On January 29th at around 11 am Manesar police mercilessly picked up around 100 Maruti workers from their dharna site which began since 18 September 2024. The tents, placards and other stuffs were uprooted. Later, the workers were taken far from Manesar to Pataudi by bus and released, but were directed not to go back to Manesar. The police told them that section 144 has been imposed in Manesar via the order of Gurgaon DC. Though the workers did not get any copy of the order.
Maruti management filed a civil suit against the workers on 27 January, and the court passed an order that the workers have rights to organize peaceful program only outside range of 500 meters from Maruti factory boundary walls. Maruti Suzuki Asthayi Mazdoor Sangh plans to organize the program abiding by the court order. Defiantly the Haryana police and the administration launched a merciless crackdown to supress any peaceful gathering of workers despite the court order. Maruti workers are resolute to combat the offensive of the police-administration at the behest of Maruti Suzuki company and conduct a peaceful program today at Manesar Tehsil dharna site.
On January 30th the Maruti workers are organising a peaceful mass demonstration at Manesar Tehsil under the banner of “Maruti Suzuki Asthayi Mazdoor Sangh”, where several thousands non-permanent workers, who are working or have worked in Maruti plants, are to converge demanding permanent jobs, valid certificate of training, salary increase and equal pay for equal nature of works.
The corporates are devising fresh strategies to foster deeper divisions among workers by building categories of contract workers, apprentices, trainees etc. In addition to caste-religion-gender based divisions, they are dead against permitting unionisation of contract workers. The recent mobilisation of temporary workers shook the Maruti management, who are bringing the police and the government to disrupt their protest action on 30th January. The workers have pledged to carry out their demonstration respecting all the legal provisions and refrain from violence.
The root of the agitation was the unbearable work pressure, insufficient wages and ruthless use of contractual workers in production
Such developments have simmered spirit of resistance at a boiling point a triggered a fresh wave of organised resistance.
Preceding Events and Background
On 5th January 2025, more than three thousand non-permanent (contract, trainee, apprentice, TW, CW, MST etc.) workers who have worked and are working in Maruti Suzuki plants in Gurgaon-Manesar assembled for a mass meeting in Gurgaon to demand permanent jobs, equal pay and salary increase. Many workers made the trip overnight to reach the venue from Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Orissa and other states. These workers have all operated in various temporary capacities at the three plants of the automobile manufacturer in Gurgaon-Manesar. The temporary workers formed Maruti Suzuki Asthayi Mazdoor Sangh, a charter of demand was prepared, adopted and signed at the meeting.
On January 5, a new union took shape: the Maruti Suzuki Non-permanent Workers Sangh, marking a landmark event in the history of working class struggles and the trade union movement.
The union was the product of dismissed permanent workers of Maruti Suzuki being a demonstration of solidarity by those who had no jobs, or incomes and more importantly, no backing of major trade unions.
The members of Maruti Suzuki Sangharsh Committee were permanent workers who had been dismissed by the company in 2012 being punished for alleged violation of labour laws. Since then, these workers had consistently waged a battle to save their jobs as well as the non-permanent workers.
On January 10, thousands of current and erstwhile non-permanent workers of Maruti Suzuki assembled again at the Gurgaon DC office to submit their collective charter of demands to the Labour Department challenging the illegal labour practices of the company. The charter of demands was also submitted to the company management on January 9.
The workers have demanded an end to the reliance on various categories of temporary workers for regular production in all plants of the automobile giant. They are demanding permanent employment for work of a permanent nature, equal pay for equal work, hiring of temporary workers previously and presently employed by the company to all the plants as permanent workers including the new plant in Kharkhoda, Sonipat and ensuring competent training of Maruti Student trainees and apprentices. Non-permanent workers arriving into the area for the agitation have stationed camps at the protest site of terminated Maruti Workers at the Manesar Tehsil near IMT Manesar Chowk, seven kilometres from the company gate.
The temporary workers have received active solidarity from the permanent workers terminated from the company in 2012. These workers have been agitating to be reinstated with back wages for their unfair dismissal and are sitting in IMT Manesar in an indefinite sit-in since 18th September last year. The terminated permanent workers from the company in 2012 have played a key role in steering up of the present struggle of the non-permanent workers. Permanent workers terminated in 2012 have been sitting in an indefinite sit in in IMT Manesar since October, 2024 and have played a key role in triggering the present agitation claiming that the present movement is a continuation of the demands which had provoked them to begin agitating for a union in the first place. A working committee of non-permanent workers from different states and representatives from among the Maruti terminated workers is spearheading the agitation.
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The massive pay difference between permanent workers receiving an average monthly salary of 1,30,000 and non-permanent employees who receive 18,000 to 30,000 poses another major issue of debate for the workers. Despite the main workload reliant on this non-permanent workforce, there exists a great disparity in the facilities enjoyed by permanent and temporary workforces. A large part of the salary comprises incentives which are easily deducted for temporary workers on taking leaves, or fluctuations of production targets.
Harsh Thakor is a freelance Journalist
