AHMEDABAD: The erstwhile
Manchester of the East is grappling with labours' issues. On Thursday,
workers from yet another textile mill went on a strike.
Demanding 40 per cent wage hike, around 800 workers from Ashima Textiles' denim and yarn dyeing division at Khokhra did not join the work. Even as the deadlock between the striking labourers at Arvind's Naroda plant and its voiles division Ankur Textiles continues, workers from another mill going on strike has cast a shadow over other mills. Like Arvind, Ashima too termed the strike illegal.
In fact, sensing trouble following the Arvind strike, Ashima, Soma and Asarwa textiles mills had on Wednesday hiked wages of their workers and signed an agreement with labourers' representatives to maintain industrial peace.
"The wage hike issue has been pending with the competent authority. However, to give an interim relief, we hike wages by Rs 25 per day for our workers. But just a day after the hike a few workers have gone on strike," said Chintan Parikh, chairman and managing director, Group Ashima.
Terming the strike illegal, Parikh added that the company management will not bow down to the pressure. The company currently manufacturers around 17 lakh meters of denim per month. The workers at Ashima are demanding a 40% wage hike. "On day one around 1,000 workers joined the strike and another 1,500 will be upping the ante against management on Friday. Our salaries haven't been revised in the last two decades. We have been talking to workers from other textile mills and won't give up until our demands are met," said Ashok Sisodiya, a worker and representative of Ashima mill labourers.
Workers from Arvind's Naroda plant who have been on a strike for more than 15 days said that they are too talking to workers from others mills to join the strike to build pressure on mill owners. "This might be the first time after independence that textile workers strike has blown out to this proportion. In 1974, workers went on strike as part of their support for the massive reservation movement, but since then the city has never witnessed such a big strike," said Ahmedabad Textile Mills' Association secretary general Abhinav Shukla.
Demanding 40 per cent wage hike, around 800 workers from Ashima Textiles' denim and yarn dyeing division at Khokhra did not join the work. Even as the deadlock between the striking labourers at Arvind's Naroda plant and its voiles division Ankur Textiles continues, workers from another mill going on strike has cast a shadow over other mills. Like Arvind, Ashima too termed the strike illegal.
In fact, sensing trouble following the Arvind strike, Ashima, Soma and Asarwa textiles mills had on Wednesday hiked wages of their workers and signed an agreement with labourers' representatives to maintain industrial peace.
"The wage hike issue has been pending with the competent authority. However, to give an interim relief, we hike wages by Rs 25 per day for our workers. But just a day after the hike a few workers have gone on strike," said Chintan Parikh, chairman and managing director, Group Ashima.
Terming the strike illegal, Parikh added that the company management will not bow down to the pressure. The company currently manufacturers around 17 lakh meters of denim per month. The workers at Ashima are demanding a 40% wage hike. "On day one around 1,000 workers joined the strike and another 1,500 will be upping the ante against management on Friday. Our salaries haven't been revised in the last two decades. We have been talking to workers from other textile mills and won't give up until our demands are met," said Ashok Sisodiya, a worker and representative of Ashima mill labourers.
Workers from Arvind's Naroda plant who have been on a strike for more than 15 days said that they are too talking to workers from others mills to join the strike to build pressure on mill owners. "This might be the first time after independence that textile workers strike has blown out to this proportion. In 1974, workers went on strike as part of their support for the massive reservation movement, but since then the city has never witnessed such a big strike," said Ahmedabad Textile Mills' Association secretary general Abhinav Shukla.
