Gurgaon-Manesar strike hits auto makers hard
21 Oct 2009
More than 100,000 employees of some 70 auto parts companies went on strike yesterday in the Gurgaon-Manesar-Bawal belt in Haryana to protest the death of a colleague in a clash, hitting production in the country's biggest auto-manufacturing hub.
The agitating employees beat up a senior manager of Rico Auto, the company which employed the dead worker, as the strike over pay got off to a violent start.
''The situation is volatile and many striking workers have gathered outside the gate. Deputy general manager Sanjiv Arya was beaten up in the presence of police,'' said Rico Auto vice-president, human resources, S S Choudhary.
The company reported zero attendance, as did firms like Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and component major Sona Koyo.
The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, however, said production was normal. ''Our employees are not part of the strike. There is 100 per cent attendance and no downslide in production,'' a Maruti spokesperson said.
The situation had been tense since Sunday evening when some company workers, who had been on strike for higher pay, clashed with another group that had stayed away from the agitation. ''They had a heated argument followed by a clash in which a worker was critically injured and a motorcycle burnt,'' Gurgaon police commissioner Surjit Singh Deswal said.
