Strike-crippled Maruti's Manesar plant rolls out 200 cars

The dispute between the workers and the management at the Manesar facility of Maruti Suzuki India Limited entered the eighth day on Monday, but the country's largest car-maker made a smart in-house movement that enabled it to roll out 200 vehicles.

MSIL deputed another 40 engineers from its Gurgaon plant to work at Manesar – also in Haryana. This takes the total strength of engineers at the facility now to 90.

A senior executive at the company said the two plants at Manesar (A and B) were integrated.

"The products made at the weld shop at the second plant are being sent for assembly at the first plant. Since the second plant is highly automated, with the same man-hours the output there would be 30-40 per cent higher.

"It would help us to ramp up production even amidst a shortage in manpower."

The company now has a workforce of 840 employees to kick off operations at the second plant at Manesar and ramp up production in the facility over the next few days.

This includes the 425 workers hired on contract basis, 90 engineers deputed from the Gurgaon plant and the 290 supervisors who working at MSIL's

Manesar plant. The second plant, set up at an investment of Rs 1700 crore (Rs 17 billion), is being commissioned a month ahead of schedule.

Between Wednesday and Saturday, a total of 435 cars were rolled out from the facility.

No negotiations have taken place between the workers and the management so far.

The All India Trade Union Congress said a junior representative from the company was sent to the labour commissioner's office on Monday.

"A senior person has been requested to be present for tripartite negotiations tomorrow," said its  secretary, D L Sachdeva.

The union maintained that its workers would not relent and sign the good conduct bond as has been insisted upon by the management.

Added Shiv Kumar of the proposed Maruti Suzuki Employees Union: "We stand by our demands. The management has to withdraw the bond, take back the suspended workers and recognise our independent union."

The workers at MSIL's Manesar facility have been receiving support from other unions in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt.

Nearly 3,000 workers belonging to 35 unions in the region had assembled in front of the Manesar plant last week to express their solidarity with the protesting workers.