Maruti may not de-recognise union

In what seems to be a softening of stance, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has decided not to take any immediate steps to de-recognise the newly instituted Maruti Suzuki Workers' Union (MSWU) of the Manesar unit.

S Y Siddiqui, chief operating officer for human resources, MSIL said, "Post our discussions with the officials of the Haryana government, we have decided first to lay emphasis on fast-tracking the investigations and the trials to bring to book those guilty of the arson at the Manesar unit. We have to address safety and security concerns of all our employees. Only after that we will consider what further corrective measures need to be taken by the company."he company had last week said it would de-recognise the workers' union immediately and dismiss all workers identified in connection with the riot, which took place within the Manesar facility on July 18.

Siddiqui, however, clarified the company would not "compromise on violence." Operations would not resume at the Manesar unit till investigations are complete and corrective measures put in place to prevent any recurrence. The Haryana Police has formed a six-member special investigation team (SIT) led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravinder Tomar to probe the incident.

So far, the police have arrested 97 workers in connection with the violent scuffle at Maruti Suzuki which had resulted in the death of a senior management executive and left injured around 100 officials. Those arrested include Yogesh Kumar, organising secretary, MSWU. Arrest warrants have been issued against 11 other members of the union.

The Haryana government has appointed special prosecutor K T S Tulsi to frame charges against those identified in connection with the incident.

In the meantime, losses for the company have mounted to Rs 525 crore (Rs 5.25 billion) with production remaining stalled at the unit. The facility, which manufactures on an average 1,600 vehicles every day, accounts for 45 per cent of overall production at Maruti Suzuki currently.

The unit rolls out some of the company's best-selling models including the hugely popular premium hatchback Swift and sedan Swift DZire. The two models together have a combined order book of over 110,000 units.