The Maruti Suzuki Strike: A Report

Workers’ Unity Trade Union

 In Eighteenth Brumaire of Napoleon Bonaparte, Karl Marx, wrote, ‘All great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice… first time as tragedy, the second time as farce’. In the struggle of workers against the management of Maruti Suzuki – India’s largest automobile manufacturing company, both tragedy and farce occurred within a span of few days. The tragedy was that the workers had to withdraw their strike without any of their concrete demands being accepted by the management, the farce being that once again as in several struggles of the past, top leadership of the workers capitulated in front of capital, with the top leaders of the union leaving the company after taking Rs. 40 lakhs in golden handshakes along with thirty other members, most of them constituting the core of the new union. According to the media reports 30 workers at Maruti’s Manesar plant, the key people who had been responsible for the strike, were paid off by the management to exit the company. The workers received a combined Rs. 4.2 to 4.8 crore, based on the amount paid to each worker.

Maruti Union’s Appeal letter to All Trade Unions, Organisations and Individuals

15th October 2011

We, the Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU), Suzuki Powertrain India Employees Union (SPIEU) and Suzuki Motorcycle India Employees Union (SMIEU), have been on strike in our respective plants in Gurgaon-Manesar from the 7th  of October, 2011, demanding our right to respectable and non-precarious employment and unionization. Our movement stands at a crucial juncture today, we therefore send this appeal to all the labouring people of the country and beyond, the trade unions and all other sections of society which have stood with us in solidarity to come forward with renewed vigour to take this movement forward.

Our struggle is not a struggle for a mere wage-hike of any one section of workers, but is a struggle for our dignity and right to organise. We struggle also more importantly for the contract workers among us, whose insecurity and precarious condition of existence is a burning issue before the entire labouring people of the country today, which puts the very framing of the available labour laws into question. We, permanent and contract workers, have and do stand united in this struggle.

Long Live Maruti Workers’ Struggle

Defying the “solution” agreed by the capitalist backed Haryana government, company’s management, along with the revisionist opportunist trade union combine of HMS-AITUC-CITU. The 3,500 workers of Maruti Suzuki on Oct.7, again went on a flash strike, against betrayal and excesses of management.

The action of the belligerent workers at Manesar has sparked a wave of working class action with almost 8,000 workers at a dozen or more auto industry-related plants in the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt, staging a walk out in display of class solidarity. Today it is the workers of auto plant tomorrow it will be the entire working class of the country, who would raise their fist and down their tool in show of solidarity.

Photograph of physical abuse of workers on the shop floor of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd

Comrades,

We have received this photograph of physical abuse of workers on the shop floor of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. This shows the real working condition prevalent in the factory.

As many of you are already aware, the management of the company is asking all the workers employed there to sign a “good conduct bond”. After seeing this photograph, it is they –the management– who needs to sign a good conduct bond of being eligible enough to run a factory.

Further there is no legal basis of having anyone sign so called “good conduct bond” as per the prevailing labour law of India.

We appeal to all our comrades to widely circulated this photograph and also give a call to boycott Maruti Suzuki cars in India and Suzuki cars world wide.

In Support of Maruti Strike

On 22^nd September, members of Workers’ Union Trade Union (WUTU), along with New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), New Socialist initiative, the Voltas Employees Union (VEU), Mazdoor Ekta Manch, and Youth for Social Justice – marched from the Teez Hazari Metro Station to a Maruti-Suzuki showroom in Connaught Place New Delhi.

For about half-an-hour the showroom was occupied which was followed by a public meeting in the car yard of the outlet.

The meeting was addressed by the

Comrade Padam (Workers’ Union Trade Union),

Comrade Tek Chand Jangra (Voltas Employees Union) and

Comrade Gautam Mody (New Trade Union Initiative).

 

Protest Demonstration In Support of Struggling Workers’ of Maruti Suzuki

On 20^th September, representatives of several Left Trade Unions and groups met in Delhi in support of the on-going strike of the workers of Maruti Suzuki — the subsidiary company of Japanese car maker Suzuki.

It was decided to hold a protest demonstration on 22^nd September, in front of Haryana Bhawan (New Delhi) at 11:00AM to show our solidarity with the belligerent workers of the company.

For more details contact:

Workers’ Unity Trade Union

Email: wutu.india@gmail.com

Padam: +91 9312111717

Click here for google map’s direction on how to reach Haryana Bhawan

Labour strike spreads to Maruti Suzuki’s other factories

According to the news published in the print media, the workers unrest has spread to other units of Maruti. Comrades from Workers’ Unity have been going to the Manesar plant and we are compiling a first hand report from the ground, based on our comrades interaction with the workers, we will be publishing the report soon and would be also uploading on this site. Any comrade who is interested may contact us at our email wutuindia@gmail.com.

Fraternally
Workers’ Unity Trade Union 

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Workers at three factories of two different companies of Suzuki in India have gone on strike this afternoon in support of their colleagues at Maruti Suzuki India’s (MSI) Manesar plant, who are locked in a standoff with the management since August 29.

The two companies where the workers have gone on strike are — Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd. The three factories of these companies are located in the Gurgaon-Menes industrial belt.

Demand Maruti Suzuki India and Suzuki Motor Corporation to end lockout and take back all dismissed and suspended workers

Dear comrades and Friends,

As many of you may be aware that the anti-workers management of Maruti Suzuki — the subsidiary company of Japanese car maker Suzuki has again resorted to anti-workers measure.

Comrades may refer to article put up by Workers’ Unity Trade Union titled “Maruti Suzuki’s Workers on Strike, Against Management’s Dictatorial Atitude” at this blog.

It is requested that please sign the online petition against the Maruti management’s dictatorial attitude at:

http://www.petitiononline.com/MSIL298/petition.html

and show your solidarity with the struggling workers.

Please circulate this message further, to help garner wide spread international support in favour of workers.