Wages issue stirs further agitation

Wages of diamond cutters and polishers has been the heated topic in the Indian gem and jewellery industry. Last week saw a strike by the Surat diamond workers, who even threw stones at the factories they worked at. Now it is their counterparts in Ahmedabad, Amreli ,Junagarh Rajkot, who are agitating demanding an increase in wages.

At Ahmedabad, thousands of workers gathered an threw stones in Thakkar approach road, as said by Arun Jain. So sever was the agitation that the police had to use tear gas to control the mob. The workers had gathered in areas of diamond factories like Bapu Nagar, Odhav , Amraiwadi, throwing stones at the factories to damage them.

Around 27 workers were arrested for violating the rules and regulations. One person was killed in Bhavanagr after a guard opened fire on the mob, which was trying to damage the property. Police also used lathi charge and tear gas on the mob.

The Surat labour agitations also seemed to not arrive at a conclusion. Around 5000 workers got together and met at Surat Diamond Association yesterday, complaining that so many factory owners have terminated them from there job. They were not satisfied with the mediations of Surat Diamond Associations. Some reports had come in that some owners have terminated there workers from there factories. The factories, unable to pay increased wages by 20 percent, in lieu of high rough price and low finish price.