Weavers fear exodus of migrant workers due to ongoing strike

SURAT: With more than 4,000 weaving units in the city still closed due to ongoing agitation over wage hike, the powerloom industry fears exodus of the migrant workers to their hometowns in large numbers.
There are about six lakh powerloom machines in the weaving sector, employing about seven lakh migrant workers from Odisha, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.A majority four lakh are from Bihar and Odisha. The weaving sector that manufactures about 3 crore metres of grey fabric per day has been badly affected following the workers' agitation.
Industry sources claimed that the migrant labourers have a history of not indulging in the agitation and strikes. This is the second time that the weaving sector is facing the closure due to the wage hike issue after the agitation in 2011.
In the past, the weavers had come on a single platform in 2003 closing down the units for about a month to protest against the imposition of CENVAT by the then BJP-led government in the centre.
The industry is already facing a shortage of 40 per cent workforce as the migrant workers from Bihar, Orrisa and Uttar Pradesh are yet to return from the Holi vacation.
Ashish Gujarati, a powerloom weaver and member of Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (SGtextile committee said, "Migrants workers don't like to join strikes and agitations. If the strike continues for more days, it may trigger exodus of the migrant workers to their hometowns."
Devesh Patel, president of the Katargam-Ved Road Weavers' Association said, "There is no wage issue in the weaving units. Our workers are being threatened by the unscrupulous elements to forcibly join in the agitation. We have sought help from the police department and we are working out ways to end the agitation at the earliest."
According to Patel, the unskilled workers in the weaving sector earn Rs 200 per day and the skilled ones get anything between Rs 250 to Rs 300 per day. The wage payment in the weaving sector is done as per the Factory Act. About 95 per cent of the textile workers are migrant labourers and they are threatened by the local leaders to join in the agitation.
"In the last two years, the wages have been increased by almost 30 per cent. At present, we are facing shortage of workers and on the other hand we are faced with the phenomenal increase in the raw material prices," said Patel.