Maruti workers harden stand, protest intensifies

Workers’ protest at the three subsidiaries of Suzuki Motor Corporation in India intensified on Saturday as workers went back on a crucial clause of the agreement that was reached last Saturday, ending the month-long standoff.

On the second day of the protest, workers made the revocation of suspension of the 44 suspended workers as an additional condition to end the strike. Last Saturday, the impasse at the Maruti Suzuki India Limited’s (MSIL) Manesar plant had ended after the workers had agreed to return to work after the company agreed to reinstate the 18 trainees against whom disciplinary action had been taken.

However, the 44 regular workers against whom disciplinary action has been initiated, MSIL had said would not be taken back and they will continue to remain suspended. The workers then had agreed to the conditions.

Expressing concern over the situation at the company’s Manesar plant, the management of MSIL in an e-mailed statement said the situation at the Manesar plant was being turned into a “law and order problem”. The company accused the workers of indulging in violence and causing damage to the factory. According to the statement of the company, 355 contractual workers were rescued by the company on Saturday, who were badly beaten by the protesting workers and were forced to join the strike

“We are extremely concerned about the violent acts of the striking workers. We are worried about the safety of our people in this environment,” a company spokesperson said.

However, D L Sachdeva, general secretary, All India Trade Union Congress, who has been directly involved in the workers’ protest at Maruti, dismissed any major incident of violence. He, however, acknowledged that the workers had raised their demands.

Meanwhile, Haryana’s Labour and Employment Minister Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, who had helped the workers and MSIL reached a solution last week, accused the protesting workers at the Manesar plant of violating the agreement signed with company management. “Workers are moving away from the pact signed with Maruti Suzuki management as a result of which the standoff had ended,” Sharma said.

On Friday, an estimated 7,000 workers at the three subsidiaries — MSIL’s Mansesar plant, Suzuki Powertrain India Limited and Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Limited — had stopped work in the morning affecting shifts across the facilities. Workers are demanding induction of contract workers at the Maruti Suzuki India Limited’s (MSIL) Manesar plant, who had been laid-off during the 33-day-long standoff. Work was also affected at three separate companies – Hi-Lex India Global Network, Endurance Transmission India Limited and Satyam Auto Components Limited.

Production at MSIL's Manesar plant had been affected severely since August 29 after the management suspended and dismissed workers on charges of sabotaging production and deliberately causing quality problems in the vehicles manufactured at the plant. The company had asked all workers to sign a good conduct bond, which the workers had refused to sign.