Close to 7,000 workers at three factories of two different companies of Suzuki went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday afternoon in solidarity with their protesting colleagues at Maruti Suzuki India's (MSI) Manesar plant.

Workers of Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd, located in the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt, declared a strike at 3-45 p.m on Wednesday. Workers from Suzuki Castings — a part of Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd — affiliated to the Suzuki Powertrain India Employees' Union also joined the strike.

Suzuki Powertrain employs over 3,000 workers at its Manesar plant, where it manufactures diesel engines and transmissions for supply to MSI. Suzuki Castings has nearly 1,000 workers. Suzuki Motorcycles India has 2,000 workers at its plant near Manesar.

The President of the Suzuki Motorcycle India Workers' Union, Mr Anil Kumar, said they want an early settlement to the stand-off between the MSI management and workers at the Manesar plant that began on August 29. They also sought the regularisation of casual workers who have worked for more than four years and increments.

The Haryana Labour Department said that MSI workers were being adamant in not joining their duties despite the Department's best efforts to resolve the issue. “There is nothing illegal about the ‘good conduct bond' as it is nothing but a certified code of conduct of the company. It is their internal affair. At best, we can mediate and try settling the issue while insuring that the company does not violate the labour laws of the land,” Haryana Labour Secretary, Mr Sarban Singh, told Business Line.

Mr D.L. Sachdev, General Secretary, AITUC, said: Department. “The stand of the Maruti Suzuki management of forcing the workers to sign a ‘good conduct bond' is unjustified since the workers are already governed by the Standing Orders, which are stringent enough. The Labour Commissioner should not have openly sided with the management. Instead, should have tried to settle the issue impartially,” he said.

MSI said it would not engage with the protesting workers unless they signed the bond. “A total of 116 workers have signed the bond,” a company spokesperson said. The company produced 525 units of Swift on Wednesday from Manesar and Gurgaon.

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