Manesar, Haryana: Roadside vendors near a park opposite the Honda two-wheeler plant in Manesar were making brisk business on Tuesday morning, running out of stock faster than they could replenish it. Groups of workers donning white jackets were running from stall to stall trying to catch a quick breakfast before they returned to the park energised enough to join thundering slogans evoking workers’ unity.A sea of white, packed into a huddle, broke into frequent slogans after speeches by union leaders and those who came to express solidarity with the protesting workers of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd (HMSI).Around 2,500 contractual workers from HMSI’s manufacturing plant in Manesar have entered their 15th day of agitation here. They stare at an uncertain future as the company looks to reduce manpower citing a slump in automobile demand. HMSI employs around 1,900 permanent and 2,500 contractual workers.The strike by workers started a day after the company management refused to renew contracts of over 200 casual employees citing “demand fluctuations and production adjustment”. The employees have been sent on an indefinite leave. However, they have chosen to stay back and occupy the premises until their demands are met.The employees are demanding that those who have been asked to leave be paid fair compensation and those who have worked for at least 10 years at the plant as contractual staff, be made permanent.All production at the Manesar plant was stopped on November 11 and is yet to resume.15 days of round-the-clock sit-inWorkers claim that around 1,500 contractual staff sat inside the premises of the plant for 14 days, without proper food or other arrangements. Some of the workers came out because of their deteriorating health but a majority of them held forth, fearing that they would all eventually be sacked if they didn’t organise.Also read: The Intriguing Case of a Massive Slowdown in the Auto SectorTo express solidarity with the workers protesting inside, hundreds more continued to protest outside the factory gate amid heavy police deployment. On Monday, the workers evicted the premises and moved to a park across the road, where a round-the-clock sit-in still continues.The park ground has been carpeted with cloths, plastic sheets and cardboard so that workers can sit and even sleep while the agitation continues.Honda workers protesting. Photo: Khushi KhuranaThe Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt is no stranger to industrial action, but the scale and duration of this agitation is unprecedented in recent times. It is being led by contract employees, one of the most vulnerable category of workers, and is being supported by unions from various other factories in the vicinity.The company’s move doesn’t come as a shock to the workers. They claim that contract workers were being laid off regularly in small numbers as the automobile industry faced its worst slowdown in decades.The slowdown in sales has been attributed to various factors including the transition to BS-VI emission standards and increased insurance premiums which reportedly has resulted in the price of vehicles going up by over 10%.The revolving door of contract workMany of the workers now sent on ‘indefinite leave’ have been working at the plant for a decade or more but still haven’t been made permanent. Their contractors change every year and they are made to re-join through a different contractor and different employee IDs. This is a common practice in the industry to show a break in employment so that workers cannot claim benefits and security at par with that of permanent employees. Their salaries are also not revised regularly.Workers are also suspicious of the company’s assurances that workers who are being let go would be hired again after three months. “Many of our colleagues were sent on leave in December 2018 as well. They were told that the company was giving them a short and temporary break and they would be rehired. Many of those workers had to stay unemployed for months as the company didn’t call them back,” Gautam Kumar, a migrant worker from Bihar, told The Wire. Kumar is one of the workers who have been asked to leave.“They rounded up around 1000 of us whose clearance and renewal were due till March and asked us to get our clearance and go on leave for three months, and that we would be rehired after that. We have already seen our colleagues who were promised the same but were never called back. There’s a fear in the minds of the workers that this is a ploy to get rid of us permanently and hire new workers at much lower wages,” Somnath, who has been working at HMSI since 2011, told The Wire.Watch | Why Honda Workers Are on an Indefinite Hunger StrikeSlowdown for workers but not the management?Workers are also agitated with the fact that they are the first to face the brunt of adverse circumstances while people in the management remain unaffected irrespective of the slowdown.“I want to ask the management if they are forcefully sent on leave without pay for 3 months, will they be able to sustain their livelihoods? These workers get merely Rs 14,000 as salary, how will they manage? Even if we accept there really is a crippling slowdown, why should it affect just contract workers? Why not people in the management? In April, they promoted themselves and increased their own salaries, they got their extra pay as variable as well. Why don’t they lead the way and forgo promotions and variable pay?” asked an irate Ahire Pankaj, a permanent worker and member of the workers’ union.Workers from HMSI’s manufacturing plant in Manesar protesting. Photo: Khushi KhuranaMistrust of the company’s intentions runs deep as most workers don’t believe that there is a slowdown in the two-wheeler market that merits such large scale job cuts. Shamsad Ansari, who has been working at HMSI since 2010, told The Wire that the current crisis goes as far back as demonetisation. He says renewal of contracts have been irregular ever since.However, there seems to be a resolution in sight as the workers have received a ‘positive’ response on their demands at a meeting between the HMSI management, the Haryana labour commissioner and deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, who also holds labour and employment portfolio, in Chandigarh on Tuesday.Also read: ‘Here and Now’: India’s Auto Industry Urges Government Action to Fight Slowdown“It was not a joint meeting. The labour commissioner called us separately and requested both sides to negotiate and reach an agreement,” HMSI workers’ union president Suresh Kumar Gaur told The Wire. He also said that a meeting between the union, the management and Deputy Labour Commissioners (DLC) was underway in Gurugram and even though nothing concrete has come out of it, he expects a ‘positive’ resolution.“They wanted to lay off all contractual workers and we are demanding fair compensation if that happens. We also demanded that the production that was shifted from the Manesar plant be resumed so that all of the contractual staff don’t have to be let go. Negotiations are still going on but it looks positive so far,” Gaur added.
