India : Sacked Honda workers launch hunger strike
Issue statement listing three demands during a rally at Jantar Mantar
Five workers of the Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) plant in Tapukara, Rajasthan, who were sacked earlier this
year, have launched an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar here.
At a protest rally held to mark the start of the hunger strike on Monday, the Honda workers, who are members of the Honda 2F Kamgaar Union (HKU), issued a statement listing three demands — all the suspended and terminated Honda workers be reinstated, all criminal cases against them be withdrawn immediately, and all trade union rights be ensured. The workers on strike also issued a call for boycott of all products manufactured by Honda at Tapukara, which includes two-wheeler brands Shine, Activa, Deo and Navi, until their demands are met.
The five workers on strike are HKU president Naresh Mehta, Ravi Singh, Sunil Kumar, Avinash Singh, and Vipin Kumar. They have been booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 395 (dacoity) of the IPC.
‘False cases’
According to the workers, these cases are false and were registered to harass and intimidate them.
The rally saw support and representation from all the major central trade unions (CITU, AITUC, INTUC, HMS) – barring the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS). Around 400 workers from different unions in the Gurgaon-Manesar-Dhruhera industrial belt attended the rally to extend their support.
Workers from Maruti Suzuki, Bellsonica, Sunbeam Auto, Jan Sangharsh Manch, HMSI-Manesar, and Rico Auto, Dharuhera, were among those who participated in the rally that was also attended by students from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Speaking at the rally, Amarjeet Kaur, secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said “This government says it is nationalist. What can be more nationalist than ensuring that Indian workers toiling for a Japanese company get a living wage? Yet the Rajasthan government is trampling workers’ basic rights in collusion with the Honda management.”
Over 2,000 workers impacted
Workers said that services of more than 100 permanent workers and 2,000 contract workers were terminated after the police allegedly lathi-charged striking workers inside the Honda factory in Tapukara on February 16.
Suraj, a Honda worker who had come from Rajasthan, said, “Even seven months after the incident, none of the terminated workers have been reinstated. They have lost their livelihoods and are slipping into debt. Their only crime was that they tried to form a union.”
Satpal Gill, who works with Sunbeam Auto, and is Gurgaon district president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) said, “I am here to show the support of my union and all the workers of Sunbeam. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that the Honda workers’ succeed in their fight for justice – even if it means involving the top leadership of INTUC.”
“Terrible injustice has been done to the Honda workers. The management must have a dialogue with them and work out a compromise so that they get their jobs back,” said Kuldeep Janghu, general secretary, Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union.
The HMSI had recently registered a new union, called HMSI 2F Karamchari Union, which is affiliated to the BMS. “This is a pro-management union organised by Honda as a tactic to ensure that no independent union comes up. It is their excuse for not talking to the HKU,” said Akhil, a terminated Honda worker. The HKU, whose registration process was allegedly blocked by the Honda management, is affiliated to the AITUC.