Human Resource Reflection

REVIEW PAPER ON MARUTI-MANESAR

LABOUR MANAGEMENT DISCORD

Human Resource Reflection

1(1) 010-020
Avanseaza.in

(2011-12)

Devyani Mourya
MANIT, Bhopal

Dr. Varsha Rokhade

MANIT, Bhopal

Abstract
In past decades there have been significant changes in the ideology, politics and economics
in India. Before the Governments liberalization policy of 1991, trade unions gained
privileges due to their political and judicial connections rather than by market pressure like
with strikes and collective bargaining. Over the years since then, the Labour has not done
well in negotiations often appearing to be the weaker side. There are many factors that
influence the Changing Labour Relations. It could be Globalization of market, adoption of
new work culture, flat organizational structure, use of information technology, and growth
of highly educated new generation of employees .Maruti Manesar Labour Discord is one
of the most confrontational Management- Labour Union standoff in recent times and it
provides an opportunity to analyse the changing face of Labour Relations. It was widely
covered by the media and there is a lot of secondary data available that help in in-dept
analysis of this case. In this paper, an attempt is made to use case study research method to
examine contemporary real-life Labour-Management Discord and provide the basis for a
better understanding of these confrontations so that they can be applied in future. The
Analysis Method is the Reverse Chronological Study of the case.
Keywords
Industrial Relations, Labor Discord, Maruti Manesar.

Corresponding author
Devyani Mourya, Research Associate, MANIT, Bhopal.
Email: devyanimourya19@gmail.com.

10

The belief that violent Labour Management

relations are a thing of the past was given a
jolt by confrontational Management Labor
discord of Maruti Manesar 2011-2012. This
case involved fundamental challenges for both
Management and the Workers. LaborManagement discord is expensive. There is
various exciting literature that still cannot
calculate what the actual cost of a strike is.
Even though strikes in our Industrial Relations
seem to have positive effect and are supposed
to be in public good (Thomas Kennedy, 1970),
their impact and economic costs cannot be
ignored. Neil W Chamberlain & Jane Schilling
(1954) was one of the Pivotal attempts at
calculating the cost of a strike and suggested
to consider the social implications of a strike
along with economic ones
This Paper attempts to analyze the case and
distill the learning from it so that such
economic and social costs may be avoided in
future.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited has its roots in
parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation,
Japan. It is a Market leader in Indian
Automobile sector. The Company has formed
a base in Haryana with two facilities at
Gurgaon and Manesar. The Company is one
that been one of those which is making profit
since its inception and is paying dividends for
ten years. It started as Government Suzuki
venture but with Governments disinvestment
move- In July 1991, it became a private
venture owned by Suzuki.
Last faced with a strike in 2000, Maruti has
had relatively peaceful industrial relations in
the past. The case study attempts to analyse
the events of the case and how it spiraled out
of control. It covers the context, key events
leading up to the negotiations, the unique
features of the bargaining parties and how the
public views the bargaining parties in concern.
. There were three strikes in six months. The
major stakeholders were Maruti, Labor and
the Haryana Government. The entire country
watched the process unfold and it was widely
covered. These are ample coverage of Maruti
Case but it mainly focuses on the explicit
matter like the issues of Union Registration,
Power &Politics. However, this research
attempts to revisit the Maruti manesar Strikes
and analyse the Human Relations aspect of the
strike. What little things spiraled to the

