Maruti sacks 15 workers, suspends 10 others

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Cracking the whip, Maruti Suzuki India on Sunday dismissed 10 workers, terminated five trainees and suspended 10 employees in connection 'with the strike and violence at the Manesar factory premises'.

In a statement, the company said the strike by the workers and the violence thereafter violated the agreement signed by the workers with the company management on October 1 in the presence of the Haryana government officials.

"The company has dismissed 10 employees, suspended 10 others and terminated the training of five trainees in connection with the strike and violence at the Manesar factory premises," the statement said.

MSI said it continues to be concerned about the safety of people as well as the plant and machinery and on Sunday the company 'rescued' another 100 workers who were being 'held under duress' by the striking workers in the factory.

"These 100 workers were rescued with the help of police. On Saturday, the company had similarly rescued 355 workers with the help of the police. Many of these workers had been beaten up by the striking workers," it claimed.

"With the rescue of about 450 people, the number of striking workers in the factory premises has come down to around 1500. About 170 regular workers have stayed away from the strike from the start," the company said.

MSI said in a meeting convened by the labour department on Manesar issue, its management pointed out that the striking workers have violated the agreement signed on October 1 in the presence of Haryana government.

The company sought action against the striking workers from the labour department and the Haryana government, the company said.

As per the agreement, the workers had agreed to sign the good conduct bond laid down by the management. Further, while the company had agreed to reinstate 18 trainees, 44 regular employees were to be suspended.

Workers at the Manesar plant went on stay-in strike on Friday afternoon affecting production. The total number of workers who went on the stay-in strike inside the Manesar plant was around 2,000. This included all categories like regular, contractual, apprentices and trainees.

The plant produces about 1,200 units on an average in a normal working day, including models such as Swift, SX4 and the A-Star.

The company alleged that the striking workers attacked co-workers, supervisors and executives in multiple incidents of violence and damaged factory property inside the Manesar plant since they began the stay-in strike on Friday evening.

The workers, however, denied any such acts. They have gone on strike demanding that casual workers and another 44 permanent employees who were suspended during the 33-day-long standoff that ended on October 1, should be reinstated.

In a related event on Sunday morning, Gurgaon police had filed a case regarding a firing incident at the plant of Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL), where workers are on strike in support of agitating colleagues at Maruti Suzuki India's Manesar factory.

SMIPL workers claimed they were intimidated by a person, Satish Kumar, who belongs to the family of their contractor, Tirupati Associates.

Proprietor of the company Rakesh Kumar said his brother had fired in self defence after the workers tried to manhandle him.