Maruti Suzuki to avoid using force to evict 1,500 striking Manesar workers

[1]

Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday said it would try to avoid using force to evict some 1,500 striking workers who last week seized control of a factory, halting production.

The series of strikes at the company's Manesar plant since June this year has resulted in excise revenue losses to the tune of nearly Rs 350 crore for the government, while the company has already suffered a hit of up to Rs 1,540 crore.

"The Manesar plant remains captive in the hands of workers. There is no production possible there. Due to the impact of components from SPIL, production at Gurgaon will be even lower compared to yesterday," a Maruti Suzuki India spokesperson said.

Company chairman R.C. Bhargava said talks were under way in a bid to end the strike at factories in Haryana state's Manesar and Gurgaon regions.

"We will try and avoid the use of force to evict the workers from the (Manesar) plant... We have not reached that stage yet," he said.

"The Manesar plant has been completely shut down since Friday afternoon and production at Gurgaon has fallen because of the strikes," Bhargava added.

Manesar, which employs 2,000 workers, normally produces up to 1,200 of Maruti's top-selling Swift and A-Star hatchbacks and SX4 sedans daily.

Production at Gurgaon had slumped by some 50 per cent to 1,600 units daily as workers at a Maruti ancillary were on a sympathy strike, disrupting supplies.

Maruti is 54 per cent owned by Suzuki Motor Corp and India is critical to the Japanese firm's fortunes as the country is its biggest foreign market.

The latest confrontation began just days after staff returned to work following a 33-day lockout and Bhargava accused strike leaders on reneging on a settlement reached on October 1.

"The settlement they made was just a farce and they signed the agreement without any intention of honouring it," the chairman added.

"We did not use force the first time they went on strike, which was seen as a weakness of the management," Bhargava said.

The company has fired 15 workers and suspended 10 others who allegedly beat up other workers who refused to join the strike.

Maruti, which makes nearly half the cars sold in India, has already lost at least $240 million in lost output due to work stoppages and tensions that have been running high at the Manesar plant for months.

The company in a statement accused the 1,500 workers holding up the Manesar plant of resorting to violence.

"The striking workers have attacked co-workers, supervisors and executives in multiple incidents of violence, and damaged factory property inside the Manesar plant, since they began the stay-in strike," Maruti said.

The Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU), which the company has refused to recognise in place of the existing house union, said it will not resort to violence if the company uses force to evict workers from the plant.

"Let them use force. We will remain peaceful," union vice-president, Naveen, said.

He accused Maruti of going back on the October 1 pact by refusing to recall 1,200 contract workers, withdrawing transport facilities, deducting double the amount of wages than agreed for the time on strike and carrying out random transfers.

"We will not leave the factory premises as long as the management will not follow the conditions of the agreement. We also want them to recognise the MSEU as a legitimate union," Naveen said.