Click to play videoManesar: Sushil Kumar, 28, has been working with Maruti for the last 5 years. Its been difficult he admits, claiming that working conditions are not the best and salaries are deducted even for earned leave. Which is why, they had no option but to protest.
Kumar said, "Maruti Worker Permanent workers get Rs 16,000 but if attendance is short we get just Rs 9000. Even if we take one day off in a month they cut Rs 2000."
At Maruti's Manesar plant, a permanent employee earns about Rs 18,000 while a contract labour is paid just about Rs 5000. But wage disparity isn't the only issue. The 2000 odd workers also allege that in a race to meet piling demands, Maruti is pushing them too hard.
One of the workers Ramveer said, "We get a tea break for seven minutes. Seven minutes is too short because we are expected to attend personal needs and get back to our work station."
Maruti claims their HR practises are best in the industry but statistics tell a different story. Maruti's Manesar plant produces six lakh cars while its capacity is five lakhs. But is this solely a Maruti issue? Remember, in 2005 Honda's two wheeler arm witnessed a violent battle.
Auto India Expert Murad Ali Baig said, "This is not a car industry problem. It is not even a Maruti problem. It is very much a problem of rival unionism in a newly industrialised area where people have not got into industrial mindset."
Experts says the current crisis at Maruti is a deadly cocktail of labour militancy combined with rising aspirations of the working class and politics inter mingling.
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