The protesting workers will present the charter of their demands to brick kiln owners in and around Adalaj and will await for their response for three days before going on a mass strike.

Workers of over 20 brick kilns from Sanand have been on a strike over the issue of wages and the facilities given to them by their employers.

Their demands include fixed payment of Rs 350 for 1,000 bricks; an end to the practice of making 100 additional bricks for every 1,000 bricks; free housing, electricity, and drinking water facilities at the workplace; besides an access to basic health and education.

Dinesh Parmar, the secretary of the Int Bhatta Majdoor Union, said: “At present, the daily wage rate for an eight-hour day is as low as Rs 40 while most of the time, workers work for 16 hours at a stretch without having any light at nights. The workers are forced to buy kerosene from their own pockets for lighting.”

Parmar added that they work in “near-bondage conditions”.

The Int Bhatta Majdoor Union has put forward a four-point demand charter for brick kiln owners and has submitted it to Rural Labour Commissioner NR Ninama, Labour Commissioner Vatsana Basu and the deputy labour commissioner, said Reema Parmar, a member of the union.