The Haryana government on Monday facilitated a talk between the protesting workers and the management at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar unit, but standoff continued as the issues over the stir that entered its eleventh day remained deadlocked.
During the day, the company said it resumed partial operations at the Manesar plant’s weld shop and press shop, as about 180 workers have not joined the strike. MSIL also resumed operations at its Gurgaon facility and rolled out 1,700 vehicles from the unit.
The company had last week suspended operations across its five plants in Gurgaon and Manesar following disruption in the supply of diesel engines and transmissions from vendor Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL). The company’s workers, too, are on strike in solidarity with those protesting at the carmaker’s Manesar plant.
The agitationists kept up the pressure on both the management and the Haryana government, and took out a rally at Gurgaon with the support of around 6,000 colleagues from factories of different companies in the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt.
“The talks remain inconclusive,” said an official at MSIL. “But it is a positive development that at least negotiations have started for the first time since the strike broke out (on October 7).”
The (unrecognised) Maruti Suzuki Employees Union said both the sides presented their views on Monday in a positive manner. “We will discuss the issues again,” said its president Sonu Gujjar.
The MSIL workers have been on strike demanding the reinstatement of about 1,100 casual workers. They are also demanding th reinstatement of 44 permanent workers who were suspended after a settlement agreement signed on October 1 to end a 33-day-long standoff.