L&T Workers' Protest Turns Violent At Steel Plant In Gujarat, Vehicles Vandalised, Tear Gas Fired

Surat: Chaos erupted at the project site of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at the ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel's (AM/NS) SMP-3 plant in Hazira of Gujarat's Surat on Thursday morning as over 5,000 contractual workers resorted to vandalism, protesting against a viral video showing a colleague's death in the Indian Oil refinery at Haryana's Panipat. They also demanding wage hikes and reduction in working hours.

Tear gas shells were lobbed to bring the situation under control and nearly 25 workers were detained for violating law and order, police said.

Angry mob vandalised company's 10 vehicles, including three fire engines and four bikes. Also, advanced security machines installed at the plant's entry and exit gates were damaged. Upon information, teams from Surat Crime Branch, Special Operations Group (SOG), and local police arrived at the scene.

With the situation going out of control, police fired more than 40 tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Police have so far detained more than 25 workers for violating law and order, and tightened security at the plant.

Workers said they had been demanding a wage hike for a long time and are also unhappy about the increased working hours. The viral video, showing a similar protest involving L&T workers deployed at the Indian Oil refinery at Panipat after a worker died due to a fall there, triggered outrage among workers.

Zone VII Deputy Commissioner of Police Shefali Barwal said tear gas had to be lobbed and workers were detained to restore normalcy at the site.

In a statement AM/NS said, "A group of workers deployed by L&T at AM/NS India Hazira plant project site gathered today to raise some demands on their employer L&T. The L&T management is expeditiously handling the situation in discussion with workers. Local authorities are also involved in managing the situation on ground."

L&T in its statement said, "Whenever the Gujarat government promulgates the Labour Code notification, all its regulations will be implemented immediately."

Currently, negotiations are underway between senior company officials and workers' representatives to reach an agreement.

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