Shuchi Bansal and Sreelatha Menon reconstruct the flashpoints between the workers and management of Graziano Trasmissioni in siGreater Noida that sparked off labour riots and resulted in the heinous murder of its CEO.
L K Gupta’s eyes well up as he recounts the dreadful events of September 22 when Lalit Kishore Chaudhary, managing director of Graziano Trasmissioni India Private Limited in Greater Noida, was lynched by factory workers.
“They came for me,” says Gupta, general manager, human resources, “I hid under the table in my cabin.” The shattered windows and tattered venetian blinds in his room bear testimony to the violence perpetrated by workers armed with stones and iron rods.
The mob went looking for the MD who was in the first floor guest house a few metres away talking to a group of Italian executives from Graziano’s parent company. The Italians dispersed and hid in different rooms while Chaudhary jumped out of the balcony into the porch where the workers caught up with him and beat him to death.
The gory incident — among the worst in recent industrial relations’ history in the north — will remain etched in Gupta’s memory.
And though Gupta and most senior executives returned to work when the plant was partially re-opened a week later, they live in morbid fear of being attacked despite the security that has been provided to them by 70 Provincial Armed Constabulary and an equal number of armed private security guards at the grey iron gates of the factory.
Fortifying Graziano’s nondescript premises has hardly provided it relief from the grip of a fear psychosis. Many GMs who reported to Chaudhary are already looking for jobs.
“They (workers) can kill us any time,” says a terrified general manager, probably referring to the 68 workers who have been released on bail. The remaining 70, arrested after the attack, are still in Dasna jail in UP. Graziano executives aren’t alone in feeling threatened.
“Fear pervades all of Surajpur in Greater Noida and every little factory in the vicinity of Graziano,” says Atul Ghildyal, president Association of Greater Noida Industries (AGNI). Ghildyal is HR head at New Holland Tractors located right next to Graziano.
Graziano’s 10 year-old Surajpur facility, which manufactures gears, shafts, transaxles and axles for tractors, commercial vehicles and construction equipment machines, is owned by Oerlikon Graziano, Italy.
It ran smoothly for the first nine years of its existence. Its focus on growth paid off — from a modest turnover of Rs 15 crore in 2000, it made an impressive Rs 270 crore in 2007. Last year, it expanded its Greater Noida plant from 13,000 sq m to 23,000 sq m (Oerlikon Drive System has a second plant in Belgaum) and added axles and synchroniser assemblies to its production.
Labour trouble first raised its head towards the end of 2007. But Chaudhary, an IIT Kanpur graduate who built the factory from scratch as plant manager (he was appointed MD in 2005), probably did not anticipate that the long-drawn out battle with the workers would eventually lead to bloodshed.
A trade union leader alleges that trouble started brewing when the factory’s permanent workers asked the management for their appointment letters to be able to register a union.
When asked if permanent workers were not given appointment letters as is the rule, in an emailed reply, Graziano’s Italy-based corporate communications executive said: “We here, in Oerlikon Graziano Italy, are not aware of the details of the mentioned procedures but we can confirm the following…The agitations under discussion started in May 2008 and were never related to the registration of a union but to the decision of the company to not offer an employment contract to five trainees at the end of the probation period. Some workers’ leaders, followed by a part of the workforce, started illegal strikes (go slow and set up strike)… to force the company to revert the decision about the five trainees.”
According to company officials, signs of unrest were first seen in December 2007 when workers came up with a charter of demands, the key being revision of salaries.
On January 24, the company signed a new Internal Labour Contract with all the workers, leaders/representatives and with the external union AITUC (All India Trade Union Congress) and registered it with the labour department. The agreement is valid for three years.
Indiscipline grew post-March when workers switched allegiance from AITUC to CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions). Work was struck when a handful of trainees were not confirmed by the management.
Despite labour officials’ intervention, the strike continued and 27 workers were suspended in May. Violence continued and the assistant labour commissioner, labour enforcement officer and the management decided to “lock-out” another 30 workers.
Surprisingly, labour officials say, the company used to come for talks and sometimes agree to take back suspended workers. “But each time either only a few workers were taken back or it would reject the agreement,” says B K Singh, deputy labour commissioner.
For instance, 15 of the 27 suspended workers were sacked. The company spokesperson claims “the termination was done after the process of domestic inquiry was completed”. The remaining workers (nearly 100 of them) were only “locked-out”.
Later, the office of the deputy labour commissioner recommended lifting of the “lock-out” in a phased manner. The first batch of 44 employees was taken back but the next batch of 55 apparently didn’t show up on the said date.
“Unfortunately, these employees, probably misguided by their leaders, did not return to work on the appointed time and date. The illegal strike continued till the date of the unfortunate event,” says the company spokesperson.
Though the management was not ready to take back the sacked employees, it agreed to allow “locked-out” employees to enter the premises one at a time, once they made individual written requests for lifting the lock-out. They could apply up to September 22.
The company claims that till 12 noon on September 22 only eight applications had come in. At 12.45 pm, a 120-strong group of sacked and locked-out employees forcibly entered the plant, attacked management and workshop staff and destroyed offices and employees’ cars.
The MD died of head injuries caused by the intruders and 34 injured employees were admitted in Kailash Hospital, Greater Noida.
