Unions in India say management at riot-torn Maruti-Suzuki is meeting today (13 August) to discuss the possible re-opening of its severely damaged Manesar plant.
The factory – producing the Dzire sedan and Swift hatchback models – has been shut for more than three weeks following the recent arson attack which left a senior manager dead and a hundred staff in hospital – with the three-week lock-out costing the Indian-Japanese venture a huge amount of money which has been estimated at JPY1bn (US$12.75m) a day. The Manesar plant had been producing an average 1,700 units a day, priced at about JPY600,000 ($7,600) each.
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Incentives to ensure the site reopens as quickly as possible – and take back to work most of the near-4,000 employees who remain at home without pay – include an offer by the state government of Haryana to provide a battalion of police – many of them armed – for a year to ensure the factory’s security.
“They [Maruti management] will be meeting today, they will consider all aspects and decide when to reopen the plant,” All India Trades Union Congress (AITUC) national secretary, Darshan Sachdev, told just-auto from India. “It will take not less than a week or 10 days.”
The AITUC national secretary added neither unions nor workers were involved in today’s talks – believed to be in either Delhi or Gurgaon – but that he thought around 480 workers would not be offered their positions back following the extreme violence.
A demonstration is planned by unions for 17 August to protest against the extended halt in production, although it is unclear if this will proceed should Maruti announce any restart.
Maruti-Suzuki is not confirming its management is meeting to discuss any possible reopening of the Manesar plant and it would also not confirm reports it could move operations to West Bengal in a bid to avoid Manesar’s long history of industrial strife – a four-month strike there last year cost 100,000 units and caused a 39% slump in nine-month profits.
“No decision yet on Manesar,” a Maruti spokesman in Dehli told just-auto. “Whatever decision is made will be announced publicly.”
In contrast, a Kyodo News report from New Delhi on Monday said Maruti had said Saturday (11 August) it aimed to reopen the plant by the end of August – the news agency did not name its source.
Maruti is building a third car plant at Manesar to increase annual capacity there by 250,000 units, which could explain the Haryana government’s rush to offer a battalion of 550 police for 12 months to Maruti – at taxpayers’ expense.
However, in an indication of worker unrest in the industrial belt around Manesar, the AITUC also said the battalion could be called on to police other potential disturbances to “ensure safety and peace.”
Suzuki told just-auto from its Hamamatsu headquarters in Japan the violence was the first time it encountered a similar situation on such a scale and that it was “trying to recover”.
