Strike at Maruti's Manesar plant enters 13th day

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Workers at the country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India's Manesar plant continued their strike for the 13th day on Wednesday after negotiations with the company management broke down on Tuesday.

Workers at Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL) and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) had also gone on strike from October 7 in support of their colleagues at Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and are continuing their stir.

"The situation remains the same as yesterday. The strike is continuing, but we will continue partial production at the plant," a company spokesperson told PTI.

Meanwhile, shares of the company were trading 0.52 per cent up at Rs 1,058 apiece in the morning on the BSE.

On Tuesday, talks between the management and striking workers at the Manesar plant of MSI, brokered by the Haryana government, broke down.

Officials of the Haryana Labour Department held talks with workers of MSI as well as those of SPIL and their respective managements.

While the company alleged its workers were maintaining an adamant attitude, the workers denied taking a rigid stand and blamed the management for adopting pressure tactics to end the stir.

The company claimed to have rolled out 350 cars from the Manesar plant yesterday, the first time since October 7, when the labourers struck work. MSI's Gurgaon plant also manufactured 1,750 vehicles.

MSI had admitted that the company needs to learn how to deal with a young workforce as it grapples with frequent labour issues at its Manesar plant.

Workers of the car-maker have been on strike demanding the reinstatement of about 1,200 casual workers.

They are also demanding that all 44 permanent workers who were suspended after a settlement agreement signed on October 1 to end a 33-day-long standoff are taken back, along with those who have been fired during the ongoing protest.