Embroidery unit owners in Surat have put two wage options before their workers, and the workers have turned down both. The dispute over shift length and a weekly day off has run since August, and the people at its centre, mostly migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, have threatened to leave for their home villages over Diwali if nothing changes.
Rs 14,300 for eight hours, Rs 35,000 for twelve
The Textile Embroidery Jobwork Association of Surat (TEJAS), which reportedly speaks for about 40,000 unit owners, made the offers at meetings on 10 and 11 October. Down To Earth and Outlook both report the same two choices. Workers who move to an eight-hour day with Sundays off would get Rs 14,300 a month. Those who keep working 12 hours would get Rs 35,000, along with support for their children’s education. According to the workers’ side, the eight-hour option also came with a ban on phones inside units and a penalty of half the value of any goods damaged in production.
Workers say they now earn Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 a month on 12-hour shifts, often with no fixed day off.
Why workers read the offer as a cut
A rough per-hour comparison shows the gap. Our own arithmetic, assuming 30 working days for the current 12-hour pattern and 26 days for a schedule with Sundays off:
- Current pay: Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 over about 360 hours works out to roughly Rs 69 to Rs 83 an hour.
- Eight-hour offer: Rs 14,300 over about 208 hours comes to roughly Rs 69 an hour, the bottom of today’s range.
- Twelve-hour offer: Rs 35,000 over 360 hours is about Rs 97 an hour. The reports do not say whether this option includes a weekly holiday.
On those assumptions, a worker who takes the shorter day keeps the same hourly rate at best and loses more than half of the monthly income. The owners’ second option pays more per hour but keeps the long shift workers want to end. Day counts vary from unit to unit, so treat the figures as an estimate.
The labour codes and the 2025 factory law
Two rules pull in different directions here. The Factories (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, passed in September 2025 over opposition from Congress and AAP, allows daily hours of up to 12 under certain conditions. Then, around the start of October, Surat’s Deputy Labour Commissioner told TEJAS and its member units to comply with the four national labour codes on wages, social security, workplace safety and industrial relations. Down To Earth dates that letter to 29 September; Outlook gives 1 October. Apparel Resources quoted labour officials as saying the codes provide for a paid weekly holiday, while noting that implementation remained uncertain and that TEJAS had not accepted the core demands.
The workers’ list is short: an eight-hour day, a paid Sunday off, and wages paid between the 1st and 7th of each month.
Detentions, an arrest and dismissal claims
Police detained more than 70 workers and activists on 15 October before a planned satyagraha outside the district Collector’s office, citing the lack of permission, The Wire and Outlook reported. Gujarat Pradesh INTUC, led by Naishadh Desai, organised that protest. Labour leader Ajay Dubey is in custody in a separate case; police say it concerns allegations that he abused a factory owner and demanded money, and his supporters say the arrest is meant to weaken the movement. The Sarvajanik Mazdoor Ekta Union alleges that 300 to 400 workers lost their jobs during the agitation. Neither claim has been tested in court.
Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh met industry representatives in Surat on 9 and 10 October and denied any mass exodus of workers.
Diwali is the pressure point
Surat’s embroidery units supply work to the city’s saree and dress-material trade. The “Gaon Chalo” campaign takes its name from the workers’ threat to return to their home states if owners refuse, and a festival exodus that runs past Diwali would leave units short-staffed. Union president Malkhan Singh Verma has said some workers would accept 12-hour shifts if a weekly day off were guaranteed, which suggests the Sunday holiday is where a settlement could start. No new round of talks had been reported by 21 October.
Sources: Down To Earth, Outlook, The Wire, Apparel Resources
This report was written with AI assistance from the publicly reported sources linked here; each fact was cross-checked against at least two of them.