Tension is brewing at an automobile company in Manesar here over the past few weeks over the suspension of around 45 workers, who have accused the management of not carrying out the probe into their suspension with due process of law despite court orders and harassing them for forming a trade union.
Around 45 workers of Bellsonica Auto Component India Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer of automobile parts and components, were suspended by the management on October 10 last, the day the workers had got a trade union registered.
“The company suspended around 45 workers involved in the process of registration of the union without citing any reason. Usually, the suspended workers are handed over chargesheets within a week of suspension, but in this case, the chargesheets were issued more than three months after the suspension and that too following court intervention. It shows the malafide intention of the company,” said Monu Kuhar, a lawyer, who represents the workers at a civil court.
The Deputy Labour Commissioner, Circle-II, Gurgaon, had also in a report to the Labour Commissioner in November last said that the senior management officials of the company had not attended any meetings called in this connection and not produced any evidence in support of the charges against the suspended workers.
In the light of the report, the Labour Commissioner had said that “the action of the management in selectively suspending the members of the union and discouraging them amounts to unfair labour practice” and issued show-cause notices to the company and three senior officials, including plant manager Manoj Singh.
The workers, however, lament that no action has been taken against the management officials more than a month after the show-cause notices were issued.
The company had also filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking to quash the registration of the trade union, but the court dismissed the petition. The workers also allege that the company is not carrying out the probe into the suspension with due process of law.
“Despite the civil court order to hand over chargesheets to them and carry out an inquiry with due process of law, the company was not allowing the workers to be represented by the members of the union,” said Mr. Kuhar.
When contacted, the company’s assistant manager, human resource, Navneet Kumar, said that the company had put its version before the court and refused to comment further.
