Maruti strike: labour militancy or rising aspiration of working class?

New Delhi: Marathon talks brokered by the Haryana government between the management and striking workers at Maruti Suzuki India’s (MSI) Manesar plant are still on, with the stir entering its 14th day today.

According to the company, the talks that began yesterday morning at 11 am continued through the night and were still going on this morning.

“The tripartite negotiation is still going on since 11 am yesterday,” a Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) spokesperson told PTI. Talks between the MSI management and workers in the presence of Haryana Labour Department officials resumed yesterday morning after they broke down on October 18.

“Hopes of an agreement were raised late last night, but an agreement could not be reached as both sides stuck to their stands,” a source privy to the talks said.

According to CNN-IBN report, the unrest at Maruti is not an industry problem but a “problem of rival unionism problem in a newly industrialised area where people have not got into industrial mindset.” Firstpost had also earlier reported that the real battle at Manesar is more about the relevance of trade unions than an issue of contract vs permanent labourers.

Watch video:Maruti deadlock: Workers pushed too hard?

Meanwhile, shares of the company were being quoted 0.04 percent lower at Rs 1,065.10 apiece at 0925 hours on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

In the meantime, the company said it will continue partial production at its Manesar plant with a limited workforce.

The company has already resumed operations at the plant with workers who did not join the strike. It claimed that the strength at the plant has gone up to 600 and rolled out 200 cars yesterday.

MSI Chairman RC Bhargava yesterday said the company was hopeful the impasse would end in the next 4-5 days.

“We have been talking to them for the last three days. We keep talking as a solution to these things takes some time. I cannot say when, but only I can hope that the issues will be solved in the next 4-5 days,” he said.

M aruti claims their HR practises are best in the industry but statistics tell a different story. Maruti’s Manesar plant produces six lakh cars while its capacity is five lakhs.

Experts says the current crisis at Maruti is a combination of labour militancy combined with rising aspirations of the working class and politics inter mingling.

Agencies