India’s central govt urges Haryana to end Maruti strike
Employees of Maruti Suzuki shout slogans against the management at the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar on the outskirts of New Delhi on October 13, 2011. Manesar, which employs 2,000 workers, normally produces up to 1,200 of Maruti’s top-selling Swift and A-Star hatchbacks and SX4 sedans daily. The latest confrontation began just days after staff returned to work following a 33-day lockout and comapny chairman R.C. Bhargava accused strike leaders on reneging on a settlement reached on October 1.
India's central government urged the state of Haryana to act quickly to bring to an end the latest round of strikes by factory workers at Maruti-Suzuki and the car maker's suppliers, the Times of India reported.
Though keen to fight off the impression that manufacturing in India means labor trouble, the central government said that the implementation of labor policy is the responsibility of the individual states under India's federalist constitution, and it cautioned against "direct intervention" (presumably by strike breakers) to end the strike, the paper said.
Talks between labor leaders and management continue as the strike enters its 14th day Thursday, the Hindustan Times said.
"Hopes of an agreement were raised late last night, but an agreement could not be reached as both sides stuck to their stands," a source privy to the talks said.
Maruti-Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava on Wednesday said the company was hopeful the impasse would end in the next 4-5 days, according to HT.
"We have been talking to them for the last three days. We keep talking as a solution to these things takes some time. I cannot say when, but only I can hope that the issues will be solved in the next 4-5 days," the paper quoted Bhargava as saying.
The Economic Times said the company was only able to build 1,850 cars at its twin Gurgaon-Manesar plants on Wednesday, compared with a normal output of over 4,000 cars a day.
According to NDTV, the firm is losing some $10 million a day due to the strike, but does not plan to exit Haryana in favor of Gujarat.
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