On Monday, June 5, at the gate of the Nestle factory located in Samalkha, Haryana, union representatives from different Nestle plants and representatives of the Nestle Workers’ Unity of Nestle Samalkha assembled to stage a protest against the management refusing to grant permission to workers in forming a union.
The management is placing every possible obstacle in the formation of the union to thwart the registration of the independent democratic union formed by the workers.
Nestle Workers Union, an independent organization was formed by the permanent employees of Samalkha factory in July 2022 and the file for its registration was submitted to the Labour Commissioner, Chandigarh.
Satyanarayan Sharma, Assistant Labour Commissioner, Labour Department, Panipat, had confirmed this file, but the management produced false affidavits of 18 members in the file with their influence, which led to the registration process of the union being stripped.
Nestle Workers Union were attacked and an FIR has also been registered against Nestle Management’s HR Manager Alok Kumar and ER Manager Manoj Tiwari.
An organization named Nestle Works Unity was reconstructed, whose verification process has been completed, but the management is leaving no stones unturned to block registration using its clout.
The management is taking every possible step to persuade the department to obstruct the registration of the union by taking case to the Labour Office, Chandigarh.
The union has issued a press release declaring that the management is placing every kind of hurdle to give a blow to the formation of the union, which resulted in the workers’ unity members of Nestle Samalkha factory and the union representatives from all the units of Nestle protest at the gate.
In this, Satyendra Rana, head of Nestle Employees Union Tahliwal, Kapil Raghav from Nestle Mazdoor Union Tahliwal, Mangesh Gaonkar, head of Nestle Employees Union Bicholim, Nestle Workers Union General Secretary Vishnu Pattar, Dhanbir Singh Rana, head of Nestle Employees Union Pantnagar, Deputy President of Nestle Mazdoor Union Pantnagar Dheeraj Chand along with his Apni Union Committee members backed the protest and converged at the Samalkha demonstration in support of Nestle Workers Unity.
All these union leaders in no uncertain terms called the management not to tamper with the everyday internal affairs of the union, allow the registration of the union and not to instill terror and discrimination against the employees.
Union representatives asserted that forming a union is a fundamental right of the workers and in compliance with the Constitution. Unions already exist in many other Nestle plants, so it s perfectly legal to form a union in Samalkha.
Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist who covers mass movements around India .Thanks workers Unity for inputs.
