Demand Maruti Suzuki India and Suzuki Motor Corporation to end lockout and take back all dismissed and suspended workers

The management of the biggest car company in India, Mauti Suzuki India Limited has forced a lock-out at the Manesar, Gurgaon plant since the morning of 29 August. It has terminated 11 workers and suspended 10 more on baseless charges of indiscipline and participatins in a "go-slow action". The company has also imposed a dictatorial and utterly illegal "good conduct bond" on the workers and has decreed that any worker who will not sign the bond will be considered "on strike" and will not be allowed to enter the plant. (Please see the text of the notice at the end of this letter.)
The management had started preparing for this lockout since the evening of Sunday and a large police force was deployed at its behest at the plant. The company has already appointed a number of 'bouncers' as security guards and several musclemen from nearby villages have also been hired to intimidate and threaten the workers. However, the workers are united and determined to fight this attack. Not a single woker has signed the bond. Along with the 1100 regular worker, around 2000 contract and apprentice workers have also joined the struggle, although te management tried to separate them by announcing leave for contract and apprentice workers till September 1.
The Haryana govt. is brazenly siding with the MSIL and laving no stone unturned in crushing the workers' struggle. The BS Hudda led Congress got. had promptly declared the 13 day (4-17 June) strike illegal and its labour minister kept on trying to end the strike in favour of the company by threatning and misleading the workers.
Ever since the end of the strike in June, the management has been trying to dismiss and threaten or demoralize the workers by various means. Since July, some contract and apprentice workers are being thrown out almost every day. Even without counting the action on 29 August, 84 workers have been dismissed or suspended since July. In July, after the management sponsored elections of the Gurgaon plant based pro-management union, which was boycotted by Manesar workers, the management terminated some leading members of the Maruti Suzuki Employees Union which is still continuing.
Chief Minister Hudda had promised the workers leaders that there will be no difficulty in getting the union registered. However, just a day before 15 August, the govt. dismissed their application for registration and made it clear whose independence it really was. In fact, during the June strike, Hudda had promised Shinzo Nakanishi that his government will not allow the formation of a second union.
At least 2 million workers work in hundreds of units situated in the vast industrial belt in and around Gurgaon. There are around 1 million workers work in the units of automobile industry alone. These workers who produce auto parts for companies from all over the world in modern factories have to work in very bad conditions. More than 90 percent of these are contract workers who work for 10-12 hours for 4000-5000 per month. The workload and speed is extremely high and they have to face verbal abuse and even beatings by the supervisors and security guards. Most of the factories do not have unions and where the workers have managed to form a union, they have to face constant harrassment. The established big unions do nothing except paying lip service to the issues and in many cases have ditched the workers in favour of the management. In this scenario, the issue of the right to form a union is a common and universal issue in the Gurgaon industrial belt.
The workers of Maruti Suzuki, Manesar may earn a little bit more than other workers but they too work in very bad conditions. The work load is very high and sometimes they have to work for even 16 hours at a stretch. Getting a leave or off day is extremely difficult and heavy fines are imposed for even a few minutes delay. They get two short breaks of 7-8 minutes for lunch and tea, even toilet breaks are not allowed in between. They have to face abuses and threats if they refuse to work overtime. This is the reason behind the resolute struggle of the workers to form their separate union.
This petition demands that the top management of Maruti Suzuki India and Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan and the Chief Minister of the state of Haryana must act immediately to end the illegal lockout and accept the just demands of the workers.

We demand:
1. The lockout must be ended and the 'good conduct bond' must be taken back immediately.
2. All the dismissed and suspended workers must be taken back.
3. The right of workers to form their union must be recognised.