Workers belonging to various industrial units in Gurgaon-Manesar belt, including those of Maruti Suzuki, Hero and Rico, will hold a rally tomorrow in protest against alleged use of force against their colleagues at Tapukara plant of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI).
A 13-member committee, comprising members of various trade unions, including Honda Two Wheelers Employees Union Manesar, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union, has been formed to oversee the agitation against the Japanese two wheeler major.
"Tomorrow we will assemble at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon and march to HMSI head office to protest against the high-handed action taken against workers of the Tapukara plant," Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union General Secretary Kuldeep Janghu told PTI.
He said a memorandum has also been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner Gurgaon in this regard.
HMSI's Tapukara plant was hit by labour unrest on February 16 as workers blocked exit gates of the factory demanding reinstatement of four colleagues who have been sacked by the company on disciplinary grounds.
The company management had termed the matter as purely an issue of indiscipline and which cannot be overlooked. The Tapukara (Rajasthan) based plant has an annual capacity of 12 lakh motorcycles and scooters.
When contacted, HMSI Senior Vice-President General and Corporate Affairs Harbhajan Singh said, "We have no information regarding this protest. The only trade union we are dealing with currently is the union of Manesar plant workers. As far as I know we don't have a union at Tapukara plant."
HMSI has in the past experienced violent labour stir when in July 2005 a protest by its workers who were seeking higher wages and reinstatement of suspended employees turned into a major showdown after police cracked down on them in Gurgaon. Hundreds, including protesters and some policemen, were injured in the violence.
HMSI president and chief executive Keita Muramatsu said
Honda grew 50 per cent faster than the industry at 22 per cent in the June quarter, thanks to the fact that its flagship brand Activa is the No. 1 two-wheeler in the country since May.
On his expectation from the festive sales, Guleria said he expects this year's sales to be "much higher than last year's 2.16 lakh unit on the single day of Dhanteras," without quantifying it.
Guleria based his optimism to the near total over the counter availability of the Activas now, having been able to reduce the booking period from 5-6 weeks earlier in the year to 2-3 days now, thanks to 1.2 million unit the Gujarat plant.
This shows that the Japanese two-wheeler major, which earlier this year commissioned its largest scooters only plant in Gujarat with a 1.2 million capacity, is not only getting closer to Hero but has started to dethrone the Munjal family-owned company that lead the market for decades in some key states and Uts, which together contribute half of the market volume, which stood at 16 million last fiscal.
Honda was the first in sales among two-wheelers during 2014-15 in five states and two UTs, including Maharashtra and Delhi.
According to a Macquarie Research report, these markets contribute 55 per cent of the total 16 million units sales last year and HMSI's market share gain has been led by the structural uptrend in scooters.
The share of scooters has increased to 28 per cent in FY15 from 12 per cent in FY07, the report said out of which 58 per cent is with HMSI.
