Several hundreds workers belonging to different automobile sector workers' unions held a day-long hunger strike outside mini secretariat here on Sunday demanding reinstatement of over 150 workers of Bellsonica Auto Component India Private Limited.
The company in question had suspended the 40 workers in October 2014, the day they formed a union and later dismissed them in February last year for alleged misbehaviour and loss of production. Ninety more workers were also dismissed later.
Since the dismissed 40 workers had submitted a demand notice to the company and therefore, the company was required to take approval of the competent authority, Additional Labour Commissioner in this case, for their dismissal. However, the approval application of the company was rejected by the Additional Labour Commissioner in his order on November 10 last, saying that the company had failed to comply with the provisions of Section 33 (2) (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 which are mandatory for the approval of the dismissal and the failure to comply with any provision would by itself amount to the order of dismissal being void and inoperative. “Later these workers got a favourable order at the High Court as well. But the company refused to take back these workers and pay their outstanding dues running into several lakhs. It is a weird situation where the workers are suffering even after having won the case legally. It is leading to frustration and resentment among them,” said Bellsonica Auto Component India Employees Union president Atul Kumar.
Besides Bellsonica workers' union, the workers of various other unions including Maruti, MotoCorp, Auto International, Honda and Delhi University professor Saroj Giri also took part in the eight-hour-long hunger strike starting at 9 a.m.
A delegation of union leaders later submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner seeking reinstatement of dismissed workers.
Mr. Kumar said that they had been agitating for more than 600 days but the administration was not ready to heed their genuine demands. He said that the workers would be forced to launch a massive agitation if their demands were not met at the earliest.
They were demanding reinstatement of over 150 workers of Bellsonica Auto Component India Private Limited
