Further split in Maruti Union, 3 executive members resign

With nearly a quarter of Maruti’s 4,500 unionised staff now back inside the factory gates, workers no longer seem convinced about the agitation resorted to by their slogan-shouting leaders. So, what started as a trickle back to the shop floor barely a week ago, now portends to gather a momentum under the banner: back to work.

At Gate No. 3, on the Delhi-Jaipur highway you are invited for a factory tour by the management. MUL officials and strike-breaking employees say nearly 300 protestors have returned to work in the last three days alone, and a similar number will join back over the next few days. Joginder Malik, a shopfloor worker who joined back two days ago, said,“These Union leaders are just playing dirty politics. They have been making all efforts to close down the factory. Sitting out there we ourselves did not know what our demands were.”

Much of the eagerness on part of the employees to get back to work has been forced by concerns of managing home and heath. Several of them have already missed out on their pay packets this past Diwali season.

“We have to pay our children’s school fees and take care of the needs of our family. How do we do that without getting our pay?” lamented Rajender Singh, a worker on the welding machine. The threat of new recruitments against absentee employees also forced several workers to weigh their options. Maruti recently put out newspaper ads inviting applications without specifiying the vacancies. The threat of permanent job loss to newcomers weighed heavily on the workers.

However, some among the strike breakers still plan to take up their demands with the management even after resuming work. “We will take it up with the management and discuss with them. But we will not disrupt work," said one such worker.

With the workers beginning to return, according to MUL managing director Jagdish Khattar, the company should be able to produce 1,125 cars today, and 1,200 tomorrow — still down from the 1,500 or so before the month-old strike, but a big improvement from the 200-odd during the first few days of the strike.

The union, for its part, rubbishes these claims, and says that only around 150-200 cars are being produced daily — the boards which displayed the number of cars produced over each assembly line at any point in time, however, bear out Khattar’s claim. Still keen to prove their point, union officials add: “the management is trying to build up despatch numbers and are despatching substandard products from the factory. We are now trying to strengthen our agitation by going to all the dealers to educate the customers about the malpractices in Maruti,” MUEU Secretary General Mathew Abraham said.