Fearing exodus, weavers pay workers extra for cooking gas

Surat: To try retain trained workers, weaving units in the city are paying workers an additional sum to buy cooking gas — up to Rs 500 per kilogram. In some industrial societies, workers managed by taking salary advances and weaving unit owners did not refuse advances. Without being paid extra money to pay for cooking gas, the workers will leave. Various associations representing weavers expressed fears of an exodus in a memorandum to the district collector on Monday.Workers living in rented accommodation mostly live alone or in groups of men. They cook food in their tiny rooms on small gas stoves. The majority of these small gas stove cylinders are refilled from larger commercial gas cylinders, unlawfully. Recently, the govt restricted commercial gas cylinder supply to prioritize domestic cylinders and ensure smooth supply. Due to this, gas refilling became costly for the workers.Those providing the service earlier charged up to Rs 80 per kg, but now are demanding Rs 500 and more per kg. Under pressure, workers began exploring the option of returning to their homes until the situation normalizes. To stop them from going, employers are paying extra."I started paying additional money for cooking gas to my employees. There is already a shortage of workers, and if these workers leave, it will become difficult to operate the unit," said Ashok Jirawala, who runs a weaving unit in Kim. Jirawala is president of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers' Welfare Associations (FOGWWA) and he received information of similar occurrences in various textile weaving clusters. FOGWWA raised the concerns in a memorandum submitted to the district collector's office.Chetan Ramani, the owner of a weaving unit at Diamond Nagar in Laskana, said, "I am paying additional money to workers to ensure that they stay and continue work. If this situation continues, we will have to shut our units, causing problems for workers."Another association of weavers, the Surat Weavers Association (SWA), also raised concerns about commercial gas cylinder availability and cooking gas for workers in a memorandum to the district collector. "For the steam process, we are dependent on limited options at present. The steaming is done using commercial gas. Further, workers also face issues with cooking as gas was not available," said Vijay Mangukiya, a weaving unit owner.At another textile weaving cluster in Bhestan, workers were paid salary advances to meet cooking gas expenses. "The workers are demanding a salary advance as their expenses have increased due to rising gas prices. We are paying them so that they can manage in this situation," said Atul Patel, a weaving unit owner.Weavers in the Sachin GIDC area raised concerns about the unauthorized refilling of cooking gas cylinders and demanded action. In Sachin, this unlawful activity continues at some grocery stores, the weavers said.