complete breakdown in Labor-Management

relations.
Literature Review
Research about workers strikes in our
Industrial Relations seems to consider them in
positive light and for public good (Thomas
Kennedy,1960) . But their impact and
economic costs cannot be ignored. Neil W
Chamberlain & Jane Schilling (1954) was one
of the Pivotal attempts at calculating the cost
of a strike. YK Reddy ( ) has attempted to
calculate the cost of the strike in Indian
Context. These prove that Labor discords are
expensive.
There are various studies that are concerned
with Employees involvement in Labor
Movement.
Employee
Attitude
towards
Union
Membership is important in our understanding
of
the
labor
Relations
(Deery
&Walsh,1999).Research into Union Attitudes
and their determinants in Important because
at the time of widespread union decline(
Blanchflower,2007). Employee support is a
must for Union Survival. There are various
factors affecting Union Management Relations.
Studies of attitudes of workers gather that
employees attitude towards management are
function of employee satisfaction with their
job. In other words, dissatisfied employees are
more likely to have pro-union attitude
(Freeman & Medoff, 1979, 1984). So, it is
important for Management to pay attention to
this aspect. However, Job Satisfaction is not a
global aspect and depends for region to
region. Also, dissatisfaction may be initial
trigger as Decotiis and LeLouran (1981) found
that dissatisfaction initiates a search for
means of reducing it. However, it may not
necessary result in choice of Union as that
vehicle of change.
One more job related factor that affects
Employees Management Relations is the
leadership style of managers which reflects on
the social support to employees. Iverson &
Kuruvilla (1995) talks about the degrees of
consideration expressed by the supervisor
and its effect on Labor Relations. There are
several studies that establish the relation
between the Communications & Relations
with the Manager and Worker management
11

Devyani mourya & Varsha Rokhade

relations (Farber,1990). This has formed a

basis of Analysing the case. Newton & Shore
(1992) views the importance of how workers
judge the fairness of Communications and
relations with Supervisor. Some other factors
to be considered as having impact on
Worker- management Relations are the Size
of the Organization and Bureaucratic rules vis
a vis work alienation (Cooke,1983).Work
Stress mediates the effect of work
environment on Job Satisfaction ( Zeytinglu et
al.2007)
Culture and its impact on the worker
Management Relations cannot be ignored (
Hofstede,1994). This study talks about the
fact that cultures differ in the extent to which
they value individual and group outcomes.
While, there is a large amount of research on
cultural and psychological variables (Earley &
Gibson 1998; Triandis ,2001) ,theres still a
need to integrate it with Industrial Relation
especially in Indian Context.
Auto Industry proves susceptible to
Unionisation and labour movements. This can
be validated by a study by Duncan and
Stafford (1980) that found that jobs low on
autonomy and skills are more likely to be
unionized. Maruti had a large number of
employees who are in semi skilled-unskilled
category. Also, they are strongly monitored
by supervisors. This makes it susceptible to
Unionisation. The management as shop level is
thereby important as it leads to influencing
workers the most. People in collectivist
society focus on establishing bond with
members of the group (Ali,Lee,Hsieh &
Krishnan, 2005). This makes unions a closely
bond group in Indian Context.
Labour-Management Discord at Maruti,
Manesar 2011-2012
Maruti was known in the past for its relatively
peaceful Industrial Relations. Since its
conception, Maruti Udyog Limited had few
problems with its labour force. It was
accepted and known for its Modern
Manufacturing Facility and Japanese Work
Culture .It was only with the change in
management in 1997 that saw its first unrest
among workers.
Employees struck work for six hours in
October 2000, over the suspension of nine
employees. They went on a six-hour tools-

down strike at its Gurgaon plant, demanding

revision of the incentive-linked pay and
threatened to fast to death if the suspended
employees were not reinstated. . The staff
was also opposed to selling of the Company
as Public Offering that had to be done as a
part of Governments plan to disinvest.
The standoff with the management continued
to December. The management came up
with a proposal to end the two-month long
strike. It however rejected the demand for
reinstatement of 92 dismissed workers. This
led to four MUL employees going on a fastunto-death.
These minor altercations had not prepared
Maruti or the state for the Labour
Management conflict of 2011-2012. In early2010, coming out of the slowdown in car sales
in 2008 and 2009, Maruti experienced an
increased demand of about thirty percent in
year on year. Various measures were
introduced to compensate:
HR policy was designed to encourage 100%
attendance. The Employees were given
attendance reward of Two Thousand rupees
per month for full attendance .However, to
reinforce the full attendance Rs. 500 was
deduced for each day of absence. So, if a
worker took 4 days of leave in a month, the
reward came down to nothing. There was
strict adherence to the teatime (7.5 mines)
and lunch break.
With all these initiatives, there was an
increase in the production.
The increased demand could be met if the
Manesar Plant produced 350,000 cars but
Manesar plant had an installed capacity of
250,000 cars . The management decided to
push for it and understood that to accomplish
them , complete workers commitment was
needed.
All
HR
activities
became
performance driven. Manesar showed a
remarkable growth. Manesar showed a jump
of 40 % while Gurgaon also showed improved
at 17 %.
These were the foundation under which the
Manesar workers demanded a new union. The
workers first approached the office bearers of
the Maruti Udyog Kampar Union (MUKU),
the Gurgaon-based union recognized by the
company. They didnt think it represented
them well and registered for their
independent union- Maruti Suzuki Employee
Union.

