Maruti unrest verdict: Trade union seeks review

NEW DELHI: RSS affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the biggest trade union in the country, said that that in the Maruti case, the management of Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd deserves equal punishment as they were cause of the action taken by agitated workers and strongly demanded that the BJP-ruled Haryana state must present the workers side of the case in court, asking for a review of judgment, which has given life imprisonment to 13 workers, and announced five year imprisonment to four accused, while 14 other workers were fined and released after four and half years of imprisonment.

In a statement issued , BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said, 

"This decision has been taken by hearing arguments of both sides but we insist that the state revisit the case impartially by understanding the cause of the problem, that management has been equally responsible for this situation. The incident burst out due to repeated instigation and provocation by supervisors and management policies."

Recalling the build up to the agitation that took a violent turn in 2010, BMS said, 

"there was resentment at the worker's end, management had lost communication with them due their own policies. If we dig deeper, we will find it is the role of HR/Personnel manager which needs to be inspected."

The statement said, MNCs follow their own rules instead of the host country's... Right to form union is a fundamental right derived from our Constitution... there have been many unreported cases of labour unrest in the NCR due to rise of contractual form of employment... the reasons for these situations have remained unaddressed. We expected the state to assist poor workers... But here, the state has taken the side of the corporate keeping in view foreign investments without even thinking of violation of workers' fundamental rights."

BMS urged

 "the government to take back its decision (Maruti case) because the workers who were found guilty are not criminals."

Upadhyay's statement said, 

"The workers were working to earn their living and feed their families, not to go to jail. It is easy to take disciplinary action against workers because they do not have power."