Bizmen create worker pool to ease labour pangs at units

Ludhiana: “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
― George Bernard Shaw
This idea of GB Shaw has found meaning at Ludhiana factories that are facing a massive labour shortage due to a large number of workers going back to their home states. The city businessmen put their heads together and came up with a plan of a pooling system. The available labour is combined in teams to work in different shifts in different factories.
Both factory owners and labourers are in a win-win situation. Businessmen are getting adequate labour for production and workers are getting extra wages.
Speaking to the TOI, Sushil Kairpal of VH Dyeing, who has formed a group of factory owners who have pooled their labourers, said, “Ever since the factories were allowed to operate after lockdown, we have failed to get even 50% of labour at a single dyeing unit. All of us were suffering badly and no unit was able to function. After a lot of brainstorming, three units of our locality decided to pool their workers so that all of us can operate our factories for two days in a row, alternatively. The system will continue till 15-20% more workers return to Ludhiana and every factory has at least 70% labour strength.”
Sukhwinder Singh, a garment manufacturer from Shivpuri, said, “There is a huge labour shortage in the garment sector and not even the big labour contractors have workers these days. As a result, the garment factories are not able to meet the little orders they have. So, we joined hands and combined our labourers. Now, for three days we run our factory and for the other three days my neighbour does. This is a favourable situation for us as well as the labourers.”
Ram Khilawan, a worker at Sukhwinder’s factory, said, “Earlier we were not able to make good money as we did only an eight-hour shift and that also not daily. But ever since the two factories have joined hands, we are earning overtime by working more than eight hours and for at least six days.”