Conceptual Paper on Maruti- Manesar Labour Management Discord

Maruti opposed to the idea as they already

had an existing union. The workers filed an
application with the Haryana government
labour department to form a new union -titled Maruti Suzuki Employees Union. On
June 6, the company instantaneously
disengaged 11 workers for indiscipline. This
included the four office bearers of the
proposed union. Thus, began next five months
of strike and negotiations:
Phase one: 3 June to17 June (13 Days)
It started with eleven representatives of
MSEU (Maruti Suzuki Employees Union) from
the Manesar plant, including Shiv Kumar, its
secretary arranging a meet with the officials
from the Ministry of Labour of the State of
Haryana in order to carry out the formalities
of registering the union. The same day, the
Minister of Labour informed the management
of Maruti Suzuki of the development. The
management reacted by making the workers
sign blank pieces of paper, in favor of the
company union (the MUKU12. The
representatives of the MSEU try to get back
some of the already-signed blank papers. The
management sacks eleven MSEU members. In
the afternoon the workers begin a strike with
an occupation inside the factory.
The government declares the Strike as Illegal.
End of the first occupation. The conflict is
settled with the help of the principle national
unions and the MUKU. Maruti Suzuki
promises to transform the sackings into
suspensions. The delegates accept that the
hours on strike will not be paid. Maruti Suzuki
announces that the occupation cost them $US
93 million.
29 AUGUST- 30 SEPTEMBER 2011 (32
days)
The period that followed was full of distrust
and fear from both parties and this leads to
the next major strike on 29th August 2011.
Maruti complained about the loss of
production and blames it on slow pace of
work and sabotage. On 24 August, the
production of 1230 cars was planned but only
437 were assembled. And only 96 met the
required level of quality. To counter this
Maruti management came up with Good

Conduct Bonds. The workers were supposed

to sign this before resuming work. The
workers refused to sign these forms. Only
eleven workers signed and that led to a 32
days of strike.
Both Maruti Management and Workers
remained firm while the matters escalated.
Son Gujjar a young and amiable worker was
declared the Leader of the Movement by
the Media. Other unions joined in to express
their solidarity with the protesting workers.
The unions threaten to stop work the
following week if the management refuses to
negotiate.
Management held firm and announced hire of
new employees. Management asserts that 116
employees have already signed the Good
Conduct Bonds and urges other workers to
do the same. The management announces that
a total of 1400 are working at the Manesar
factory, of which close to 800 are recently
taken on. However, with mediation and
extended strike affecting the workers
economically there are negotiations and end
of the lock-out and the protest camp. The
workers sign the good conduct agreement;
18 trainees are taken back; 15 sacking are
transformed into suspensions; a total of 44
permanent workers remain suspended. The
workers accept that the hours on strike
should not be paid and, whats more, that
there can be a penalty of a day on half-wages.
Maruti Suzuki states that the 33 days of lockout have caused a loss of $US 150 million that
means 22,000 cars.
The peace however doesnt last for long and
there is a third major strike:
OCTOBER 7- OCTOBER 21, 2011 (14
Days)
On the first day of work after the lock-out
the management refused entry to 1200 temp
workers
who
participated
in
the
demonstration and the occupation. There was
a decision to transfer a large number of
workers from one job to another. These
issues provoked a strong discontent among
the workers. The workers had enjoyed a
company bus service, which picked up the
workers living far from the factory.
Management discontinued it stating that it was
misused during strikes. The worker
13

