class struggle in India

[stevead1966]

BBC Asia 19th July 2012  : At least 90 people have been arrested after violent clashes between workers and managers at a Maruti Suzuki factory near the Indian capital, Delhi. A senior factory official died and more than 85 were injured, including two Japanese nationals, in the riot at the Manesar plant on Wednesday evening. Maruti, India’s biggest car maker, has halted production at the factory. India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki was one of the first car companies to set up here. Many ancillary units followed them. Now Haryana is considered one of the foremost car-making hubs in India. But labour issues have long been a concern here. Companies have been asking for India’s old labour laws to be reformed for some time now. There has been a lot of speculation about what triggered these protests, but most observers believe it is linked to a disagreement over wages and employee contracts. Most industries get around the strict labour laws by employing more contract labourers or outsourcing to an agency.  Managers and workers blame each other for starting the clashes, which follow months of troubled labour relations. The violence at the vast factory in Haryana state is believed to have erupted after an altercation between a factory worker and a supervisor.  Workers reportedly ransacked offices and set fires at the height of the violence. It escalated when they tried to take disciplinary action against the employee as other workers protested and blocked all exit gates, preventing senior executives and managers from leaving the factory.  The union denied responsibility for the violence and told local media that it was triggered by “objectionable remarks” made by the supervisor.  Dozens of staff, both management and shop-floor workers, were taken to a nearby hospital. Maruti company officials have also told the BBC that more than 50 senior manager level staff are still in hospital. The manager who died has been named as Awinash Dev, a human resources official. Security has now been tightened at the plant, which employs more than 2,000 people and produces more than 1,000 of Maruti’s top-selling cars every day, accounting for about a third of its annual production.  Maruti Suzuki, a joint venture between Maruti and Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation, has a 50% share of India’s booming car market.  It has been hit by a series of strikes since June 2011, when workers went on a 13-day strike demanding the recognition of a new union.

[alanjjohnstone]

WSWS website has a few interesting observations on the 2011 strikes. The company paid (bribed) up to 30 union agitators to resign from the company.http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/nov2011/maru-n12.shtmlAnd a background articlehttp://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/oct2011/maru-o04.shtmlOften though the fact that unions are party affiliated means numerous in-fighting plus when those political parties become state governments it leads to union co-option and collaboration. In India the class war is not just figurative but literal.”At least 12 workers have died of starvation in an Assam tea estate in the last four months when it remained closed following a strike.” The 12 of them died during the lockout because they had nothing to eat  People’s Rights Forum (PRF), a rights watchdog, claimed.http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_in-assam-12-tea-estate-workers-die-of-starvation_1654976

[stevead1966]

Libcom.org : In 2011, Maruti Suzuki made over $65,000 profit per employee. Despite unprecedented profits, workers in the industry have seen their wages reduced by 25% over the last ten years, whilst directors have seen their pay skyrocket. Working conditions at the factory are horrendous. A car is produced every 38 seconds. If a car is a second late, workers get a pay cut, if they are a second late clocking in they lose a day’s pay, if they are a second late back from a break, they have their salaries reduced. The dispute is generally a result of rising inflation, reducing wages, attacks on terms and conditions, and the use of casual labour to bypass labour laws. It was a hard strike. The workers gave no notice to management, they stopped production completely and around 2,000 workers stayed inside the factory for nearly two weeks. The strike ‘postponed’ the production of 13,200 cars and caused a loss of about 6 billion Rs. (133 million USD / 100 million Euro). Maruti Suzuki’s June sales figures dropped by 23 per cent, the sharpest fall in two and a half years. In July management announced to shift one production-line back from Manesar to Gurgaon plant. Workers continued the strike despite the police stationed within the factory premises and despite the strike having been officially declared illegal by Haryana government on 10th of June.

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