‘Mazdoor Sabha’ in Manesar: Terminated Maruti Workers Demand Reinstatement and Justice

Maruti Suzuki factory workers, who have been continuing their struggle for justice since 2012, have organized a dharna (sit-in) at Manesar Tehsil. 

After militant struggle by permanent-contract-trainee workers and 3 successive strikes in 2011, two of which culminated in factory occupation by the workers, the Maruti Suzuki management was forced to recognize the workers union. The newly formed union called for the abolition of the contract system inside the plant, as the first demand in their Charter of Demands. 

A conspiracy by the management to destroy the union resulted in a clash between management-hired goons and the workers inside Maruti Manesar plant on 18 July 2018, resulting in an unfortunate death of an HR manager due to asphyxiation as the plant caught fire. The then chairman of Maruti Suzuki, RC Bhargava, described the incident as an act of ‘class war’. This was followed by an unprecedented repression from the state machinery, police-administration-judiciary, and the company management.

More than 2500 workers, including 546 permanent workers, lost their jobs without any enquiry while 147 workers were jailed. The police presence on the production line increased and the struggling workers were portrayed by the management, ruling parties and big media, as ‘murderers’ and ‘criminals’.

However, the struggle of Maruti workers amidst these odds was historic, and it inspired workers in India and beyond and received support from across the country. The struggling Maruti workers reinstated the union inside the plant in 2014, fought the criminal and labour cases in courts and continued their struggle demanding jobs and dropping of false criminal cases and justice.

The Special Investigation Team constituted by Haryana government and the trial process in Sessions Court could not find any evidence against the overwhelming majority of the terminated workers (419 among 546 permanent workers). The 117 jailed workers were released after five years in jail due to lack of any kind of evidence against them. Others were given punishments of different degrees, and 13 worker leaders, including 12 union representatives, were given life imprisonment based on the fabricated accusations provided by the management in 2017. Due to this, protests erupted in dozens of factories in Manesar, in different parts of India and abroad against this punishment and criminalization of the working-class movement.

Terminated Maruti workers, with the help from the union in the plant, were successful in getting all prisoners released on bail by 2022, and then intensified their struggle to get the jobs back, holding a series of protest meetings and rallies in Gurgaon.

The indefinite dharna in Manesar began from 18 September 2024 with the organization of a ‘Mazdoor Sabha’ at the dharna site. Nearly 300 terminated workers from different parts of Haryana and other districts along with their family members took part in the protest program.

On the day of the sit-in, different workers organizations and unions from Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) and Haryana joined the struggling Maruti workers in solidarity. Comrades Khushiram and Satish conducted the meeting on behalf of the Maruti Suzuki Struggle Committee, the workers’ committee leading the present action for reinstatement and justice. Comrade Katar Singh detailed the events of the ongoing struggle on behalf of the Struggle Committee. 

Comrade Amit Nain, who spent 5 years in jail after the 2012 incident, spoke about the struggle along with Manmohan from Daikin union and Ajit from Bellsonica union expressing solidarity with the struggling Maruti workers. Many other union leaders, student leaders and other representatives of the workers’s families addressed the assembly. The speakers detailed the relentless struggle of Maruti workers since 2012, the importance of the present struggle and the ongoing dharna at Manesar amidst the ongoing settlement process between the three unions of Maruti Suzuki and the company management, and the challenges and the tasks ahead.

The present struggle of Maruti Manesar workers have forced the labour department and the government to open a dialogue and call tripartite meetings. On September 30, in Chandigarh, the capital of Haryana, the Labour Commissioner convened a meeting which remained inconclusive due to the unbending attitude of Maruti management. 

The workers have declared to intensify their protests in the coming days and to start a hunger strike from 10 October 2024. The struggle will go on till justice is won!

Press Release
Maruti Suzuki Struggle Committee (Maruti Suzuki Workers Union)