A ‘Mazdoor Sabha’ was organised in Manesar on 30 September by the Maruti workers, who were terminated from jobs in 2012. The retrenched workers declared to intensify their protests in the coming days and to start a hunger strike from 10 October 2024 if they are not reinstated by the company.
Groundxero | October 1, 2024
Maruti workers at Manesar (Haryana), who were terminated from jobs in 2012, and have been continuing their struggle for justice since then, have started a dharna at Manesar Tehsil since 18 September 2024 demanding their jobs back. On 30 September the terminated workers held a ‘Mazdoor Sabha’ at the dharna site to intensify their struggle. Nearly 300 terminated workers from different parts of Haryana and other districts along with their family members took part in the protest program. Different workers organisations and unions from Delhi-NCR and Haryana joined the struggling Maruti workers in solidarity.
Terminated Maruti workers, Khushiram and Satish, conducted the meeting on behalf of the Maruti Suzuki Struggle Committee, the workers’ committee leading the present struggle for reinstatement and justice. Amit Nain, who spent 5 years in jail after the 2012 incident, spoke about the struggle. Worker leaders from Daikin union and Belsonica union expressed solidarity with the struggling Maruti workers. Representatives from Krantikari Mazdoor Morcha Faridabad, TUCI, IFTU Sarwahara, IMK, Mazdoor Sahyog Kendra, Sramik Sangram Committee, PSYA, Mazdoor Samachar and others addressed the workers. Maruti workers’ family members also addressed the meeting. Representatives from Mazdoor Adhikar Sangharsh Abhiyan (MASA), AICWU, AIUTUC also joined the protest meeting.
The speakers detailed the relentless struggle of Maruti workers since 2011, the importance of the present struggle and the ongoing dharna at Manesar amidst Haryana assembly election and the ongoing settlement process between the three unions of Maruti Suzuki and the company management, and the challenges and the tasks ahead.
After militant struggle by permanent-contract-trainee workers and 3 successive strikes in 2011, two of which culminated in factory occupation by the workers, the Maruti management was forced to recognize the workers union. The newly formed union demanded abolition of the contract system inside the plant, as the first demand in their Charter of Demands. Then a conspiracy by the management to destroy the union resulted in a violent clash between management-hired goons and the workers inside the Maruti Manesar plant on 18 July 2018, resulting in the death of an HR manager. The then chairman of Maruti Suzuki, R C Bhargava, described the incident as an act of ‘class war’. Unprecedented repression from the state machinery, police-administration-judiciary, and the company management followed. More than 2500 workers, including 546 permanent workers, were thrown out of the job without any enquiry. 147 workers were jailed. Production ran under police presence. Struggling workers were portrayed by the management, ruling parties and big media as ‘murderers’ and ‘criminals.
However the struggle of Maruti workers amidst these odds was historic and it inspired workers across India and beyond and got support from across the country. The struggling Maruti workers reinstated the union inside the plant in 2014, fought the criminal and labour cases in courts and continued their struggle demanding jobs, dropping of false criminal cases and justice. The Special Investigation Team constituted by Haryana government and the trial process in Sessions Court could not find any evidence against the overwhelming majority of the terminated workers (419 among 546 permanent workers) and 117 jailed workers were released after five years in jail due to lack of any kind of evidence against them. Others were given punishments of different degrees, and 13 worker leaders, including 12 union representatives, were given life imprisonment based on the fabricated accusations provided by the management in 2017. Protests erupted in dozens of factories in Manesar, in different parts of India and in different countries against this punishment and criminalization of the working-class movement. Terminated Maruti workers, with the help from the union in the plant, were successful in getting all imprisoned workers released on bail by 2022, and then intensified their struggle to get the jobs back. They held a series of protest meetings and rallies in Gurgaon and started indefinite dharna in Manesar from 18 September 2024.
The present struggle of the Maruti workers has forced the labour department and the government to open a dialogue and call for tripartite meetings. One such meeting at Chandigarh convened by the Labour Commissioner remained inconclusive due to the stubborn attitude of Maruti management. From the dharna site, the workers have declared to intensify their protests in the coming days and to start a hunger strike from 10 October 2024. The struggle will go on till justice is done!
Also read : Retrenched Maruti Workers on Indefinite Dharna at Manesar