Surat: Two days before a planned protest by textile embroidery workers, the deputy labour commissioner’s office directed embroidery unit owners to implement the four labour codes that replaced 29 earlier labour laws, bringing workers’ demands back into focus.In a circular issued on Tuesday, the office instructed the Textile Embroidery Jobwork Association of Surat (TEJAS) and its member units to comply with the Code on Wages, 2019; Code on Social Security, 2020; Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; and Industrial Relations Code, 2020.TEJAS has been asked to communicate provisions of the codes to embroidery units and ensure their implementation.The directive comes ahead of a protest called by embroidery workers on Thursday. Workers have been seeking an eight-hour work shift and a paid weekly holiday.While labour officials said the codes provide for a paid weekly off, implementation of that provision and the demand for an eight-hour shift remain uncertain. TEJAS office-bearers have not accepted the demands, according to sources.
