Tapan Sen on Maruti Suzuki’s Mass

Tapan Sen on Maruti Suzuki’s Mass 

Termination of workers

RESPONDING to CITU general secretary Tapan Sen’s letter, union labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge sought clarification from Haryana government on mass dismissal of workers of Maruti Suzuki plant at Manesar. In their reply of 19 November, Haryana government made two ‘gems’ of notation on industrial relation that, “Government has no power to prevent the management from terminating the services of the workmen” and that, “No workman disputed their termination by way of a demand notice”. Kharge forwarded Haryana government’s letter to Tapan Sen.

Reacting to such blatant anti-labour position and misleading statement of Haryana government, in his letter to union labour minister on 3 January, Tapan Sen contested the position of Haryana government and pointed out that 546 out of total around 800 or 68% of permanent workers and all 1200 contract workers of the plant were removed from jobs en masse by the management of Maruti Suzuki. And yet the Government of Haryana says that they had ‘no power’ to prevent.

Openly violating the laws of the land and the rules of natural justice, the management of this foreign company, with complicity of Haryana government, did neither issue charge-sheet nor held domestic enquiry giving fair opportunity to the employees to defend themselves; and removed them from the jobs en masse and yet accuses the workers of grave misconduct, Tapan Sen’s letter pointed out.

Such mass termination of service amounts to retrenchment for which prior notice and approval from the state government were required. Management ignored these legal provisions.

It is absurd that Haryana government is wrongly treating such mass dismissals from service as individual termination simpliciter and, therefore, raised the point that no workman raised any industrial dispute against his termination of service! Though, after such mass dismissals, industrial disputes were raised collectively by the workers and their union in Maruti Suzuki through their memorandum to the chief minister, state labour minister, state labour department and the district commissioner of Gurgaon.