuses on gender, human rights issues, and documenting communities in resistance.