The Haryana Labour and Employment Minister, Mr Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, has expressed disappointment with the striking workers at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant for violating the agreement signed with MSIL.

“I condemn workers action. They should have respected the terms of the agreement. However, I am hopeful that that the impasse will end by Sunday,” Mr Sharma told Business Line .

Asked about the employees' demand of taking back casual workers, he said casual workers would be absorbed as soon as work operations at the plant normalise.

On October 1, MSIL workers at the Manesar plant agreed to sign an agreement with the management ending over a month of deadlock that began on August 29.

According to the agreement, MSI agreed to reinstate 18 suspended trainees but refused to take back 44 regular employees who remained under suspension.

The workers, in turn, signed the ‘good conduct bond,' which required them to declare that they would “not resort to go slow, intermittent stoppage of work, stay-in-strike, work-to-rule, sabotage or otherwise indulge in any activity, which would hamper the normal production in the factory.”

A team of Haryana Labour department on Friday met the workers at the Manesar plant and assured them that the remaining casual labourers would be absorbed by October 14 in a phased manner.

Close to 2,000 workers at the Manesar plant and 6,000 workers from different factories of the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt (including Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd, Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd ), went on a sit-in-strike yesterday, demanding that their colleagues, both permanent and contract, left out, be reinstated.

Meanwhile a company official close to development said the labour unrest at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant is degenerating into a law and order problem, with workers indulging in violence, attacking co-workers and supervisors and damaging property inside the factory premises.

“On Saturday, the company was able to rescue as many as 355 contractual workers who were badly beaten up by the striking workers,” he said.

The workers, however, denied all allegations. “We do not trust the management or the labour department. They have been making false promises to us since June and have been adopting a vindictive attitude towards us. For instance, the withdrawal of bus service between Gurgaon and Manesar was their way of revenge,” a striking worker told Business Line .

When contacted, a company spokesperson said, “Yes, we have withdrawn bus facility at Manesar. Running this facility or its withdrawal is a procedural matter. But it cannot justify a strike.”

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