After August unrest, Surat textile units brace for fresh wave of stir

Embroidery workers across Surat textile units are threatening to go on a protest march on November 1 unless their long-pending demands regarding working hours, overtime wages and weekly offs are met. Since a demonstration on the streets on August 16 by workers at a unit in Amroli area of Surat, the demand has been simmering.

That demonstration had turned violent and spread gradually over the next month to other units and workers across the city, which is the hub of the synthetic textiles industry. Police investigations had later found discontent brewing on WhatsApp groups and social media.

Three FIRs were lodged following the August incidents and 26 people detained on charges of rioting, among others. The factories restarted only after police deployment. The workers are demanding what was promised to them under a law passed by Gujarat last year, after amending the Factories Act 1948.

It called for eight-hour work shifts, with overtime to be paid after that; a cap of 48 hours a week of work; raised overtime hours to 125 from 75 per quarter; and specified double wages for the overtime hours. If they finished their weekly quota of shifts, they could take the remaining days off, the new law says.