Workers at Arvind's voiles plant join ongoing strike

Over 1,500 workers at the Raipur plant of Ankur Textiles Ltd, the voiles division of textile company Arvind Ltd, went on strike on Monday demanding wage hike, and thereby taking the total number of striking employees at Arvind to over 5,000.

“We were waiting for Arvind to take some steps for its Naroda plant and were hoping things would turn similar for us in terms of pay hike. However, we have now joined with the striking workers at Naroda, and are demanding a 40 per cent hike in wages from Ankur Textiles,” said Jignesh Patel, a workers’ union leader at Ankur Textiles.

Workers at Arvind’s denim manufacturing plant at Naroda went on an indefinite strike on June 4, demanding 40 per cent wage hike. According to an official statement released by Arvind on Monday: “...about half of 1,100 workers of Ankur Textiles, which manufactures voiles fabrics, have joined the illegal strike. The company has already appointed contract workers and is hopeful of significantly increasing the output in the finishing department during eight to 10 days.”

Ankur Textile manufactures 36 million meters of voiles and other fabrics. In contrast to the company’s claims, union leader Patel said production at Ankur Textiles had been entirely hit by the strike.

Commenting on the strike at the Naroda plant, the company said: “As a result of the strike, production at the Naroda plant has been affected. The company has been able to partially resume production by fresh recruitments and appointment of contractors. The company has intensified its efforts to recruit fresh workers and is hopeful that it will be able to increase production further within the next week.”