 Hello and welcome to NewsClick. The standoff between the workers and management of Maruti's Manesa plant does not seem to be coming to an end. Today, we have with us Tapan Sen, General Secretary C2, to talk about the issue with us. Welcome to the show. Thank you. The industrial belt of Haryana, which starts from Gurgaon and goes till Dharuhera or beyond, actually has seen a lot of workers' agitation in the past one decade, be it in Maruti in 2000 or Honda in 2005 or many in 2009 and 10. And then today we have agitation in Maruti's Manesa plant. So what do you think is happening at the moment in this part of the country and why the workers are agitating at this rate? Actually, there are two parts of the thing. Generally throughout the country, the workers are on agitation because the general reason is that neoliberal economic policy model has become much more repressive on the workers, which is at the same time generating huge surplus for the employers, huge profit for the employers. But at the same time, it is suppressing the earnings of the workers, bringing it down to below subsistence level and also their other basic rights at the workplace, including safety and social security, those are being totally neglected and ignored. So generally, there is a feeling of serious deprivation among the mass of the workers. They see how the profit is multiplying even in the worst year of recession throughout the country. The profit is multiplying and they also see how despite speedily increasing the prices of essential commodities making their life much more difficult, their own earnings is going down in relative terms, finding their life, making their life difficult. So that is in general, there is a sense of serious deprivation among the workers and at the same time, that sense is also a reflection of their increased consciousness of their own important contribution in the whole economy. Without them, the economy cannot run even for a minute. That general agitational atmosphere, a great churning among the mass of the workers to unite and fight is creating a condition for all the trade union centers in the country. They are coming together on the same platform and Gurgaon is only one of them. So far as the Gurgaon issue is concerned, the additional reason for that kind of an agitation for say in a span of last one decade is that there is an additional factor that the whole governance is extremely repressive, management employers are extremely repressive in that area and that extremely repressive approach of the management is coming is further emboldened, indulged by a government which lost its basic sense of governing the system and establishing a rule of law. Similarly the whole entire government of Haryana is typical of becoming a practically a domestic employee of the employers of entire Haryana. If you particularly you talk about the Manisha plant and rather I will ask you, I will want you to recall it is Manisha now, some days before it is Riko, some days before again it was say Maruti Manisha, some days ago it was Honda and prior to that the original plant of Maruti all these developments happening that is taking place you must take note of that none of them are for any increase in wages or increase any financial rights demands of the workers none of them. All of them come from a very basic premise, the basic premise was same for all those happening it is only workers wanted to have a union of their choice, no demand and that arch from the worker that expectation from the worker is very much consistent with the constitutional provisions on the law of the land. The management wanted to impose its own pocket leadership on the workers, they preferred to have a union on their own yes for following the law of the land they applied for registration of the union and that itself only application for registration as invited dismissal as invited suspension and one after another the actions and that led to the stand-off. But Maruti management has been saying that its good conduct bond is within its right or also the refusal to accept union or any outside influence that is also novel example Maruti management is claiming that it is within their right to want a good conduct bond they are telling they are making the claim citing their the standing order certified standing order. Now as per the standing order act of the company the both workers and employers must agree on a standing order and then only it can be certified by the government. In the case of Maruti Sujuki the standing order was written by Maruti management or Sujuki management they have taken signature of some trainees who do not know that whether they are going to stay in Maruti they have just taken signature and they have that cannot be construed as workers have also agreed to the standing order. The standing order is totally anti-constitutional that standing order is having only their are 8 minor misconducts which includes chewing betel I can smoke cigarette somebody can chew betel but chewing betel they do not write even chewing betel and spitting inside the factory is a misconduct I understand that also they did not say chewing betel inside the company is a misconduct minor misconduct and the minor misconduct are 8 and major misconduct which warrants dismissal they are 113 I think you will not find a single standing order in the country single standing order in the country I am not talking about public sector leave it that even in private sector you will not find a single standing order which have 113 or 3 major punishment and 8 minor punishment you cannot have that kind of an imbalance cannot be allowed by the law that violates the basic spirit of the constitution that violates the standing order act itself but unfortunately the certifying authority the government of the state of Haryana serving at the kitchen of the Maruti Shijuki management I must say otherwise they cannot certify that. Maruti's profits have increased many fold after it has come to India and Gurgaon Manesar is specifically and they say is their operations profit everything is increased if you would like to elaborate a bit. The first plant of Maruti was established in the public sector it was sold to Shijuki and even that also it was more than a decade that time since then till today the huge surplus earned by Shijuki corporation speaks volume about the glorious contribution made by the Indian workers to the Japanese maintenance Shijuki companies total global sales that is what is Shijuki selling outside Japan 62% was from Indian soil that is 62% of that have been produced by Indian workers during the span of last 10 years the Shijuki's profit on Indian soil has increased by 2200% 2200% their sales has increased by 400% only sale of Indian car so this is the contribution of the Indian workers and what is their percentage in the share and what they are getting continuously they are share in the total wage generation has declined to less than half it is now hardly 1.95% which is around 3% 10 years back which is around 3% 10 years back it is now 1.95% and that to a total figure if you take out the expenditure towards the wages of officers and senior executives including board of directors you take it out their share will go well below 1% another aspect need to be pointed out here the kind of criminality that has been indulged in Shijuki management that should be taken as criminality because all these things they are trying to do on a particular premise the second time player apart that there is sabotage there is quality now who are producing around 950 regular workers around 1200 plus contract workers around 400 trainees and another 400 apprentice trainees the regular workers are getting anywhere between 15000 along with their incentive payment not a regular payment 8000 wages and another 6-7000 these workers are the training would contract workers are getting less than half of that around 6-7000 doing such skilled job and contributing to 2200% rise in profit they are getting 1200 contract workers doing the same job as a regular workers are getting even half of that and the precarious condition is of the management those trainees and apprentice trainees they are not paid even the minimum wage of their land because they are training so and they are utilized in production day in and day out and they work as much as the of the dismissals and suspension many trainees are also there dismissals and suspension many trainees are also there now if these would be the composition of the workforce whom do you found responsible for sabotaging or quality you tell me a lot of people are actually criticizing the central trade unions for having sabotage the movement otherwise one which the 13 days strike which happened in June and now also where do you think the trade union movement as a whole in this time you see this is a novel example Maruti's case and all in that matter I must say the entire Gurgaus case is a typical is a special feature of its own all those unions where this bottlenecks I mean a fight where all those employees and their union they wanted to form all are independent unions they don't belong to any central trade unions central trade unions went around them to render all support and help to them the central trade union work to organize solidarity for them they never negotiated the statement that is being made by some overgillers adventurous elements again that's the danger of our movement those who are making that kind of aggressive advantage even that political stream they represent their trade unions are very much actively with us in organizing the support for the Manesar workers there there with us they signed a joint statement with us they are holding joint demonstration with us holding joint convention with us they also know that they are not in the negotiation with the authority they are working as a pressure group from outside because fact of the life is that those workers does not belong to any central trade unions they ask for help we help them out we try to guide them that you have to apply registration like these have to do like that if you do like that you have to do we will help them out but they are holding their own things it is they who are deciding when to go to what to do what so the minimum bottleneck they have taken that you withdraw all the vindictive measures and you can't impose that union on us and based on that that 13 days that agitation was concluded thank you we hope that the law of the land prevails in Suzuki land of today thank you so much