An Indian trade union federation says Maruti Suzuki workers have filed registration papers to establish a union at the Manesar plant – the cause of a massive recent strike.
All 2,000 workers are now back at work following the 13-day stoppage that the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) estimates cost Maruti US$111m, although this figure has not been verified by the manufacturer.
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“The [North India] government of Haryana will send the [union] registration papers for checking – it takes around two months now,” AITUC national secretary Darshan Sachdev told just-auto from India.
“If they refuse it they have to give reasons – we can challenge the decision. With the 13-day strike by the workers, the state government will also think twice before rejecting.”
The AITUC is putting car production lost to the strike – which also saw huge numbers of workers stage a sit-in in the Manesar factory – at around 13,000 vehicles.
Maruti had previously dismissed 11 workers for agitating industrial action but their reinstatement triggered a return to normal production.
A spokesman for the automaker told just-auto last week: “We have a fully-fledged recognised union for the last 28 years – the Maruti Employees Union – we can’t have a second union – we feel all interests of the workers will be represented collectively by this one union.”
However, the AITUC national secretary insisted relations with management at the plant had been poor for a considerable time.
“Industrial relations with management of Maruti have not been good for the last 10 years,” he said. “They want it to be a puppet union – that was the root cause of strained industrial relations.”
Maruti Suzuki was not immediately available for comment.