Devyani mourya & Varsha Rokhade

management clashes turned harsher. The

workers involved in demonstrations are fired.
Riot Control Police is used to control the
workers.
The government urged the two parties to
negotiate finally a tripartite agreement is
reached. Management agrees to take back 64
permanent workers. For the permanent
workers, with the 43 sackings and 62
suspensions by the management of Maruti
Suzuki throughout the strike, the final balance
sheet stood at 33 suspensions (and we should
say that this means several dozen workers
had not been paid for two months) to which
can be added 3 forced and 27 voluntary
departures. 250 temps left the factory and the
1200 temps taken on by recruiters are
supposed to be taken back.
The two leaders (Sonu Gujjar & Shiv Kumar )
both left the Company and are rumored to
have taken 16 and 40 laces as severance
package.
The stock touched its day's high of Rs
1117.55. At 09:30 am, shares of the company
were trading 2.4% higher at Rs 1102.25.
It was decided that two committees for
grievance redressal and Labor welfare. The
workers cases were to be evaluated
individually and disciplinary action decided. If
the charges were not serious, the
management agreed to take back the workers
with minimum penalty. A 'Grievance Redressal
Committee' was set up and it will have
representation from the management and
workers. A labour Office from Central was to
be a part of these proceedings.
18 JULY 2012- 22 AUGUST 2012
The months following the end of strike, there
were several small altercations reported
between Management- labour. However, No
one expected them to take the violent turn
they did on 18 July 2012. Jiya lal a
permanent worker had been suspended after
an altercation with floor supervisor. In after
noon, there was a meeting to decide on
reinstating him. By evening, the things turned
violent. In the rioting that followed, forty
managers including MSILs Japanese staff got
injured. Human resources manager Awanish
Kumar Dev died of burn injuries.
Maruti Management , Government , Worker
Unions , NGOs and the Public looked on in

horror at the chain of events. Maruti Plant

Closed off immediately until AUGUST 22
2012 where it re-opened amid Police Security.
Maruti suffered a loss of around Rs. 2,500
crore for 83,000 units.
Analysis Of The Discord- (Distillation of
learning):
An attempt in made to analyse a few aspects
of the discord and how they spiraled out of
hand. The objective is to try to understand
and analyse aspects of the case that are not
obvious at the face value but proved fatal to
the Industrial Relations at Maruti.
1. CONTRADICTIONS IN POLITICAL
LEGAL FRAME WORK:
Seven & Half Minutes BreakIn accordance with the law, Employee cannot
have less than 45minutes of rest period. So,
At Maruti, the Rest Period was divided into a
30 minute lunch break and two seven and a
half minutes tea breaks. To increase
productivity, strict adherence to these times
was insisted on. Every Inch of Maruti Factory
is covered by surveillance cameras. That made
it possible to monitor the workers. While,
these break times were compliance of law to
the T, it lacked the Human Relations
element.
On the Onset of the strike, several workers
mentioned these tea breaks .However, they
were never considered serious enough part of
discussions.
These Tea Breaks were constricting and
proved as major element in increasing the
antagonism between workers and supervisors.
While, the Unions influence the workers, they
can never be successful in developing Violence
to the extent witnessed at Manesar if the
relationship between the Management and
Workers was Humane. While discipline and
Adherence to timings is important in any
plant, one cannot lose sight of the fact that it
is management of people not machines.
Good Conduct Bonds:
During the second phase of the strikes, Maruti
fearing sabotage came up with Good Conduct
bonds. The workers were allowed to enter
the enter the Company premise only if the
signed the bond. This has been severely
criticized. Schedule 5 of the Industrial
Disputes Act 1947 [13] says that to insist

Conceptual Paper on Maruti- Manesar Labour Management Discord

upon individual workers who are on a legal strike

to sign a good conduct bond as a pre-condition to
allowing them to work is an unfair labour
practice.
Maruti Suzuki Management however justified
the bonds claiming them to be in compliance
with Standing Orders and that State
Government had approved the draft of the
Good Conduct Bond.
The contradictions of the polico-legal
framework can be seen here.
2. COMMUNICATION:
Workers complained that each time they
took a day off Rs. 2000 was deducted from
their salaries. This led to a lot of disgruntled
workers and seemed an unfair labour practice.
But on watching and analyzing the case closely
the following was observed:
As an incentive for hundred percent
attendance, amount around
thousand Rupees were credited to the
workers. This should have been a great
motivator .However. It turned into one of the
major cause of contention.
The worker if missing a single day of work,
would not get this amount. However, they
started perceiving it as injustice that this large
amount was deducted just for taking a days
leave.

