On the 16th day of indefinite strike by its employees, denim major Arvind Ltd, on Monday, sacked some of the workers. The company said it is “relocating some of the machines to another location” to resume production.

In a statement issued here this evening, after the company informed the bourses, Arvind Ltd admitted that about half of the 1,100 workers at Ankur Textiles, a division of Arvind Ltd that manufactures voiles fabrics, have also joined the “illegal strike”. Ankur manufactures 36 million metres of voiles and other fabrics, of which 90 per cent of unprocessed fabrics are outsourced.

The company has already appointed contract workers and is hopeful of “significantly increasing” the output in finishing department in the next eight to 10 days, it added.

Many of the 4,000-odd workers at Arvind Ltd’s Naroda plant went on indefinite strike on June 4, demanding, inter alia, a 40 per cent rise in wages. Their number increased subsequently, bringing production to a near-halt. Despite multi-pronged efforts, the company has been unable to break the logjam. Other textile mills’ workers have also, meanwhile, threatened to join the agitation.

Fresh recruitments

Arvind Ltd said it been able to “partially resume” production by fresh recruitments and appointment of contractors. It intensified its efforts to recruit fresh workers and is hopeful to increase production further within the next week, the statement said.

“Simultaneously, the company has terminated the services of a few workers as the positions have been filled up by fresh workers. The company will continue to terminate the services of more workers as more fresh recruitments are made. Additionally, some of the machines are being relocated to another location from the affected location.”

According to reports, Arvind Ltd, which had called off a joint venture in Bangladesh a few months ago, is likely to outsource production in that country and also market products from there. However, no Arvind official was available to confirm it.

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