Diamond workers go on strike

Diamond workers in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Amreli district on Saturday, went striking demanding parity in wages after a 20 per cent hike was declared by the Surat Diamond Association for their counterparts in Surat early this week.

In Ahmedabad, scores of diamond workers, demanding revision in wages pelted stones and tried to forcefully shut down shops in Bapunagar area, police inspector KP Gajipara said.

Police resorted to lathicharge as the crowd went on a rampage, he said, adding eight people have been detained for causing disturbance in the area.

However, nobody was injured in the incident, he said.

In Rajkot, hundreds of diamond workers went on a symbolic strike demanding 30 per cent hike in wages, sources from the district association said.

Nearly 3,000 workers engaged in polishing of diamond joined the day-long strike demanding rise in wages at par with that given to diamond workers in Surat, sources said.

In Amreli, diamond workers took out a rally, sources in the district diamond industry said.

The workers also gave a memorandum to the district collector in this regard, sources added.

In Bhavnagar, a mutual agreement was reached upon between the management and workers on the issue, as wages were hiked following the example of Surat to avoid any kind of friction, Bhavnagar Diamond Association president said.

However, the wages are still less compared to the number of hours put in by the workers, Mendpara added.