Editorial from journal Revolutionary Democracy
After an eerie silence of almost nine months, confrontation between the workers and management once again flared up in Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant (near Delhi), which had witnessed a series of strikes last year. In a fresh bout of conflagration on the 19th July 2012, the workers again rose against the arbitrariness of the management, leading to a bloody clash between them, in which the General Manager (Human Resources) was killed when fire broke in one portion of the plant and as per the company’s official statement, 100 employees were seriously injured. But no one knows, neither cared to find out how many workers were hurt or injured.
According to various reports that appeared in the media, the incident occurred after a worker was abused by the shop-floor supervisor who used a derogatory casteist remark against him. Subsequently the management also suspended the same worker Jiya Lal from work. This act of the supervisor was protested by the fellow workers, and a scuttle broke between them.
The worker’s got agitated when the management deferred its decision to reinstate Jiya Lal till next day. To quell any workers demand, MSIL (Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.) has institutionalised the practise of calling in armed goons (popularly referred to as bouncers). This tactic of theirs proved very effective in derailing last years strike and preventing any worker from airing their grievance openly. So as expected the goons were called; who on their arrival immediately closed the gates of the factory premises and started physically assaulting the workers inside the plant with sharp weapons and arms. The workers retaliated in self defence and a scuffle started, which led to some people being injured and the GM, being killed when he was engulfed in the fire that had broken in one part of the premise.
The MSIL management which for past couple of years have come to symbolise the true face of ‘corporate governance’ and also representing multi national capital, came into full swing. The Manesar plant was locked out and the entire incident was portrayed as another criminal act of the workers. The company issued a communiqué blaming the workers responsible for the entire melee and terming them as vandals and murderers. [Read Full Story]
Workers' Unity Trade Union 