RIL workers threaten jail bharo stir, three held

On the second day of the strike by workers of the textile unit of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) located at Naroda, three union members were arrested. Following their arrest, the other workers tried to launch a 'jail bharo andolan' but late in the evening on Friday, the workers were assured that the arrested union members would get bail by Saturday morning. According to the union, the strike will continue on Saturday too.

On Friday, Kurdaram Jaat, assistant security manager at the RIL plant, registered a complaint with the Naroda police against three employees who were subsequently arrested.

President of the Reliance Employees Union, Hasmukh R Patel, vice-president of the union Lalsinh Bhaati and another union member, Ambalal Parmar, were arrested. Patel (40), Bhaati (36) and Parmar (36)) were held for allegedly organizing an illegal strike. They are accused of instigating the workers and illegally staging a strike at the gate of the unit located in Naroda GIDC.

The company claims that restriction on use of mobile phones inside the plant had led to the strike. But the employees are also demanding at least 60% hike in their salaries. The workers say that they draw Rs6,000 per month and are demanding a salary hike of Rs10,000 per month.

On the second day of the strike, RIL officials were unwilling to speak on the issue. But sources in the company claimed that the strike was the result of the restrictions imposed by the management on the use of mobile phones within the plant.The sources further alleged that to protest against the restrictions, the employees had falsely accused the company of not giving them a pay raise. They had allegedly tried to stop people from entering the premises and indulged in "improper behaviour". The sources further alleged that the protestors had used abusive language and forcibly climbed the gates.

In the last one year, this is the second incident of labour unrest in a company of Gujarat. In the first quarter of 2011, production at General Motors plant in Halol had suffered due to a labour strike. The problem was later resolved by the management and the union.