The workers’ version is obviously at variance. They allege the company was rejecting their applications and only eight were accepted. Two, in their apology letter, were being forced to own up to offences they had never committed. “Hired goons were bullying us to sign. A scuffle followed and the security guard fired in the air whereby those waiting outside rushed in,” says a worker.
Labour officials say the company did not appear keen to resolve the issue as its production improved by 30 per cent thanks to substitute workers who were hired to replace the “locked-out” and sacked employees.
“Its monthly revenue grew from Rs 26 crore to Rs 34 crore. Clearly, there was no economic compulsion to negotiate a settlement in a hurry,” says Singh.
Trade union leaders say the company hired 400 substitute workers who carried out core functions like permanent employees. The Graziano executive does not divulge statistics on “substitute” employees but adds that during the period of the lock-out, the company had to continue supplies to its export customers.
“Graziano India is a single source (supplier) to some of the major customers in the US and Italy. It was left with no alternative other than to continue with production with temporary manpower. As a matter of fact, this resulted in huge additional cost burden to the company, but had to be incurred just to keep up its international image and commitment to its customers on timely supplies. It is ridiculous to think that a multinational company like Graziano could think of making profits by such an approach.”
Interestingly, the workers who were released on bail protested at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 2. Their families accompanied them.
Speaking to Business Standard they said they had wanted to form a union as the company had adopted a hire-and-fire policy. They claim that 1,200 people had been fired in the last few years. The wages were poor and company policy on taking leave outright unfriendly.
But a company official refutes the allegation: “Please take into consideration that Oerlikon Graziano manufactures high-tech mechanical products: the effort in terms of human and financial resources as well time, to train and grow the capability of our workforce to be able to contribute efficiently and according to high-quality standards, is huge.”
Plus, its factory is audited by clients who would hardly use them if they did not follow acceptable norms on working conditions, training and safety, says the spokesperson.
The police is also exploring a business rivalry angle which suggests that the worker unrest may have been engineered by a rival company manufacturing similar products. Currently, the workers are being supported from outside by the Hind Majdoor Sabha (HMS), their third trade union partner in less than a year.
Meanwhile, the company needs to quickly ramp up its production to keep its business going. Its target for September was Rs 40 crore. “We are not sure if we can even manage revenue of Rs 10 crore,” says L K Gupta.
He now needs to train freshers who will take at least two months of intensive training before he can learn the ropes of production. And to those who are released from jail, the company will offer a final settlement.
But union leaders from Hind Majdoor Sabha rubbish the option. “Unke baap ka raj hai?” thunders Biren Singh Sirohi, secretary of the Ghaziabad unit of HMS, who is said to be a rising force in trade union politics in the region.
| A PLEA FOR JUSTICE
On October 2, Anuradha and Manju were among the wives of sacked, suspended or “locked-out” Graziano workers who protested at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Anuradha, who does not divulge her husband’s name, says he has been sitting idle for the last five months. |
“If these men were to beat up the company officials, they would have done it five months ago. All they want is their jobs,” she reasons.
Gokul’s wife Manju adds that her husband stood outside the factory gate for days in the belief that he would be called in. “We lived each day in hope,” she says. The workers assembled at Jantar Mantar did not want their names in print but said the management was high-handed, followed a hire-and-fire policy, and denied them leave. “That is why we wanted to form a union,” said one.
Today, they are not sure which is worse — losing their jobs or being implicated in a murder and rioting case. Says 68-year-old R K Sahu, father-in-law of a worker, Ramesh, who is still lodged in Dasna jail: “My son-in-law only wanted to keep his job. He went to work every day in the hope of being called in. On the day Chaudhary was killed, Ramesh was sitting outside with the others. The police has arbitrarily categorised some as murderers and some as rioters. Who will give them justice now?”
It’s not a thought that will comfort Gupta, but M K Pandhe, president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), says the Greater Noida incident could happen all over again. Workers coming into the factory are frisked and allowed in only one at a time. The threat of violence is pervasive. Just as the killing cannot be justified, the social implications of the action of the management of the company must also be understood. “Over 1,000 people — family members of the workers — have been affected,” Pandhe says.
While CITU has written to the state government highlighting the plight of the labourers, AGNI president Atul Ghildyal has already held discussions with the chief secretary, IG and DG of UP police seeking protection, more forces for the industrial region and prompt action on complaints. That might reassure L K Gupta just a bit more as he drives his car out of the factory gates.
| VOICES
Gurudas Dasgupta, MP and general secretary, AITUC: “The management must understand the growing antagonism in the minds of the labourers because of increasing violations of labour laws. If the management pays no heed to their legitimate demands, then there is every chance of a repetition of the incident that happened in Greater Noida.” |
Yasho V Verma, director, human resources, LG Electronics Limited: “Unionisation in the Noida and Greater Noida region was declining. But now criminalisation of industrial relations must be prevented.”
Aditya Ghildyal, president, Association of Greater Noida Industries: “Security is a major issue. If the area develops a poor reputation, big industries which help boost infrastructure will not invest here.”
Embassy of Italy: “The management of Graziano Trasmissioni has confirmed that all measures taken by the company vis-à-vis labour issues were negotiated with the trade union representatives in the presence of local labour authorities, the sub-divisional magistrate and the local police.”
