Social Movements

The Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, the trade union of Maruti Suzuki's Manesar factory, has been fighting against the injustices laborers are facing for nearly a decade. This started off from merely campaigning for the formation of the trade union, which was faced with strong resistance from the company and the Indian labor union,. They denied the shameful working conditions, horrible working hours, and frequent taunting by the managers that was present in the workplace. Eventually, after great support from university students and local unions was garnered, the union was approved.

However, this did not improve their working conditions, as the abuses and insults only increased. The management brought in security guards and bouncers to control the laborers. This tension eventually boiled over, with a confrontation between the security and workers resulting in the burning down of the plant and death of a GM. Successively, numerous people were fired and arrested while raids were carried out in neighboring villages. These terminations and arrests took place without proof, and the courts denied them bail as it would risk sending the wrong message to foreign investors. The constant demands for judicial inquiries to explore the lack of evidence were shut down.

Struggles went on for over a year, with protests, hunger strikes and peaceful sit-ins taking place outside of the factory. These occurred in the neighboring villages with the village councils getting involved. However, there was a major crackdown by the government on these villages and people were paid off and threatened to shut it down. 

Finally, after 3 years, a verdict was announced - 13 MSWU members were given life imprisonment and 4 members given 5 years each. This was clearly a targeted framing of the union, as 12 of these 13 members were senior members in it. The resistance has been against this verdict, trying to garner support as it is appealed with the High Court. Funds are being raised for the convicted families to assist them.