Vol. 76/No. 31      August 20, 2012

But union leaders say that clashes occurred after a supervisor insulted union member Jiya Lal on July 18, making deprecating remarks about Lal being a dalit (outcaste) during a heated argument over a workers’ boycott of preshift meetings. According to India’s Economic and Political Weekly, management then suspended Lal.

Some 1,200 day shift workers stayed inside the plant after their shift ended while union representatives met with the company about the suspension.

A statement by the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union charges that while the negotiations were taking place, company management called in hundreds of “antisocial elements” who attacked workers inside the plant.

Police have arrested union president Ram Meher and other officials as well as 114 workers.

In October last year workers held a 13-day sit-down strike (top photo), forcing the company to deal with their independent union and bring back 1,200 temporary workers. A major part of their fight centered on overcoming divisions between permanent and temporary workers.

Thirty trade unions in the region have urged the company to end the lockout and called on the government to release “all innocent workers.”