Sacked Maruti workers to hold protest today

About 250 workers who were terminated from service after the violence at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar facility on July 18 last year, along with local trade union bodies, are set to hold a protest and demand the release of their jailed colleagues tomorrow. The demonstration coincides with the completion of a year of the labour strife at Maruti’s Manesar unit.

A member of a provisional working committee (constituted by the sacked workers) under the aegis of the non-functional Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union (MSWU) said the workers would demonstrate and go on an indefinite hunger strike to demand the release of all innocent employees.

“There are two principal demands. We want the police to release the 147 workers arrested from Manesar last year, as well as another 10 employees rounded off during demonstrations in May this year.,” he said.

Besides, we want the company to re-induct all workers in Maruti Suzuki, Suzuki Powertrain and Suzuki Motorcycle who were dismissed from service in connection with the incident

Among those dismissed were Sube Singh Yadav, president of Suzuki Powertrain India Employees’ Union, and Avinash Kumar, general secretary of Suzuki Motorcycles India Workers’ Union.

Maruti Suzuki had cut its regular workforce by a third and dismissed 546 permanent employees in connection with the labour unrest at its Manesar facility.

The incident had resulted in the death of senior human resources executive Awanish Kumar Dev and left about 100 company officials injured.

MSWU members claimed the company had also dismissed about 1,800 contractual employees.

Maruti had also announced a month-long lock-out at the facility, which led to a production loss of 77,000 units. Though Gurgaon-based Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union representatives had, in August last year, approached visiting chairman of parent Suzuki Motor Corporation, Osamu Suzuki, to re-induct the sacked employees at Manesar, the company had categorically ruled out any such move.