Mob-violence and casualties at Suzuki plant in India.
07-24-12, 12:03 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Mob-violence and casualties at Suzuki plant in India.
These stories are from Suzuki's own web-site, so they may be a little slanted towards the company's own point of view, but they do seem to give at least a fairly accurate account of what happened. Anyhow, I thought they were worth posting.
My condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased officer, and I hope that all those injured recover quickly and successfuly.
Oe interesting lesson of this story......I didn't know that they had auto-worker unions in India, or, in this case, at a support-plant.
http://www.globalsuzuki.com/globalnews/2012/0719.html
In the morning of 18 July, 2012 India time, an Indian supervisor of the Manesar Plant (located in the state of Haryana) of the Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., a manufacturing and marketing subsidiary of the Suzuki Motor Corporation, made a job-related warning to an Indian worker during rest break. Then, the worker used force on the supervisor.
The supervisor reported to the human resources department about the matter, and the department made a decision to place the worker on suspension. Afterwards, the worker required remedy to the workers' union, and the union demanded the company for the reinstatement of the worker who was suspended.
At around 3:00 pm on the same day, the day-shift Indian workers started to gather in the premises. Meanwhile, the Gurgaon labor officer, the workers’ union and the human resources department of the Maruti Suzuki were negotiating in the plant office. Then, at around 7:30 pm, a mob of approximately 100 Indian workers broke in the office and beat up the staff in the office. Consequently, one person died, 41 people were hospitalized, and 46 people were treated in the hospital. The buildings of the plant office and the security office were damaged from the arson. There is no heavy damage to the plant facilities, but are under inspection.
The mob was composed of approximately 100 people, and approximately 40 police officers came at first. After the cease of the mob violence, a few hundred police officers came to the premises to arrest the mob, and began inspection.
We will inspect whether the mob violence was planned or was by an accident.
We take such actions as violence to the nation as well as to the corporation, and will approach in a strict stance.
The deceased Indian officer was a general manager of the human resources department at the Manesar Plant, and was a gentle person. Due to the inspection of the incident, the Manesar Plant will be closed on 20 July, 2012 as well.
http://www.globalsuzuki.com/globalnews/2012/0720.html
Due to the mob violence which occurred at the Manesar Plant of the Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. on 18 July, 2012, the operation of the Manesar Plant was suspended on 19 and 20 July, 2012. Currently, investigations are conducted by the police, and inspections of plant facilities are carried forward. For these reasons, the plant will be closed on 21 July, 2012 as well. We will make further announcements as soon as the resume of production becomes clear.
My condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased officer, and I hope that all those injured recover quickly and successfuly.
Oe interesting lesson of this story......I didn't know that they had auto-worker unions in India, or, in this case, at a support-plant.
http://www.globalsuzuki.com/globalnews/2012/0719.html
In the morning of 18 July, 2012 India time, an Indian supervisor of the Manesar Plant (located in the state of Haryana) of the Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., a manufacturing and marketing subsidiary of the Suzuki Motor Corporation, made a job-related warning to an Indian worker during rest break. Then, the worker used force on the supervisor.
The supervisor reported to the human resources department about the matter, and the department made a decision to place the worker on suspension. Afterwards, the worker required remedy to the workers' union, and the union demanded the company for the reinstatement of the worker who was suspended.
At around 3:00 pm on the same day, the day-shift Indian workers started to gather in the premises. Meanwhile, the Gurgaon labor officer, the workers’ union and the human resources department of the Maruti Suzuki were negotiating in the plant office. Then, at around 7:30 pm, a mob of approximately 100 Indian workers broke in the office and beat up the staff in the office. Consequently, one person died, 41 people were hospitalized, and 46 people were treated in the hospital. The buildings of the plant office and the security office were damaged from the arson. There is no heavy damage to the plant facilities, but are under inspection.
The mob was composed of approximately 100 people, and approximately 40 police officers came at first. After the cease of the mob violence, a few hundred police officers came to the premises to arrest the mob, and began inspection.
We will inspect whether the mob violence was planned or was by an accident.
We take such actions as violence to the nation as well as to the corporation, and will approach in a strict stance.
The deceased Indian officer was a general manager of the human resources department at the Manesar Plant, and was a gentle person. Due to the inspection of the incident, the Manesar Plant will be closed on 20 July, 2012 as well.
http://www.globalsuzuki.com/globalnews/2012/0720.html
Due to the mob violence which occurred at the Manesar Plant of the Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. on 18 July, 2012, the operation of the Manesar Plant was suspended on 19 and 20 July, 2012. Currently, investigations are conducted by the police, and inspections of plant facilities are carried forward. For these reasons, the plant will be closed on 21 July, 2012 as well. We will make further announcements as soon as the resume of production becomes clear.
Last edited by mmarshall; 07-24-12 at 12:16 PM.
07-24-12, 12:12 PM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
The plant is now under a lockout, which is probably not surprising.
http://www.marutisuzuki.com/Maruti-S...sar-Plant.aspx
New Delhi, July 21st, 2012: Maruti Suzuki Manesar facility was rocked by labour violence on July 18, 2012. A General Manager, Awanish Kumar Dev, was burnt to death by the mob of workers inside the plant facilities. Nearly a hundred managers and supervisors sustained serious and critical injuries and had to be hospitalised. The mobs also set fire to the office wing and the main gate.
The management’s most important concern at this time is the safety and security of its supervisory and management personnel. The management firmly believes that unless the causes are identified and appropriate corrective action is in place it would be unsafe for supervisors and managers to resume work.
Following the incidents of violence and arson at the Manesar facility, the Management believes that if employees are asked to report for work at the facility, their lives will be endangered.
