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Striking workers vacate Manesar plant
Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service

Police personnel, inside the Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant, ask striking workers to vacate the premises as per the high court order. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed

Gurgaon, October 14
The workers of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) in Manesar vacated the premises late in the night on the eighth day of the sit-in the face of intense pressure mounted on them by the district administration.

Shiv Kumar, general secretary of Maruti Suzuki Employees’ Union, confirmed the development. The workers, who were in the permanent category and those in the grade of apprentice and trainees employed by the Maruti Suzuki management, however, joined the sit-in being staged by their colleagues in the casual category outside the main gate of the plant. The permanent employees were staging a sit-in demanding that their colleagues in the casual category be given their jobs back following agreement between the workers and the management on October 1.

Gurgaon Police Commissioner SS Deswal said the workers vacated the premises on their own after they were made to realise that they were on the wrong side of the law. He said the presence of a large number of police force in the area also acted as a deterrence to the workers who were initially toeing the hard line.

Shiv Kumar said the workers vacated the premises in deference to the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He further said the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, PC Meena and other authorities assured the workers that they would intervene on their behalf with the Maruti Suzuki management for an amicable agreement between both the sides by October 17. The union has warned of intensifying the agitation if the authorities failed to effect an agreement within the stipulated date.

According to him, the casual workers were staging a dharna outside the perimeter of 100m from the main gate. Hence, the dharna did not violate the law.

The workers of other Maruti Suzuki entities are still staging a sit-in in the respective plants and the union stated that the court’s order pertained only to the MSIL plant at Manesar.

The police commissioner said that the immediate task of the administration was to clear the MSIL plant from the striking workers who had held it captive since October 7. The workers of other entities of Maruti Suzuki, were staging a sit-in only in support of their colleagues of MSIL.