Worries about staff strike at Manesar pull Maruti stock lower

Shares in Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.6 percent after The Economic Times reported that workers are planning a hunger strike and other peaceful protests to force the management to take back the 548 employees sacked after the deadly violence in July that hit production.

[caption id=“attachment_516420” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The worker body of Maruti’s Gurgaon plant has thrown its weight behind the sacked colleagues of the Manesar unit who are going on a two-day hunger strike from tomorrow to protest their reinstatement[/caption]

The workers are being organised by former union Maruti Suzuki Workers Union.

MSWU is no longer operational after instigating the July violence, according to the report.

A Maruti official confirmed to Reuters that former workers were protesting, which would have no impact on production.

The stock closed 1.7 percent lower at Rs 1454.55 on the BSE, while the Sensex closed o.23 percent up at 18817.

The worker’s body of Maruti Suzuki India’s Gurgaon plant has also thrown its weight behind the sacked colleagues of the Manesar unit who are going on a two-day hunger strike from tomorrow to protest their reinstatement.

“The workers at Manesar who have been dismissed will be going on hunger strike on November 7 and 8. While we will not take part in the hunger strike, we will join them in the protest rally to be held after it as a mark of support,” Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (MUKU) General Secretary Kuldeep Janghu told PTI.

After the July 18 violence at the Manesar plant in which one senior executive was killed, the company had fired 546 workers. The police have arrested 149 of them, including the office bearers of Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) for alleged involvement in the violence. With their leaders behind the bars, they have formed an seven-member provisional committee to take the lead.

“We want our reinstatement and a proper and unbiased inquiry into the incident apart from the release of all our colleagues who have been arrested,” Imaan Khan, one of the members of the provisional committee of MSWU said. He said the hunger strike will be held tomorrow and day after at Gurgaon DC court.

“On Thursday, we will hold a protest rally in which different worker’s union of the Gurgaon-Manesar belt and central trade unions will participate,” Khan claimed.

A Special Investigation Team formed by the Haryana government had concluded that the violence at the plant was due to internal issues between the management and workers and ruled out the external influence as was suspected by the company.

Agencies