Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) on Monday decided to stop production at its Manesar (Gurgaon) plant till all the 950-odd regular workers sign a ‘good conduct' bond in view quality issues in production. On Monday, as many as 22 workers signed the bond, but it seems that the country's largest carmaker might face yet another round of labour unrest.
“There was no production on Monday because the workers were not allowed to enter the facility as they have refused to sign the bond. The management is firm to get all workers sign the bond...if needed, fresh workers could be hired to resume production. And if this issue prolongs, we might look for alternative options to start production,” a company spokesperson said. MSIL manufactures 1,200 units a day at Manesar. MSIL officials said they had been facing serious production issues, including meeting targets and quality control in the past few weeks. On August 24, 1,230 cars were planned to be produced, but only 437 units were assembled. Out of which, just 96 cars could pass quality check. “The situation has reached to a stage where it was directly harming customers' interest and trust. The management cannot allow workers sabotage production,” said a senior MSIL official. Heavy security has been deployed at the plant. Since the unrest began in June, MSIL has so far suspended 18 workers and dismissed five.
The workers, however, alleged that the management was taking the steps to take revenge for going into a 13-day strike in June this year demanding recognition of a new union — Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU) — at the plant that has a total of about 2,500 workers, of which 950 are regular employees. Workers' leader Shiv Kumar said the management was forcing them to sign an undertaking following rejection of their application to form a union at the plant by the Haryana government.
