Labour unrest turns violent, 11 supervisors assaulted.
With supply lines choked by the ongoing workers’ strike at vendor Suzuki Powertrain India Limited, Maruti Suzuki has called off production across its facilities in Gurgaon and Manesar.
The strike turned violent on Thursday as a group of 11 supervisors was assaulted by workers in Manesar. One worker has been detained by the police in this connection. Several supervisors have been hospitalised.
While the company has declared production will remain suspended on Friday on account of disruption in the supply of key components, operations cannot resume before Monday due to declared holidays over the weekend. The closure could prevent the rollout of 10,000 vehicles and cause a loss of Rs 500 crore to the company.
“Following the strike at its vendor, Suzuki Powertrain India Limited, supply of certain critical components to Maruti Suzuki’s facilities has been disrupted. These components include diesel engines and transmissions for certain petrol engine models. As a result, Maruti Suzuki’s plants in Gurgaon and Manesar will not operate on Friday,” the company said in a statement. Saturday is a designated holiday on account of Vishwakarma Puja.
Haryana labour minister Shiv Charan Lal Sharma said he would ensure a solution was reached by Friday. “I’ll visit the Maruti plant tomorrow and ensure a solution is reached. They should not have suspended so many workers. If some mischief was done then two-three workers could have been suspended and not 57,” Sharma told Business Standard. “For a solution to be reached, both the workers and the management have to scale down their demands,” he said. “Already there is talk Maruti is looking to set up its plant outside the state; we are concerned it may affect investment in the state.”
Sources in the labour department, directly involved in negotiations, said a series of talks were held separately with workers’ representatives and management through on Thursday, however, no solution was found. They said both sides were not agreeing over the good conduct bonds and revoking suspension of workers. The issue of another trade union was not discussed.
Kuldeep, president of the Maruti Suzuki Kamgaar Union, the only recognised union of the company, said, “We are still in talks with the management and will be able to decide after it gives its final view.”
Yesterday, around 8,500 workers across three subsidiaries of Suzuki Motor Corporation — Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd, Suzuki Casting and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd — went on an indefinite strike in solidarity with the protesting workers at Manesar.
Suber Singh Yadav, president, Suzuki Powertrain India Employees Union, said, “The management is not ready to talk to us. We will continue with our strike.”
In the meantime, a meeting was held among representatives of unions from factories in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt.
D L Sachdeva, general secretary, All India Trade Union Congress, said: “Workers in the region are going to demonstrate outside the deputy labour commissioner’s office on Friday. The unions are also considering some direct action, possibly a tool-down strike. A decision will be taken tomorrow.”
Maruti Suzuki, which rolled out 220 units of the Swift on Thursday from Gurgaon and Manesar, said operations were normal at Gurgaon. Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union had threatened to go on strike yesterday but on Thursday resolved to desist from joining the protest.Of those injured, three supervisors were admitted to Artemis Hospital in Gurgaon. Eight others were treated at the company’s medical centre.
The company has refused to negotiate directly with the protesting workers, saying it “will focus on scaling up production levels by recruiting fresh manpower at Manesar.” As many as 54 workers have been suspended and dismissed since the beginning of the unrest.
