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Tension has gripped Bellsonica Auto Component India (BACI), a tier-I supplier to auto major Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), in Manesar, over a dispute between the workers’ union and the management following a probe into the allegations of fake documents being submitted by some permanent workers at the facility at the time of their appointment.
According to the official communication between senior officials of the Labour Department, accessed by The Hindu, “considering the ground situation and hardened stances of both sides there is a very high probability that a serious law and order issue or stoppage of work [strike] may arise in very near future at BACI. Any manufacturing stoppage at the BACI has the potential to stop the lines at MSIL.”
The trouble began on March 1, when the workers’ union announced a six-hour strike accusing the management of hatching a conspiracy to lay off permanent employees in the guise of a probe into their documents.
“The company had terminated three permanent employees last year for short attendance and issued show-cause notices to 30 more alleging that the documents submitted by them at the time of their hiring were fake. It is an attempt to lay off permanent employees,” said workers’ union general secretary Ajit Singh, suspended earlier this month on charges of indiscipline.
Mr. Singh also alleged that the management had deployed bouncers inside the facility and was not adhering to the Labour Department’s appeal for a status quo during the conciliation process. Two more office-bearers of the union — president Mohinder Kapoor and secretary Sunil Kumar — have also been suspended on similar grounds.
The relations between the union and the management were also strained over the grant of permanent union membership to a contractual worker last year. The union faces a deregistration threat over the matter, with the Haryana Labour Commission issuing a show-cause notice in January under Section 10 of the Trade Unions Act, 1926.
Trying to resolve the situation
Despite the intervention of the Labour Department and several rounds of meetings, the matter is not yet resolved. “The matter about the probe into fake documents is outside the ambit of the Labour Department, but we still intervened when the workers protested to resolve the matter amicably. In view of the possible law and order situation, a meeting was scheduled with the Additional Deputy Commissioner for March 24. But it has now been rescheduled for March 27. We hope to find a solution soon,” said Assistant Labour Commissioner, Gurugram, G.D. Kadiyan.
Amid the growing tension, the workers boycotted the lunch on the company premises on Wednesday. They plan to hold a day-long hunger strike outside the mini-secretariat on March 26.
The workers’ families had staged a demonstration outside the mini-secretariat on March 21 and submitted a memorandum of their demands to the office of the Deputy Commissioner.
Inquilabi Mazdoor Kendra, Gurugram in-charge Shyambir Shukla said the probe into alleged fake documents was a conspiracy to lay off permanent employees and that two more automotive companies had initiated similar probes, indicating that it was just a ploy to reduce the strength of the permanent workforce. He said that the situation in Bellsonica was similar to that of the MSIL when the violence broke out there in July 2012.
Bellsonica’s Human Resource Department vice-president M.N. Sahu did not respond to repeated calls and text messages seeking his response.
