Is Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi unaware of workers’ strikes in the state? It would appear so if one were to take the statement made by him during his ongoing visit to Japan without a pinch of salt.
Is Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi unaware of workers’ strikes in the state? It would appear so if one were to take the statement made by him during his ongoing visit to Japan without a pinch of salt.
Speaking at a seminar held under the aegis of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Modi said that it has been Gujarat’s endeavour to attain ‘zero level man-days loss’ and solve disputes between industry and labour through consensus and arbitration.
Modi seems to have forgotten that, since March 2011, 13,000 workers of various industries and companies have gone on strike eight different times to raise their voice against exploitation? Has he forgotten that workers had demanded at least 40% wage hike during all these strikes?
Further, in 2009, there were 31 labour strikes in different industries affecting 4,977 workers and resulting in a loss of 32,282 man-days in Gujarat. According to a report of the labour commissioner of Gujarat, workers in more than 10 industries have called for 43 strikes between January 2010 and September 2011. These strikes had affected 6,910 workers and 75,507 man-days were lost.
In 2012 so far, seven labour strikes have taken place in Gujarat. The strike in February at state-owned chemical company GACL in Vadodara was the first to take place this year.
Again in February, workers at Reliance Industries’ textile plant in Naroda (Ahmedabad) called for a strike. In June, workers of four textile mills, including those of Arvind Ltd, went on strike. These events were closely followed by the strike by contractual workers of Hitachi Home in Kadi town of Mehsana district.
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