M A I N   N E W S

Maruti conflagration: What really happened
Naveen S Garewal/TNS

“We were supposed to go out for dinner that night. When I called him, he said there was some problem in the factory and he might get delayed. I knew something was wrong. His phone went unreachable and within minutes, we had news reports of mayhem. I didn’t know where to go or whom to ask about the well-being of my husband,” said Sunita as she broke down.

Row began at dawn

Bone of contention

Though the arson at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s Manesar unit was triggered by the suspension of a regular worker on July 18, the wage settlement was the actual bone of discontent between the company management and the workers’ union After a new workers’ union — the Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union — got registered in  February, it submitted a demand notice regarding a wage settlement to the management However, the workers were dissatisfied over the lukewarm response of the management over the issue. Apparently, the management was not prepared to settle the wages of workers according to their expectations. This led to resentment. Such a situation had been prevailing at the plant for a couple of months

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

While most administration officers claim that tension had been simmering for the past few months, why could the management's intelligence and vigilance department not foresee the danger? Why were the workers working on the first shift allowed to stay back? The police claims that the company authorities called them only after things had gone out of hand

Trouble at the country’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) Manesar plant on July 18 had started early in the morning. The workers had refused to attend the 20-minute meeting held before the start of each shift. Protesting against the management’s announcement on wage negotiations, the workers skipped the first shift meeting which starts at 6.30 am. The other shifts begin at 3.30 pm and 11.30 pm.

Workers get two seven-and-a-half minute breaks in each shift as tea break. This has also been a point of protest with workers although the same is followed quite diligently at the company’s Gurgaon plant.

On Wednesday morning, Ram Kishore Maji, a supervisor at the assembly floor stopped Jiya Lal and a few other workers in the morning shift returning from their tea break at 8.30 am. He instructed them not to discontinue pre-shift meetings. This resulted in an argument which workers claim became an altercation when the supervisor abused Lal and the latter ended up hitting the supervisor.

The floor supervisor then lodged a complaint with the management and after complete investigation into the incident, the management suspended Lal at around 3 pm.

In the meantime, union representatives reportedly directed around 1,500 ‘A’ or morning shift workers to stay back in the rest area even after the end of the shift at 3 pm till the matter was sorted out.

Meanwhile, ‘B’ shift workers moved in and started their work. The union representatives were in a meeting with the management which the latter claimed was going in a positive direction.

But sources reveal that the management failed to draw peace even with the intervention of Labour Department officials — who were called in at 1.40 pm after the management decided to suspend the employee — and other union leaders of factories located in Gurgaon.

It was around 4.45 pm that union representatives called the waiting ‘A’ shift workers from the ground floor to the gallery to block gates and restrain any official from leaving the premises.

Within 15 minutes, ‘B’ shift workers got the union’s diktat to leave work and join ‘A’ shift workers and thus a mob of around 3,000 workers stood in the compound of the factory.

The local police claims that when it got to know about this assembly of workers, they called the management to ask if any help was required. The same was apparently denied as the company never expected such a disaster even though the workers had come with car door beams made of steel.

Cops wait outside

The management decided to inform the local police about the brewing trouble and ACP Ravinder Tomar reached Manesar with 50 police personnel at 3 pm, but he stayed outside the plant premises, lest it should appear that the management was trying to intimidate the workers.

As workers’ representatives demanded that Jiya Lal be reinstated immediately, the management first rejected the demand. But on seeing the workers getting aggressive, it agreed to reinstate the suspended man the next day.

The management said that the floor supervisor with whom Lal had had an altercation had already left for the day and to arrive at a compromise, both Lal and the floor manager should be present.

At 5.45 pm, union president Ram Meher and general secretary Samarjeet Singh called workers to gather on the first floor. By then, there were about 600 workers inside the plant premises.

Mob turns violent

Unable to decide on the plan of action, restless workers decided to teach the management staff a lesson. On the call of one of the union leaders at around 6.16 pm, workers went on a rampage.

They picked whatever tool, iron rods, sticks, hammers and wrenches they could lay their hands on from assembly shops. The rods meant to reinforce doors of cars came in most handy. These doubled as weapons that were used to hit the management staff, causing fractures and open wounds.

At this point, the workers’ leaders left the meeting room. The ‘A’ shift workers, who were waiting there to know the outcome of the meeting, were told that the talks had failed.

Following this, around 6.45 pm, a mob stormed into the HR section and thrashed senior executives and managers present there. After beating up senior company functionaries mercilessly, the workers damaged CCTV cameras and the tracking systems installed there. They also set fire to the section in an apparent bid to destroy the evidence.

The mob attacked any supervisor or manager that it could lay its hands on and ended up killing a senior HR executive, Awanish Kumar Dev, and injuring 100 others, including two Japanese nationals.

An official, who was discharged from hospital today, said, “I still can’t believe that I am alive. The last thing I remember of that day is the maniacal war cry of 2,500 enraged workers “Get them, teach them a lesson” after which around 15 men ran towards Awanish (General Manager, HR) before knocking me down.

“It is strange that the company is saying the incident has come as a shock for the high-ups as we had been apprising them of the worsening situation for the past three months.”

Recalling the incident, an employee said the management got jittery when the mob forcibly shut the main gate and prevented managers from leaving the premises after working hours.

Thereafter, the union members picked on supervisors, managers and executives and launched a simultaneous attack in different parts of the factory, damaging property and finally, they set offices on fire.

Waiting to explode

“People in the factory had been anticipating trouble. For the past three months, the factory had become a virtual battlefield where members of the management staff felt like outnumbered soldiers.

“Just as you entered the premises, there were groups of 25-30-year-old workers staring at managers menacingly. They often deflated car tyres, hurled abuses as managers crossed them. They even intentionally collided with the management staff to pick up a fight. I wanted to quit but was waiting for an opportunity,” he said.

That ill-fated day, the moment the mob got together, the conference room discussions got converted into heated and abusive arguments.

Within minutes, the union representatives came to blows. According to officials, one of the union leaders in the meeting broke a window pane which came as a signal for the mob to have a free-for-all.

Armed with iron rods and door beams of cars, the mob spread out in groups in the factory area and targeted supervisors, managers and executives, rendering many of them injured and unconscious. They also ransacked offices and broke glass panes. Finally, they set the offices on fire.

They completely damaged the fire safety building, security office and conference rooms of the factory. At least 100 cars were also damaged.

Cops get into the act

It was only around 7 pm that the management first called the office of the Deputy Commissioner and when it got no response, it called the police, wasting precious time in the process.

By around 7.15 pm, the policemen stationed outside was asked to enter the factory, but being outnumbered, they weren’t able to do anything.

Reinforcements were called only when the workers started setting the factory ablaze. It took the reinforcements over two hours to reach the Maruti plant. By the time more men arrived, it was already 9.30 pm. Most management staff was hit on their arms and legs as they tried to save their faces.

It was only around 10.30 pm that the police discovered General Manager (HR) Awanish Kumar Dev lay dead. A case was then registered for murder and arson at 11 pm.

“Awanish was very stressed out and could have seen this coming. According to what his friends told us, this was no accidental killing. Though the discussion with the labour union was moving in a positive direction, the mob had become violent without any provocation. All five or six gates were closed,” said the deceased GM’s brother.

Now with a lockout, a period of uncertainty dogs India’s premier car manufacturer.

(With inputs from Girja Shankar Kaura in Delhi, Sunit Dhawan in Gurgaon and Sumedha Sharma in Manesar)