Surat: Labour department officials met representatives of the textile industry in the city on Friday to discuss worker-related issues and explore a resolution to the ongoing protest by embroidery workers.The meeting followed recent demonstrations by textile embroidery workers in Amroli and a subsequent representation submitted to the District Collector’s office outlining their pending demands, including paid weekly offs and regulated working hours.Industry representatives told officials that the concerns were largely confined to embroidery units, with no major worker-related issues reported recently in other segments of the textile industry.Representatives from embroidery, weaving, processing, rapier, jacquard and other sectors attended the meeting. Unit owners maintained that workers were being paid adequately and that there were no complaints related to wages.On the demand for paid weekly offs, owners said a large number of workers were engaged on a daily-wage basis and could take weekly offs if they wished, but would not be paid for days they did not work. Embroidery unit representatives, however, said daily-wage workers generally chose not to take leave because doing so meant losing a day’s wages.Industry representatives also said they had received no formal complaints from workers employed at their units and maintained that relations between workers and employers were largely cordial. They claimed that only a small section of workers was pursuing the demands.“We clarified to the labour officials that the workers are paid on a daily-wage basis and can take leave, but it will be unpaid. In the case of salaried employees, paid weekly offs have to be provided, but workers in this industry are engaged on a daily-wage basis,” said Ashok Jirawala, president of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers Welfare Association (FOGWWA).A labour department official said the meeting focused on encouraging manufacturers to address workers’ grievances through dialogue. “We discussed with the textile manufacturers that they need to discuss and resolve the issues raised by the workers. The industry leaders said the majority of workers do not have any complaints,” the official said.
