In a first-of-its-kind initiative to bridge the divide between contractual and regular workers in Gurugram’s automotive sector Bellsonica Auto Components Employees Union on Thursday granted membership to the company’s contractual workers.
Around 70 contractual workers were formally inducted into the union with the handing over of membership slips at the culmination of the day-long hunger strike by the company’s workers against the four labour codes recently enforced, replacing the 44 labour laws and the long pending Charter of Demands (COD), among others.
Around 900 workers, supported by the automotive company unions, including Maruti, Satyam, Munjal, Suzuki and FMI, observed hunger strike outside the mini-secretariat. Satvir Singh, vice-president of Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Haryana unit, was also present.
Need to unite
The union’s vice-president Ajit Singh said that workers need to unite against the attacks of the ruling class and their decision to induct contractual workers into the union fold would lend more strength to their movement in this region.
He said the capitalists had divided the workers into regular and contractual to break their unity and exploit them. Mr. Singh said that COD of the Bellsonica workers was pending for more than 20 months now and the company management was using COVID-19 as a pretext to deny them their rightful share. He added that the union, among other things, had demanded that the strength of regular workers be increased.
Labour rights’ activist and lawyer Monu Kuhar said that legally contractual workers could be part of the union.
Seeking release of lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj and poet activist Varavara Rao, the association’s general secretary Jasbir said the duo and other activists were considered a threat by the government since they raised questions over the working of the government and spoke for the poor and the workers.
