Injustice to the Working Class

The sessions court in Gurgaon announced on 18 March 2017 the quantum of sentence for 31 workers convicted by it on 10 March in the State of Haryana v Jiyalal and Others case. Thirteen union leaders were awarded life imprisonment, four others sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, and the remaining 14 had already served their sentences during the trial. The People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) strongly condemns not just the severity of punishment, but the conviction itself. The case was filed in connection with the incident of violence, setting the office on fire and unfortunate death of one human resources manager due to asphyxiation at the Manesar unit of Maruti Suzuki on 18 July 2012.

The workers of the plant in Manesar had to struggle hard for the constitutional right of forming a union. Ever since its formation in 2012, the Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union had been engaged in negotiations with the company management on various demands of the workers, including that of contract workers. On 18 July 2012, after an altercation between a supervisor and a worker, the latter was suspended. This happened when a meeting of the union members and the management regarding some pending issues was underway. Hearing about the illegality of suspension of the worker, the union demanded its revocation. The company had deployed many bouncers in the premises that day, and the police was also called in while the negotiations were still going on. Due to the flip-flop of the management on revoking the suspension and anti-worker attitude of the labour department officials present there, tension built up. In the melee that followed, some of the management personnel were injured (none seriously) and a number of workers were also injured. A fire broke out leading to the tragic death of a manager due to asphyxiation.