Apprentices- These were taken on for a

period of three years (on wages less than
permanent staff) and who, at the end of these
three years, hopefully become permanent.
Trainees- These have alternating contracts
(with wages even lower than those of the
apprentices) during their studies, without any
guarantee of a job.
Temporary workers - These are employed in
the factory via another company and who do
either specific tasks (canteen, cleaning,
transport) or the least skilled jobs in
production. These companies often have
reserve workers by offering them work on a
day by day basis (often without a contract as
in construction, public works or warehouse
work) or for even shorter periods. Most of
the recruiters are known for their own
particular ways of controlling the workforce
which they put at the disposal of the big
companies.
While most of these workers do similar work,
the difference in their pay and perks in
immense. This leads to demands of pay parity.
All trade experts believe in Equal pay for
Equal Work. It needs to be applied for
peaceful Industrial Relations.
The Pay comparison between ExecutiveWorker salary has also been a topic of
discussion for a while. The exorbitant salaries
paid to the top executives may need to be re
visited and more equable wealth sharing
model needs to be approached.
4. ETHICS IN MANAGEMENT:
Maruti Strike took place in
phases:

Figure 1.1: Reward conversion into

Punishment
as
a
Result
of
Communication Failure
3. DISPARITY IN PAY
The working Contracts at Maruti:
Employment contracts :At Maruti Suzuki, like
elsewhere in India, there are several types of
employment contract:
Permanent staff These are mailing older
employees and skilled employees.

three

The Initial resistance Phase from thirteen days

strike in June. The matter settled by
arbitration from Haryana Government. The
Second longer Phase started in August and
continued through October. In the last week
of October, when the matter seemed to be
settled, the Government, management and
Share Holders took a collective sigh of relief.
However, the face of the Revolution Sonu
Gujjar seemed to have disappeared from the
scene. Rumor has it that he was paid 40 lacs
as severance pay and asked to resign.
However, this built an atmosphere of distrust
among Workers and their relationships at
floor level worsened. This led to the Final
15

Devyani mourya & Varsha Rokhade

violent consequence. Healthy Workermanagement Relationship can only foster in an

environment of trust and Transparency.
Perceived Psychological contract violation, a
term introduced in sixties has now seen
renewed interest. It defines Psychological
Contract as expectations about the
reciprocal obligation that compose employeeorganization exchange relationship. It is a
broad term which includes not only the
expectations held by an employee but also in
regard to how the Organization conducts
itself. A violation in this may lead to the
Employees feeling betrayed.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Maruti Manesar Strikes of 2011-12 taught us
the need to re-think our Human Relations
Management and bring back Human Relations
focus from Matrix and Graphs to the
Human Side of management. Management
Practices
are
culture
specific
and
Organisations adapt their Practices according
to the cultural norms. There are no one size
fit all solution for HR functions.
Communication is the key to healthy
relations. As we have seen in this case,
miscommunication caused incentive to turn
into punishment. If the relations between the
Supervisor and Workers are good, then no
amount of outside pressure can turn to
violence. So, there is a necessity to focus on
Individual Relations.
References
Ali, A. J., Lee, M., Hsieh, Y. C., & Krishnan, K.
(2005). Individualism and collectivism in
Taiwan. Cross Cultural Management: An
International Journal, 12(4): 316.
Blanchflower
D G. (2007). International
Patterns of Union Membership. British Journal
of Industrial Relations, Volume 45, Issue
1, pages 128.
Chamberlain, Neil W. & Schilling J. (1954).
The Impact of Strikes: Their Social and
Economic Costs. Pp. viii. 257. New York:
Harper. & Brothers, 1954.
Cooke, W. N. (1983). Determinants of the
outcomes of union certication elections.

