'Finishing off unions is not a permanent solution'

Manesar: Two weeks after violence at the Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant claimed the life of a HR manager and left over 90 people injured, an uneasy calm prevails at the Industrial Model Town, where the plant is located. The disturbing image of the plant’s burned faade has been covered up by a fresh coat of paint and giant tarpaulin sheets. But the rows of police vans parked inside the car factory and the khaki uniforms outside tell of a looming crisis that is rapidly spreading far beyond the factory walls.

Firstpost spoke to Manoj Kumar, the employee union president of Maruti Suzuki’s sister company Suzuki Powertrain India (the two are to be merged), on the circumstances that led to such an extreme act of violence and the possible repercussions of the incident on the industrial town.

Excerpts from the Interview

What do you think led to this violent outbreak against the management by the workers?

Firstly, such an incident should never have happened. A manager has died. It shouldn’t be the case. Issues are many. We also have issues. But they should be resolved through dialogue. We are unable to comprehend why this happened. Everything was normal. The negotiations were ongoing between the union and the management. None of us is able to understand what changed all of a sudden.

[caption id=“attachment_399570” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Manoj Kumar, President, Suzuki Powertrain India Employees Union. Naresh Sharma/ Firstpost[/caption]

What could have triggered such an outburst?

The fault is with both (management and workers) . You cannot fault the workers alone. But the method they used wasn’t right. They chose the wrong path. All we know is from what we hear. We weren’t there, so we don’t know.

During tea break there was a quarrel between one of the workers and the supervisor. And the management decided to suspend the worker. The union was in talks with the management. Some say, the management had agreed to take back the worker in a couple of days. Others say, the management had refused outright. Only when the enquiry report is out, will we know what the truth is. We are not in any position to take a decision till we know the full facts.

Do you think there could have been any outside involvement?

It seems unlikely. We were in touch with the workers. It didn’t seem like any outside interference was there.

Do you think this incident could have a negative impact on the employee unions in Manesar?

Unions have to exist. It is because unions didn’t exist that with time the frustrations of the workers grew, small issues snowballed into big problems. Unions help diffuse the tension.

In 2000, there was workers dispute at Maruti’s mother plant in Gurgaon. After that, the control of the union was in the hands of the management. And so the last ten years, have added to the resentment of workers and what we are seeing in Manesar could be a the result that pent up frustration.

For ten years the union was in control of the management. No one paid heed to workers grievances - not the union, not the management. Whatever the management decided was final. It is possible that there continues to be resentment among workers due to that.

Are you apprehensive that the incident at the Maruti plant could lead to more managements calling for shutting down of unions?

Anil Kumar, treasurer, Suzuki Powertrain India Employee Union, who was also present during the interview said, “Finishing off Unions is not a permanent solution. After five years, demands will rise again. It is not a permanent solution.”

Manj Kumar said, “After the dispute in 2000 in the Gurgaon plant, many workers left, some were fired. Those who are working there now are in the later stages of their employment. They don’t want to take any risk that could cost them their job and jeopardize their families.

But at the new plant in Manesar, the workers are all freshers. They don’t have family pressures. They live alone here away from their families. They send money home.

They see that the workers at the mother plant in the last ten years have not seen very much growth. They don’t want to find themselves in the same situation ten years later. There is also this thinking among workers.”

How many unions are there in Manesar?

There are not many unions - perhaps 20-25. In Manesar, there are around 300-400 companies in all.

Given this scenario and the working conditions in Manesar, do you think workers need to organize themselves better?

The worker is completely alone in today’s scenario. He doesn’t have any support, not from the government or the labour department. Forming a union is a risk. It is a risk to his job or perhaps even to his life - he could face attacks, although that has not happened here so far.

The biggest risk for a worker is losing job. And those who take the risk of forming a union are tortured by the management. In Manesar, the workers have not been able to muster enough courage to organize themselves to form unions.

When workers file for a union at the labour department, information immediately reaches the management that these are the names of the workers who want to start a union. The management then starts to torture those workers.

The biggest problem here is the labour department. The management is only doing its job. But the labour department is for the labour force not the management. The opposite is happening here. The labour department is not safeguarding the welfare of the workers but looking out for the interests of the management.

The attitude of the labour department has been very negative here. When a labour officer goes to a company, he doesn’t meet the workers. Till a year ago, when our union was formed - I’ve worked at the plant for six years now - we had no idea who the labour officer was.

If the labour department cared to do its job, there would be no need for unions. That is problem. All of them are involved in politics. They are hand in glove with management.

What problems did you face while forming a Union?

When we applied in May 2011, we planned on two unions since we have two plants here. Suzuki Powertrain Casting plant and the other is the engine plant. The information immediately reached the management and they began to put pressure on us saying that they will form the union for us. Finally, they realized that they will have to relent. It was then finalized that two unions wouldn’t be possible as the two plants have the same management. We formed our union in June 2011.

What are some of grievances of workers, especially the contract workers?

If we look at Industrial Model Town (IMT) Manesar in particular, the contract workers, unlike elsewhere, are not working on minimum wage. In the NCR (national capital region), living expenses - rent and food - are very high. Even Rs 20,000 is not enough to live on. But workers are managing somehow, they adjust- they live four-five of them together in a room. And so they are able to scrape through with Rs 8,000. (Contract workers are paid between Rs 7,500-8,500) But with that salary, they cannot support their families and bring them here.

Could you highlight problems faced by contract workers at your plant?

Contract workers are mostly single. Once they get married, they are in no position to work in the NCR. They want to be regularized because they are working on par with regular workers. They want to be employed permanently here.

Most of them live in nearby villages. For regular workers there is a bus facility, but they (contract workers) don’t have that. But then again, bus facility is charged and since contract workers want to save as much as possible, they prefer to live in the nearby villages. They rent places together. The villagers have raised rents. It isn’t possible to get a place for less than Rs 3,000-4,000.

In the aftermath of the violence at the Maruti plant, what are your main concerns?

We want that no injustice should be done to those workers who are innocent.

We are worried that workers might get falsely implicated. The facts should come out. It is shouldn’t be that all the blame is put on the workers.

The effort should be that workers don’t lose their jobs and that the factory should restart at the earliest. There are news reports that 2 lakh people have been hit directly and indirectly by the Maruti lock out. This is no small matter.

We hope that case is properly investigated and the truth comes out. It is not the workers alone who are responsible.