Unrest on the shop floor

Anger over the use of lower-paid contract workers is simmering

On a late Wednesday evening in July 2012, more than 3,000 workers went on a rampage inside the administration block of Maruti’s Manesar unit, provoked by the management’s refusal to reinstate a worker, who was suspended on the grounds of beating up a supervisor. A day later, the police found a body on the first floor of the main building. It was so badly burnt that the deceased could be identified only with the help of his dental records. He was Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager (HR) at Maruti’s Manesar plant.
 
The autopsy report said Dev had been beaten