More than three thousand non-permanent (contract, trainee, apprentice, TW, CW, MST etc.) workers who have worked and are working in Maruti Suzuki plants in Gurgaon-Manesar gathered for a mass meeting in Gurgaon to demand permanent jobs, equal pay and salary increase.

5th January 2025

In a significant move, more than three thousand erstwhile workers of Maruti Suzuki gathered for a mass meeting near Krishna Chowk in Gurgaon on Sunday, January 5th, 2025 in the founding general meeting of the Maruti Suzuki Asthayi Mazdoor Sangh. Many had travelled overnight to reach the venue from Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Orissa and other states. The workers have all served in various temporary capacities at the three plants of the automobile manufacturer in Gurgaon-Manesar. A charter of demand was prepared, adopted and signed in the meeting today. The workers also issued a call to gather in an even greater number at the Gurgaon DC office on January 10th to submit the Charter of Demands and make their presence felt before the labour department and the company management. The general meeting also elected a committee of representatives to coordinate its further activities.

Workers at the mass meeting in Gurgaon

Temporary workers from across the country shared their experiences of working in the factory and the struggle with unemployment that they have had to endure since then. A worker from Ganganagar spoke of how he had broken down at the company gate when he was rejected in the entrance exam conducted by the company after having worked as a casual for over three years. Sumit from Bahadurgarh district spoke of how the 30,000 salary he received at Maruti for seven months as a temporary worker had created false hopes in his family, which were only to be dashed by company after company. A worker from Unnao, UP spoke of how temporary workers were penalized if they took more than two leaves in a quarter, even though on paper they were entitled to seven leaves on the whole. Another worker spoke of how he was rejected for a Haryana government job because the experience letter given by Maruti mentions no specific skills and is in fact a worthless piece of paper. Another, Vivek from Bihar compared their lives to that of a football being played with and kicked out by companies every six to seven months or so. He had also worked in Hero MotoCorp and Honda, besides two stints at Maruti as TW1 and TW2. The stories flowed along with an electrifying sense of anger at the injustice of having given the best years of their lives to the company which had in return left them with no hopes for the future. 

A temporary worker addressing the gathering

Presently Maruti Suzuki employees 36,000 workers across its four plants, out of which a mere 17% are permanent and the rest are divided into various categories which include Temporary Workers 1 and 2, Casual Workers, Apprentices, Contract Workers and Student Trainees. The entire production of the plants is dependent on this temporary workforce, whereas the role of permanent workers has been limited to supervisory roles at best. There exists a huge pay gap between permanent and temporary workers, with permanent employees drawing an average salary of 1,30,000 while temporary workers draw salaries between 12,000 to 30,000. Temporary workers are recruited for a mere seven months at a time. Student trainees form another significant category of the workforce who are engaged in full production in the name of apprenticeship and ITI education, only to leave the plant after two-three years with a certificate that has no currency in the labour market.

The charter prepared by the workers demands permanent employment for all workers engaged in a permanent nature of work. The workers have demanded the creation of 30,000 permanent posts in the existing three plants. They have also demanded that the recruitment to all these posts including those in the upcoming plant in Kharkhoda, Sonipat should be held primarily from among those who have previously worked in any Maruti plant as temporary workers. In the meantime all temporary workers must be given a 40% pay hike and a ‘clearance amount’ equal to the difference in the salaries of temporary and permanent workers for every month of service in the company. With regard to the sham training process being conducted by the company, workers demanded that the government intervene to ensure that student trainees being recruited by the company are actually allowed to up-skill themselves and not be engaged as workers in the main production process.

The Charter of Demands signed by the workers

The meeting was organised in the wake of a demand notice submitted by the Maruti Suzuki Struggle Committee on behalf of various categories of temporary workers presently working in the four plants. The meeting also received active support and assistance from Maruti workers terminated from the company in 2012. These workers have been agitating to be reinstated with back wages for their unfair dismissal and sitting in IMT Manesar in an indefinite sit-in since September last year.