Tens of thousands of workers demonstrated in Pandesara, Surat, on Monday in support of a pay increase. Starting over the weekend, the strike has affected 1.50 to 2 lakh powerloom machines and over 1,000 textile industries.
A group of 25 to 35 textile workers, armed with wooden sticks and iron rods on bikes, forced factory workers to join the strike on Saturday night, according to sources.
Factory owners hurried to their units as soon as they heard about the tragedy, which occurred about midnight. According to those with knowledge, the workers’ dread of the strike leaders served as a deterrent when they were urged to return to work.
Vimal Bekawala, the secretary of the Pandesara Industrial Association, provided further details, saying that at the meeting on Sunday, it was discovered that although the workers wanted to work in the plant, they were afraid of certain antisocial characters. Some of the workers accepted the assurance that all safety precautions would be taken and went back to work. Fifty percent of the factories in the Pandesara and Bamroli districts were still operating on Monday.
As they awaited the arrival of anti-social elements, the factory owners were also observed on Monday sitting in groups at the industrial societies’ main gates.
In Pandesara and Bamroli industrial societies, there are between 1.5 and 2 lakh powerloom machines, according to Ashish Gujarati, the head of the Pandesara Weavers’ Cooperative Society. The dispute began on Saturday evening when a group of young people violently urged the workers to halt their jobs and back the pay increase.
Ashok Jirawala, president of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers Welfare Association, said that an attempt was made to prevent the strike from spreading to other industrial areas of the city, such as Katargam, Sachin, Anjana, Kapdoara, Mota Varachha, and Sayan, and that it had only affected the Pandesara and Bamroli areas. Additionally, the presidents of industrial societies have been instructed to take preventative action and to restrict the entry of unknown individuals.
