Strike at Maruti's Manesar plant over: Haryana govt

The 14-day-long strike at Maruti Suzuki India's Manesar plant was called off after an agreement was signed between striking workers and the management early this morning, the Haryana Labour Department, which played a key role in brokering the settlement, has announced.

"Of course they (workers) have called off their strike after signing the settlement agreement today early in the morning," Haryana Labour Commissioner Satwanti Ahlawat told PTI today.

Stating that workers were quite happy with the agreement signed with the management to end the 14-day-long stir, she said the workers that signed the agreement had already informed their colleagues about the modalities of the settlement.

"Workers of Suzuki Powertrain and Suzuki Motorcycle are in the process of announcing the settlement agreement among their colleagues," she added.

The Labour Commissioner said after holding parleys for two days continuously with representatives of both parties, the settlement agreements were signed early in the morning at around 0400 hours.

"The first agreement was signed with the workers of the Maruti Suzuki Manesar plant. Thereafter, a settlement was brought in with workers of Suzuki Powertrain and Suzuki Motorcycle," she said.

According to the agreement, the MSI management has agreed to take back 64 permanent workers, though 30 will remain suspended till an internal inquiry is completed against them.

"The management will complete a domestic inquiry against 30 workers within one month, while 1,200 casual workers will be absorbed within the next 7-10 days when production gets normalised," she said.

A grievance redressal committee has also been formed to help resolve any problems between the workers and management.

She said workers have also been asked to take the Labour Department into confidence with respect to any grievance they have with the management.

The Labour Commissioner said the dismissal of three workers, including Sube Singh, the union leader of Suzuki Powertrain, has been converted into suspension and a domestic inquiry will be conducted by the management against them.

"Workers (of Suzuki Powertrain) have also agreed to the same," she said.