13 of the Falsely Implicated Maruti Workers condemned for Life, Shorter Terms for 18 Others
- Rajesh Tyagi/ 20.3.2017
Out of the 31 Maruti-Suzuki workers, convicted last week by the Sessions Court at Gurgaon, Haryana, for various offences from rioting to murder, 13 have been condemned for life, 4 for 5 year and rest 14 for 3 years jail terms.
The 148 workers were charged for the offences in 2012 after a management provoked tussle between the workers and the managers inside the Maruti-Suzuki plant in Manesar on July 18 had entailed a fire in which part of the plant was gutted and the HR Manager of the company, Avanish Kumar Dev, got charred to death.
The workers had been agitating since a year for improvement in the sweatshop working conditions inside the Manesar plant, after sidelining a pro-management stooge union. Since then, the struggle of Maruti workers had become the spearhead of a broader workers’ struggle in the Manesar-Dharuhera Industrial belt that is manufacturing hub for major automakers. This struggle was emerging as a challenge not only to the multinational automaker giants but also to the trade unions whose job is to keep the workers under check and harness them to the vital needs of the industry and profits.
The 148 workers were charged for the offences in 2012 after a management provoked tussle between the workers and the managers inside the Maruti-Suzuki plant in Manesar on July 18 had entailed a fire in which part of the plant was gutted and the HR Manager of the company, Avanish Kumar Dev, got charred to death.
The workers had been agitating since a year for improvement in the sweatshop working conditions inside the Manesar plant, after sidelining a pro-management stooge union. Since then, the struggle of Maruti workers had become the spearhead of a broader workers’ struggle in the Manesar-Dharuhera Industrial belt that is manufacturing hub for major automakers. This struggle was emerging as a challenge not only to the multinational automaker giants but also to the trade unions whose job is to keep the workers under check and harness them to the vital needs of the industry and profits.