Industrial and Labour Relations Review, 36: 402

414.
Deery S & Walsh J ( 1999). The Decline of
Collectivism? A Comparative Study of WhiteCollar Employees in Britain and Australia.
British Journal of Industrial Relations, Volume
pages 245269.
Duncan, G. J., & Stafford, F. P. (1980). Do
union members perceive compensation wage
differentials? American Economic Review, 70:
355371.
Farber, H. S. (1990). The decline of
unionization in the United States: What can
be learned from recent experience? Journal of
Labor Economics, 8(12): 75105.
Freeman, Richard B. and Medoff James L
(1979). The Two Faces of Unionism. The
Public Interest, Vol. 57, pp. 69-93.
Hofstede,
G.
(1994).
Culture
and
organizations: Software of the mind. London:
McGraw Hill.
How to Bridge The Gap Among workers
(2012, July 27th) The Economic Times,
How to Build Bridges After Labour Conflict
(2012, July 31st) The Economic Times, ,pp.8.
How Workers Went from Celebration to
Carnage (2012,July 26th) The Economic
Times,pp.4.
HR Execs Seek Labour Law Reforms
(2012,July 27th)The Economics Times, pp, 3.
HR: Nothing Human But Plain Resources
(2012, August 17th)The Economic Times
Inequality rising in India, shows Data on
spending (2012, August 2nd) The Times of
India.
Iverson R & Kuruvilla S. ( 1995). Antecedents
of union loyalty: The influence of individual
dispositions and organizational context, Journal
of Organizational Behavior Volume 16, Issue
6, pages 557582.
Manesar Violence May Dent Indias Image
(2012, July 25th) The Times of India,pp.21.
Maruti-strike-normalcy-may-be-restoredsoon-says-aituc_557967.html,
Retrieved
2011.20th
November
,
from

Conceptual Paper on Maruti- Manesar Labour Management Discord

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business
Maruti attempts to curtail union power in
Manesar,
Sunday
Guardian,
from
http://www.sundayguardian.com/investigation/maruti-attemptsto-curtail- union-power-in-manesar.
Newton, L. A., & Shore, L. M. (1992). A model
of union membership: Instrumentality,
commitment, and opposition. Academy of
Management Review, 17(2): 275298.
Sripada, C. (2012, July 24th ) Time to Refocus
the People function, The Economic Times,
pp.6.
Rise in Contact Labour Causing Unrest:
Centre (2012,July 26th)The Economic Times,
pp.6.
Reddy Y R K. (1993). International Trends,
Differentials and Economic Impact of Strike
Activity in the Eighties . Indian Journal of
Industrial Relations , Vol. 29, No. 1 , pp. 1-30
Zeytinoglu, I. U., Denton, M., Davies, S.,
Baumann, A., Blythe, J., & Boos, L. (2007).
Associations between work intensication,
stress and job satisfaction. The case of nurses
in Ontario. Relations Industrielles/Industrial
Relations, 62(2).
About the authors
Devyani Mourya is a UGC-NET qualified
Research Associate at MANIT, Bhopal. She has
earned her MHRM from MLSU, Udaipur and has
done FDP from IIM, Indore. Her area of interest
is Collectivism- Individualism and Industrial
Relations.
Dr. Varsha Rokhade is an Assistant Professor
at MANIT, Bhopal. Her area of interest is
Marketing Management. She can be reached at
deshpande.varsha@gmail.com.

