The ongoing strike by 2,000 odd workers at Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) plant in Manesar near Gurgaon, has once again ignited the age-old conflict between management and labourers. Trade Union leaders point out the intensity of labour law violations in the recent past which have increased leading to conditions where frequent labour management conflicts are observed.
“Most companies prefer unions-free atmosphere or at the most unions controlled by management and whenever demand of union arises it causes conflict resulting in protests by workers.”
Trade union leaders maintain workers were being stripped of their basic right — to form unions — which eventually was forcing the labourers to resort to such measures as strike so that their demand could be heard.
The champions of trade unions maintained the increasing incidence of casual labour being deployed by the companies was the root cause for rising labour unrest.
During the last decade, Haryana has witnessed four major labour unrest especially in the automobile companies.
Maruti Suzuki had faced a protest from labourers in their Gurgaon production facility in 2000. According to trade union members, the workers then were protesting against a document which stated the labourers would not resort to any measure like strike which could cause production loss to the company.
Similarly, in 2005 there was a protest by over 1,000 workers in the Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Private Limited (HMSI) whereby workers complained of difference in wages of workers in HMSI and Hero Honda plants and had demanded setting up of unions. In 2009, the death of a worker at Rico industries sparked off protest that virtually spread to the auto belt located around the national capital region.
Data sourced from the Ministry of Labour and Employment suggests 141,461 mandays were lost in Haryana (provisional data for 2011) from January to September 2010. The number for the period is second highest after Tamil Nadu. However, it could not be individually ascertained how many mandays were lost due to the strike, but the number of industrial disputes during the above mentioned period is 11. The reasons for frequent labour unrests are unknown despite the fact that Haryana takes pride in claiming to be among the few states to have a labour policy and in offering high minimum wages.
The signs of increasing industrial conflicts in Haryana might be a worrying sign for the auto sector.
While trade unions believe increasing number of contract labourers are the cause of frequent labour unrest in the state, industrialists believe it is the burgeoning clout of trade unions backed by political parties which are trying to gain strong foothold in the highly industrialised belt of Haryana.
The trade union representatives maintained that the workers in Haryana have turned aggressive because of the increase in number of contractual labourers.
AITUC (All India Trade Union Congress) states that around 70 per cent labourers employed in the auto industry and its ancillaries in Haryana are contractual in nature. AITUC Secretary D L Sachdev which has been associated with most of the recent labour agitations in Haryana blame the hiring of contract labourers for the mess in the state.
“The hiring of labourer on contract help the companies to cut down on labour costs since companies can do away with most of the statutory norms like ESI benefits and PF benefits.The different salary structure of contract workers compared with regular workers also help companies cut down the expenditure on labour,” Sachdev added.
Krishan Chand, Associate Research Coordinator, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development maintained that since the labour laws applicable on the contract labourers were less punitive and rarely adhered to, the sector was obviously the most exploited one.
However, state industrialists feel the increasing clout of trade unions is to be blamed for the industrial unrest in Haryana.
Rajiv Chawla President Faridabad Small Industries Association believes the state has rapidly ascended the chart of industrialisation and now trade unions affiliated to various political parties are trying to leverage their position by getting in these trade unions.
Raj Bhatia, Haryana President Automotive Component Manufacturers Association believes multiplicity of unions in the organisations was leading to more problems as the political influence of trade unions was increasing in the industries.
