The Maruti Suzuki plant at Manesar has been in the news recently. The confrontation of workers and management has reached new heights. Lets have a look at how the events unfolded…
1. September 2000. Workers of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) Gurgaon, went on an indefinite strike, demanding revision of incentive scheme and implementation of pension scheme. It continued for 89 days in various forms, over various other issues like government’s plan of disinvestment in MUL, reinstatement of 92 dismissed workers etc.
3. On 18th July 2012, all started when a supervisor abused and allegedly made casteist comments on a ‘dalit’ worker. The worker protested against this and instead of taking action against the supervisor the management immediately suspended the worker concerned without any investigation. The workers than went to negotiate with the management.
4. When the workers representatives went to meet the HR to demand against the supervisor and revoke the unjust suspension of the worker, the HR officials flatly refused to hear worker’s concern. More than 150 bouncers were called from outside the plant to attack the workers. They blocked the gates of the plant with clear motive to attack the unarmed workers.
5. A fight between management and their goons on one side and workers on the other followed the scene. Acc. to the workers, on behest of the management and the bouncers (joined by some of the managerial staff) brutally attacked the workers.
6. Workers claim that the factory was set ablaze by the hired bouncers of the company and workers were made victim to it.
7. In the whole scenario one executive of HR department died, due to suffocation caused by smoke generated through fire (As per PUDR).
8. A case has been registered against all 3000 worker, over 100 has been arrested.
The above incident is not a sole one but one of the series of many such incidents which makes it necessary to look deeply into the cause of this growing unrest among the industrial workers. Other similar incidents in the chain are Mahindra (Nasik), March 2011; Rico Auto (Gurgaon), August 2009; General Motors (Halol, Gujarat), March 2011; Bosch (Bangalore), September 2011; Dunlop (Tamil Nadu), February 2012; Aristo (Baddi), June 2012 and so on. It also brought to the fore, the crude exploitation of worker at the hands of the corporate. This is an expression of sharpening contradiction between the working class and exploiting class in the times of deepening economic crisis. In all these issues, role of media (especially electronic media) has been completely biased in the favour of the corporate. It demonised workers as criminals without investigating the underlying causes behind such incidents. The incidents had much deeper dimensions than as presented and the cause lies in continuously decreasing real wages of workers, employment on the contractual basis by firms, deepening global economic crisis and dictatorial attitude of managements.
SFS demands that:
1. An impartial inquiry should be conducted immediately to inquire into the whole incident.
2. Managerial staff responsible for employing bouncers must be arrested immediately.
3. Innocent workers should be released immediately and their grievances must be addressed.
4. The supervisor who made casteist abuse against worker should be booked under S.C./S.T. prevention of atrocity act.
5. Labour laws shall be implemented properly and workers must be allowed to organise under trade unions which is their basic right.
6. The basic rights of working masses must not be compromised for the sake of profits of MNCs/TNCs.
We oppose this oppression on workers at Maruti Plant, Manesar. Students shall stand in solidarity with the struggling industrial workers.
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