The resumption of work by the workers came after last night’s
agreement reached between the management of the firm and the Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India Employees Union, led by its president Suresh Gaur. The
dénouement of struggle between the firm’s management and the workers apparently brings down the curtain on the about two-month deadlock between the two sides.
It also marks the end to the second notable industrial labour problem in the area, the first being in Maruti Udyog Ltd plant in Gurgaon city about four years ago.
The workers resumed work in the presence of the Chief Minister, after he addressed them on the premises of the firm’s plant in Manesar.
Mr Hooda said the workers first met Mrs Sonia Gandhi last night.
The government organised a meeting of the officers of the management and the union leaders of the workers last night at which an understanding between both sides was reached. The Chief Minister along with Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Labour and Employment, Haryana, Mrs Promila Issar, was present in the crucial management-worker meeting to break the logjam. The meeting took place at the residence of Congress MP from Delhi, Mr Sajjan Kumar.
According to Mr Hooda, as per the agreement, the order for suspension of
50 workers and dismissal of four workers has been revoked. This was the sore point for the management and the bone of contention. All workers on whom the management had shut the door for the confrontationist approach, would be allowed to resume work. The management gave in on the two issues. Also, the management has agreed to give full salary of May and June to the workers. However, the principle of no work no pay rule applied by Supreme Court after June 27 will apply. The workers who have been injured and were not fit to resume duties will be given paid leave.
However, the four who were dismissed will be shifted from manufacturing to some other units. Also, the investigation into the conduct of the 50 who were suspended would go on, and if they were found guilty, they would also be shifted from the manufacturing to other units.
As per the agreement, the workers will not demand a hike in their salaries for a year and would also have to enforce
discipline at the workplace. They will withdraw all their demand notices.
In response to questions from mediapersons on the status of the criminal cases registered against 62 workers in connection with the violent incidents last Monday, in the lawns of the Mini-Secretariat, he said that the law will take its own course.
Mr Hooda urged upon the workers and the management to have
mutual trust as both supplement each other.
He charged that some anti-social elements and forces inimical to the Congress government were behind the recent violence in Gurgaon. They were unnerved by the progressive works done by the present government.
The president of the employees’ union of the firm, Mr Suresh Gaur, however, stated that at the meeting yesterday with the Chief Minister, the workers have been assured that the criminal cases would be withdrawn.
Addressing the workers at the factory lawns before they resumed their work, Mr Gaur urged upon them to forget the past bickering with the management and work with a new zeal in the interest of the firm, the state and the country. He praised Mrs Gandhi and Mr Hooda for their help in breaking the stalemate between the workers and the management.
The workers, who had
assembled outside the factory gate, before the arrival of the Chief Minister said that they had nothing to do with the assault on the police last Monday. They said that they did not know the identity of the persons in the procession who indulged in arson and assault on the police personnel.
