Textile fabric tearing again?

When Ranchhodlal Chhotalal established the first ever textile mill on the Indian soil in 1861, little did he know the impact of his action. He was shaping the identity of a city and a state too. He was snatching the limelight from a city in Britain. He was also pioneering the Made in India brand. It was perhaps the first processed and manufactured product from India that was in demand world over. Two and a half centuries later Indian textiles drape the rich and the poor alike, the world over.

So shouldn’t the erstwhile Manchester of the East – Ahmedabad – doing roaring textile business today? The answer is No. The labour struggles on the twentieth century and free market tattered the fabric of the textile business in the city. The revolution of small looms in Surat saw to it that the big mills were out of business.
Last couple of decades once again raised hopes as the news generation textile barons steered a course of glory once again. Largest denim producers and exporters and other fabric manufacturers started thriving again.

Interestingly, it was Mahatma Gandhi and a member of a textile baron family Ansuya Sarabhai who contributed towards setting up of Majoor Mahajan Sangh the labour union which comprised mainly of the textile industry.

After the era of shutting down of mills, the number of the members of the Ahmedabad Textile Mills’ Association (ATMA) which is the apex body of the mill owners, has gone down from 75 during the Independence years to a mere 19 in late ‘90s. In the last 12 years, ATMA is left with only 15 mills, which belong to a mere six management groups.

However, the recent labour unrest has seen the production going down to nearly 50%. The workers are striking in protest of the untenably low wages – in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000.  They are demanding at least 40% hike on the current salaries. Nearly, 8,000 workers of at least four mills have joined the strike in the past week. The total strength of the mill workers in Ahmedabad is pegged at about 13,000.

Ironical as it may sound, India’s largest corporate house Reliance Industries was reportedly considering exiting its iconic textile business including its Naroda plant for brand Vimal, as it is proving to be a loss making business. However, the reports have been rebutted by the company.

The Strike began with over 4,000 workers of Arvind Mills on June 4. This was soon followed by  over 1,500 workers of Arvind’s unit, Ankur Textiles on June 18. In last two days, workers of two more mills — Ashima and Asarwa Mills — 1,200 each,  have joined the strike.

Apart from Arvind, Ashima and Asarwa, the other management members of ATMA are Soma Textile, Reliance Industries for Naroda plant and Dholka-based Kemco Enterprises. Workers claim that for the past 13 years, the salaries were not revised. Though it may sound unbelievable, the workers claim that since 1965, their basic salary  has remained unchanged!

The union leaders of the workers, wave there payslips as an answer to most questions. “How can we manage the monthly budget for running a household? How can we send our children to a school? And how do we manage to eat two good nutritional meals everyday?” Says Arvind Ltd union leader, Yashpal Jaiswal.

The problem is now acute. Jaiswal says all the 4,000 workers of Arvind’s Naroda denim plant are on strike since June 4. “The denim production has come to a standstill. Company is not going to get our replacement as the outside workers too are unwilling to work here,” he says.

Jaiswal who organized textiles laborers says that the workers were getting some incentives as a hike until 1999. “In a meager salary like this it has become impossible to manage monthly expenses. We are sending our kids to municipal schools, just to reduce our expenses. After working for more than eight hours over here, we had to work somewhere else to fetch a little more money. Inspite of  working for 14 to 16 hours in a day, we are not able to meet the basic demands of a family,” he adds ruefully.

Labourers of Ashima, Asarwa and Ankur  mills have joined the strike to support their compatriots. “We are supporting them as we have similar demands. Even we want at least 40% hike in our wages,” says leader of the union of Ashima mills, Ashok Singh.

Jignesh Patel, union leader of Ankur mills, stated that the salaries were never sufficient to meet basic expenses. “Almost every worker of Ankur Mill is into a debt of at least Rs50,000. Now with salaries of Rs 6,000, how can one support a family and reduce the debt as well? We were left with no choice but to strike,” says an anguished Patel.

They seems to have lost faith in the labour unions and other organizations. “We do not trust even Majoor Mahajan Sangh (Textile Labour Association),” claims Dinesh Patel, the union leader of Asarwa mills. “Whatever happens to the workers of Arvind will also happen to workers of Asarwa Mills,” he says.

The damage is obviously collateral.  During the first week of strike, Arvind CMD Sanjay Lalbhai had claimed that the production was down by 60%. They produce 84 million meters of denim per annum, at its Naroda Plant and it is believed that the utilisation of the installed capacity had fallen down to around 34 million meters. But recently, the company announced that by terminating and replacing workers, Arvind has started production partially.

The only ray of hope for the labourers is a pending court case about their wages. The question is whether the textile barons who disappeared in the first wave in the last century, be a lesson to learn for the new age textile barons before they disappear due to joint force of slowdown, recession, global competition and now rising wages.