Auto units to be hit as Gurgaon stir intensifies

Production in Gurgaon-Manesar belt, the country's largest auto parts manufacturing hub, will be hit on Tuesday, as the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has called for a strike across all units. Labour unrest has been ongoing in the belt for more than a week now.

The strike call comes in the wake of the death of an agitating worker in a clash at the plant of component maker Rico Auto on Sunday, in which some 50 other workers were also injured. Suresh Gaur, the Gurgaon district president of AITUC, said that Tuesday's agitation was against the "virtual police inaction" despite the death of the worker.

"There have been no major arrests as yet and there is hardly any concrete action from the police to bring to book the people behind the incident. We want action, as well as freedom to carry trade union activities that is guaranteed to us by the labour laws of the country," Gaur said.

Gaur said more than 60 companies operating in the area would be impacted by the protest call, and claimed that one lakh workers would join the stir. These include workers from scooter major Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), bike maker Hero Honda's Gurgaon plant, as well as component makers Lumax, Sunbeam, Caparo Maruti, Delphi and Gabriel.

While it is believed that car major Maruti Suzuki, which has factories in Gurgaon and Manesar, will be relatively insulated from the strike, but production at its plants will be affected, as there would be no work at many of its crucial component suppliers.

Also, movement of traffic in the area is likely to remain disrupted, making it difficult for cargo trucks to wend their way. This will not only hit raw material supplies to companies, but also disrupt movement of finished products from factories to dealerships across the country.