After Honda, Miffed Workers Occupy Factory in Binola

In a move that can be seen as taking inspiration from the ongoing stir at Honda, workers of Shivam Auto Tech Limited (SATL) have now occupied their factory premises. Pressing for their demands, the permanent staff on January 7 staged an indefinite sit-in inside the Auto Tech’s plant situated in Haryana’s Binola Industrial Area.

The protest of the workers started inside the plant after the management, in a failed attempt, allegedly tried to “lockout” the factory for the permanent workers, NewsClick has learnt. Around 150 of them are currently demonstrating inside the facility, who are joined by another 250 permanent workers staging a dharna outside the factory gates.

As a result, production has been stopped since four days in Binola’s plant of one of the largest manufacturers of transmission gears and shafts in India.

The stand-off at the facility, which employs around 400 permanent workers and 800 contract workers, is over alleged non-implementation of a wage settlement agreement by the company. “The management has behaved in bad faith by delaying implementation of the agreement and refusing to settle labour grievances,” SATL Employees Union President Rakesh Berwa told NewsClick.

Rakesh informed NewsClick that a three-year wage settlement was signed, in a tripartite meeting, by the Auto Tech’s management on September 14 last year. The settlement was pending since May 2018.

However, four months down the line, the demands of the staff have still not been met. “In the name of economic crisis, the management has refused to effect the increment in wages of the workers,” Rakesh said. “Last year, even our Diwali bonuses were cut to almost half.”

The ire among the workers increased when the management resorted to coming after the members of the employee’s union, added Rakesh.

“Last year, factory gates in Binola got closed for as many as 18 workers. Three were suspended and others, including the president and general secretary of the union, were transferred,” said Rakesh, adding that many of them, including him, after serving for 15 years in Binola’s facility were now transferred to other Auto Tech’s plant situated as far as in Karnataka.

In protest of the “ill-intentioned” decision of the management, Rakesh, along with 17 other workers, have been demonstrating since over a month outside Gurugram’s Mini Secretariat, hoping intervention of the labour authorities into the matter.

Escalating tensions among the staff, the management allegedly attempted a factory lockout on January 7 after denying entry to the Shift-B workers. “The company was looking to close the factory gates for permanent staff and keep the assembly lines moving by employing only contract workers,” Rakesh told NewsClick.

The protest by the Auto Tech workers now witness workers demonstrating round the clock, everyday outside and inside the plant premises. Food and sleeping arrangements have been made at the site of the protest itself. “It is a do or die situation for us. We won’t let the management to resume production before implementing our demands,” Rakesh said.

Image of permanent staff of Shivam Auto Tech who are striking work since January 7.

A similar protest was also staged in the month of November last year by the contractual workers of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI). The staff occupied HMSI’s Manesar plant premises for 14 days protesting against “illegal retrenchments”.

Sham Murti of Automobile Industry Contract Workers’ Union (AICWU), a worker’s front active in Haryana’s industrial belts, sees this as part of worker’s resistance to the brunts of the economic crisis. “The workers are not striking to halt the production, but to engage in production with dignity and just pay,” he said.

NewsClick also spoke to the Human Resource Head at Auto Tech’s Binola plant Anshuman Sharma. Rejecting economic crisis as a reason behind the labour stir, he blamed the workers for not achieving the production targets.

“After signing the wage settlement in September, production targets have not been achieved even on a single working day. As a result, the financial position of the company has become tight,” Sharma said.

On transferring the union members to other plants, he said “it is a right of the employer to transfer the workers as per the labour requirement”.

Sharma further called the strike of the workers “illegal” and hinted at “shutdown” of the Binola plant in case the standoff is not resolved.