A day after the Haryana government banned the strike by 2,000 workers at carmaker Maruti Suzuki?s Manesar facility, trade unions from across political parties strongly condemned the order.
The CPI-backed All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) met Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday to appraise him of the situation on the ground. The trade union was represented by its general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta and national secretary DL Sachdev.
g Along with Gurudas, we met the Haryana CM. Before the meeting, we had discussed all existing issues with the workers and put forth their demands once again to the government. The ban order reflects the failure of the government to mediate and find a solution to the problem,? Sachdev told FE. He said that a proposal was also mooted to the CM to have a joint meeting between the minister of State for labour and employment in Haryana, Shiv Charan Lal, and workers? representatives.
Sachdev said the ban order had failed to dampen the workers? spirits. ?It does not matter to the workers. The agitation would continue till their demand for a separate union is fully met.? According to him, this is the third time in less than six years that the Haryana government has imposed such a ban. In 2005, the government had imposed a ban following violent protests by the workers from the AITUC-backed trade union in Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India. In 2009, the state government was forced to step in after a strike broke out in the auto ancillary unit of Rico Auto, which spread like wild fire to other parts of the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt.
The CPI(M) supported Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) issued a statement on Saturday strongly denouncing the government order. It said the workers? fight was against the attempts by the Maruti management to create a ?pocket union?. It asked the Haryana government to immediately withdraw the order, while demanding that Maruti take back the 11 workers laid off last week.
President (Haryana region) of the Congress-backed Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) Rao Surendra Kumar said the government?s decision could backfire. ?There is a provision in the labour Act for the formation of trade unions. It is a wrong move by the government to ban the strike since it could create more trouble (among the workers),? he said.
The strike entered its eighth day on Saturday with neither side willing to strike a compromise. Maruti?s production loss has already reached Rs 280 crore with production of marquee brands like SX4, A Star, DZire being severely impacted. A Maruti spokesperson said the situation had not changed since last Saturday when the strike broke out.