17

June 06,2011

Exhibit 1. Chronological Study of the Case

Developments
Workers
One month before the coming On 3rd of June, eleven
union elections
leaders of the workers went
to Chandigarh to meet the
Labour Department to
complete the formalities
regarding registration of a
new union
A section of workers go on There is an old union under
strike .
the Maruti Suzuki Kamgar
Union, which is mainly
dominated by those working
at Maruti's Gurgaon plant.
Workers
Workers formed a new body
named
Maruti
Suzuki
Employees Union, mainly by
workers at the Manesar
plant
Workers stage protests and
Dharnas
Police rushed to spot. District
Labour Commissioner reaches
at 8:30 PM
Strike continues. Maruti shares
fell 1.7%

Jun 7 2011

Mr. JP Mann District Labour

commissioner ,arranges talks
between
labour
and
management

Date
June 03 2011

June 04 2011

June 05.2011

Jun 9 2011

Jun 10 2011

Management

Management does not

recognize the new union.
Management
representatives get in
talks with the workers

Management floats a
circular in the company
asking the workers to sign
that they were satisfied
with the present union .

Sacks 11 workers
says there is already an
elected union so no
question of other union.
600 out of 2000 work force Also, says can face
join the strike
production loss with ease.
It then transpired that the
proposed union, Maruti
Suzuki Employee Union,
wanted to have the freedom
to appoint a third of its 11
office bearers from outside.
Theoretically, this meant
that the Maruti Suzuki
Employee Union could
appoint
a
professional
politician as its head.

Over 1,000 workers from

different companies in the
Gurgaon-Manesar
industrial
belt have gathered outside at
the gate of Maruti Suzuki
India's (MSI) plant to stage a
'satyagraha' in support of the
ongoing strike.
Haryana government today
imposed a ban on the strike by
passing prohibitory orders. The
government has also referred
the matter of the employees'
strike to the local labour court AITUCs Gurgaon district
under the provisions of the secretary, Harjeet Grover Management
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
said stir will intensify
the move

welcomed

18

Conceptual Paper on Maruti- Manesar Labour Management Discord

Jun 12 th

Jun 14 2011

Strike continues . Union and

management meet along with
govt agencies
Other unions join in a solidarity
strike . Declare a 2 hours tools
down strike. Calls of the strike
on an appeal of Chief Minister
and the Labour Commissioner.

union refuses the offer..

The management has
agreed to reinstate five of
the 11 sacked workers.
However, we want all the
employees to be taken back.
Besides, the company has to
give us an assurance in
writing of not taking any
disciplinary action,
AiTUC meets the chief
minister. Says they want
dispute settled and will
advice workers to work
overtime once its resolved

Aug 28 2011

workers have conceded to

the managements demand
The dispute appears to be of
not
allowing
the
settled. Thirteen days strike formation of a second union
resulting in a loss of Rs630
in the company.
There were reports of the
union boycotting the union
One hour tools down strike
elections earlier

Aug 31st

Management claims sabotage

during production

Jun 17 2011

Sep1 2011
Sep 13 2011
Sep 14 2011

Sep 15 2011
Sep 17 2011

Sep 19 2011
Sep 21 2011

Maruti
Suzuki
management offered to
take back 5 of the 11
sacked workers,

MSI will reinstate all the

sacked 11 workers and
take a lenient approach
on enforcing no-work-nopay rule of eight days
salary cut for every single
day of the strike.
5
workmen
were
suspended for "allegedly
assaulting a supervisor
all the workers were
ordered to sign the good
conduct bond.

Members
of
various
employee unions, both
independent and allied, have
announced that they will
standoff between the workers hold a demonstration in Workers not allowed to
and management of Maruti front of the auto-makers enter
the
premises
Suzuki India Limited
Manesar plant
without signing the bond
Management is firm on'
Maruti hires more employees
good conduct bond'
Some other workers go on Management announces
Other workers go on strike
strike
new plant in Gujrat
Protests turn violent. Maruti
announces shut down of plant.
Maruti shuts down the
Minister Shiv Charan to Strikers use violence as they plant due to shortage of
intervene tomorrow
get desperate
engines
Shiv Charan Sharma meets
management and workers
separately
Plant reopens
Management agrees to
Workers insist that all 62 take back the workers
suspended workers to be against whom charges are
The standoff continues
taken back
not serious
Strike is taking toil on the
workers
19

Devyani mourya & Varsha Rokhade

Sep 28 2011
Oct 7,2011

Talks fail again

Strike ends

Maruti Suzuki India

today said it has started
the
second
shift
production at the second
unit inside the Manesar
facility