Operations at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd's (MSIL) Manesar facility will resume tomorrow after agitating workers agreed to call off the 14-day strike following an agreement with the management and the Haryana government on Friday.
According to the tripartite agreement, the management of Maruti Suzuki agreed to re-instate 64 employees who were dismissed or suspended since the beginning of the stand-off in August. Another 30 employees, who were dismissed “on serious charges”, will remain suspended. Inquiry and disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against them.
The Haryana government signed separate pacts with MSI and its arms — Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL) and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) and their respective workers' bodies to end the stir.
“The management individually considered the cases of all employees against whom disciplinary action were taken. Wherever the charges were not serious, the management has decided to take back the employees. The agreement provides that 64 employees will be taken back,” MSIL said in an email statement.
It was also decided that 1,200 casual workers at the Manesar plant will be re-inducted over the next 7-10 days. In accordance with the principle of ‘no work, no pay’, the workers will not receive any wages for the duration of the strike. "We have signed an agreement with the Haryana government and our management. We are calling off the strike, although our wage settlement discussions are on," Suzuki Powertrain India Employees Union (SPIEU) Secretary Rajesh Kumar said.
Shiv Kumar, general secretary, Maruti Suzuki Employee Union, said the union was satisfied with the settlement. “We are happy with the outcome. The management has agreed to reinstate all the workers,” he said.
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Sube Singh Yadav, president of the SPIEU, who was until last night negotiating for the workers, but was not part of the final agreement, was unhappy with the settlement. He threatened to call strike if the suspension of all the SPIL workers was not revoked and wages increased. The management has refused to take back three of the 17 suspended workers.
“There was no final decision on wage increase. And three of our workers are still suspended. If no final decision is taken soon, we will go on strike again,” he said.
Sources in the labour department said Yadav was one of the three suspended workers and wanted his suspension revoked. Trade union leaders in the three factories said Yadav was not the representative of all the workers.
Suzuki Motorcycle India Employees Union President Anil Kumar said workers of the two-wheeler maker have agreed to end the strike. "We have called off the strike and will resume duties from tomorrow," he said, adding that as part of the agreement, 15 workers dismissed during the stir would be taken back.
In response to the workers request for transport, the company agreed to provide bus services in line with shift timings.
To address the concerns of the Manesar workers, the company has agreed to set up a ‘grievance redressal committee’. The committee will have representatives from the management and the workers. A labour officer from the state government will be a permanent invitee to it and review its proceedings.
Maruti Suzuki has also agreed to the formation of a ‘labour welfare committee’ to promote good relations between the management and the workers. The committee will comprise members of the management and the workers.
An estimated 8,000 workers at the three subsidiaries had gone on strike on October 7 demanding induction of 1,200 contract workers and 44 regular employees, who they claimed, the company had laid off during the 33-day long standoff last month. The workers had also demanded re-induction of 50 workers who have been dismissed or suspended during the current stir.
Workers at SPIL and SMIPL had gone on strike in solidarity with protestors at Manesar. With supply of components disrupted from vendor SPIL, MSIL was forced to shut production at Gurgaon and Manesar last week. The sporadic labour unrest since June has resulted in production loss of 74,500 units. Revenue losses for the company have mounted to Rs 2,200 crore.