Support the just struggle of the workers of Maruti Suzuki!

An attack on one is an attack on all!

Statement of the Delhi Regional Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, September 19, 2011

This is a decisive struggle which will have bearing on workers rights all over the country. Because the workers are fighting for the right to organize themselves into a union of their choice, a union that will defend their interests..

An attack on one is an attack on all!

Statement of the Delhi Regional Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, September 19, 2011

Dear comrades,

Thousands of workers of the Manesar Plant of Maruti Suzuki are protesting against the illegal lockout declared by the management since August 29, 2011.

These workers are fighting for a right guaranteed by law, which is being openly flouted by the management and the Haryana government. It is the right to form a union of their choice, without being victimized for doing so. The Congress Party government led by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is openly working under the direction of the Japanese multinational. Its police forces in Gurgaon-Manesar are leaving no stone unturned to crush the workers struggle. 62 workers have been suspended or terminated. On September 18, three leaders 1 Sonu Gujjar, Shiv Kumr and Arvind Kumar, were arrested and put in police lock up on trumped up charges. The developments of the past 4 months confirm this.

The 3000 workers of the Manesar plant applied to register their union at the Chandigarh labour office in May, 2011. The labour department consulted with the Chief Minister and the management of Maruti Suzuki as to how to put spokes in this registration. The management suspended or terminated all the leaders of the proposed union. The workers went on an unprecedented strike in June 2011 for 13 days without food and water, inside the premises of Maruti, to prevent a lockout. Tens of thousands of workers from over 50 companies in the Gurgaon Manesar belt supported their struggle by protests at the gates. Faced with this situation, the management beat a temporary retreat. Immediately following this, the management began to hatch new plots to attack the workers.

It organized a fraudulent elections to a management sponsored union. The workers boycotted these elections.  The management then instructed the Labour department in Chandigarh through the Chief Minister to ensure that the application for registration of the union was rejected. Simultaneously, the management filed false charge sheets against the leaders and issued suspension/termination notices. It imposed an illegal lock out on August 29, 2011. This illegal lockout has the full backing of the Hooda government.

Dear comrades

Since that day, 3000 workers are carrying on a militant struggle, protesting at the gates of the plant. Neither the burning sun, nor pouring rain has dampened their spirits. They are drawing energy and inspiration from the massive support they have received from workers of all the other factories of the area. There have been massive rallies and marches. Workers in other plants have organised work stoppages in solidarity. A committee of activists of trade unions of workers, cutting across party lines and industry, is coordinating solidarity actions.

The struggle of the Manesar workers is now at a decisive stage.

On the one side, the workers of the belt – lakhs of them — are fighting in defense of their rights.

On the other side, the Central and state government, the capitalist class as a whole is trying to crush this struggle.

Why?

Because this is a decisive struggle which will have bearing on workers rights all over the country. Because the workers are fighting for the right to organize themselves into a union of their choice, a union that will defend their interests.

The government and the capitalists are saying — we need foreign investment. The only way to ensure this is by exploiting workers to the bone. The Central and state governments cutting across party lines are repeating this anti worker line.

Suzuki Director Osama announced during this illegal lockout that he was planning to set up new plants in any state where the government was willing to accept his conditions.

According to reports, the governments of Tamilnadu, Gujarat and Haryana are engaged in fierce competition with one another, as to which of them would provide the best deal to the Suzuki management.  The Haryana Chief Minister met the owner of the Japanese multinational and promised him land and every other facility the company wanted to set up new plants in different regions of the state.

What do these facts show?

That today, the Indian monopolies like the Tatas and Ambanis, and the foreign monopolies like Suzuki control the Indian state. That these monopolies want to superexploit our land, our labour, and our natural resources to the maximum possible to make maximum profits. And that the Central and state governments will assist them fully in violating all the labour laws and attacking the rights of workers.

Comrade workers

The battle that is going on in Maruti is a battle for the entire working class of our country. The times demand that we inflict defeat on the capitalists and their governments.

The Communist Ghadar Party of India calls upon the working class of our country, as well as workers worldwide, to recognize the significance of the ongoing struggle in Manesar and organize solidarity programs wherever they can.