With this strong concern on the safety and security of the personnel, Maruti Suzuki today issued a notice declaring a lock-out at the Company’s Manesar plant facility.
The Company wants to ensure that the injured continue to receive quality medical care and recover from the mental trauma caused by the violence. About 30 managers and executives are currently admitted in hospitals in Gurgaon. Even among those discharged from hospital, many are going through trauma owing to the terror and abuse accompanying the attacks. The families of these victims remain disturbed.
The Company’s other facilities, including the operations in Gurgaon, will continue to function normally.
Wow. Talk about overkill by discontented workers.
Of course, this is the company's official line...which may or may not have been exactly what happened.
http://www.marutisuzuki.com/Maruti-S...sar-Plant.aspx
New Delhi, July 21st, 2012: Maruti Suzuki Manesar facility was rocked by labour violence on July 18, 2012. A General Manager, Awanish Kumar Dev, was burnt to death by the mob of workers inside the plant facilities. Nearly a hundred managers and supervisors sustained serious and critical injuries and had to be hospitalised. The mobs also set fire to the office wing and the main gate.
The management’s most important concern at this time is the safety and security of its supervisory and management personnel. The management firmly believes that unless the causes are identified and appropriate corrective action is in place it would be unsafe for supervisors and managers to resume work.
Following the incidents of violence and arson at the Manesar facility, the Management believes that if employees are asked to report for work at the facility, their lives will be endangered.
With this strong concern on the safety and security of the personnel, Maruti Suzuki today issued a notice declaring a lock-out at the Company’s Manesar plant facility.
The Company wants to ensure that the injured continue to receive quality medical care and recover from the mental trauma caused by the violence. About 30 managers and executives are currently admitted in hospitals in Gurgaon. Even among those discharged from hospital, many are going through trauma owing to the terror and abuse accompanying the attacks. The families of these victims remain disturbed.
The Company’s other facilities, including the operations in Gurgaon, will continue to function normally.
A General Manager, Awanish Kumar Dev, was burnt to death by the mob of workers
Of course, this is the company's official line...which may or may not have been exactly what happened.
07-24-12, 12:35 PM
#3
Update on the situation:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...262279172.html
NEW DELHI—Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., India's largest auto maker by sales volume, faces a potential production loss of at least $100 million as it recovers from a labor riot last week that left a manager dead and forced a complete shutdown of an auto assembly plant, officials said.
A senior executive at Suzuki Motor Corp. of Japan, which owns a majority stake in the company, acknowledged on Monday that while the violence won't derail existing plans to expand production capacity in India, the longer-term outlook is much less clear.
"We can't comment yet on whether we would slam the brake" on investment, said Kenichi Ayukawa, a managing officer in charge of global marketing, said in a brief interview. "We don't know yet exactly what happened. So we expect details to become clear as the police investigation proceeds."
The production halt, now into its fifth day, came after about 3,000 workers stopped work last Wednesday, attacked executives and set a part of the plant at Manesar near Delhi on fire. It was the worst case of labor unrest at Maruti since it began selling cars in 1983.
The company, which declared a lockout on Saturday, said the shutdown will continue until local authorities finish their investigations, which a police official said could take up to two weeks. The company said it is losing at least $9.1 million in revenue for every day of lost production and that it would be difficult to estimate when the factory could resume production.
A prolonged shutdown at Manesar will impact Suzuki as the Indian unit contributes at least 30% of the Japanese company's pretax profit and 46% of Suzuki's overall production outside Japan. Suzuki had disclosed a series of plans to increase capacity in India.
The Manesar plant is crucial for Maruti because it makes its highest-selling diesel cars—the Swift hatchback and the Swift Dzire sedan—as well as the SX4 sedan and the A-Star small car. Diesel cars are currently preferred over gasoline models in India because of a large price difference between the two fuels. In New Delhi, for instance, diesel costs 39% less than gasoline.
he Haryana state government appointed special prosecutor K.T.S. Tulsi to oversee the trial of the accused workers, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Monday after a meeting with executives from Maruti in New Delhi.
"We need to identify what the real causes are," said R. C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti. "The chief minister wants that people who are responsible, correct people not innocents...quickly identified, evidence must be collected quickly, they must be charge-sheeted fast and tried in a very rapid manner so that they can be punished."
Union officials could not be reached for comment.
Narendra Modi, chief minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat, in Tokyo for an investment summit, invited Japanese investment in his state, saying that he sees fewer labor disputes and it is "safe to work" there. Maruti already is building a third Indian plant there.
Shares of Maruti closed 5.65% lower on Monday at 1,079.90 rupees, underperforming a 1.6% decline in the main index. In Tokyo, Suzuki shares fell 3.9% to 1,366 yen in a market down 1.86%.
Maruti Suzuki said last week's violence began after a worker and a supervisor got into a scuffle. Workers claim that the supervisor made a caste-based insult, but both the company and police deny that. The company alleges that several workers prevented disciplinary action being taken against the employee and that they blocked all exit gates, keeping executives and managers on the factory premises. Then the workers attacked them, injuring dozens and killing Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager of human resources at the plant.
Police in Haryana have arrested 97 workers, including a union leader, a senior police official said on Monday. The state police launched a manhunt for 12 union leaders after the company alleged that they instigated the violence.
"We will continue to give protection to the Maruti plants as long as they need it," the police official said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...262279172.html
NEW DELHI—Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., India's largest auto maker by sales volume, faces a potential production loss of at least $100 million as it recovers from a labor riot last week that left a manager dead and forced a complete shutdown of an auto assembly plant, officials said.
A senior executive at Suzuki Motor Corp. of Japan, which owns a majority stake in the company, acknowledged on Monday that while the violence won't derail existing plans to expand production capacity in India, the longer-term outlook is much less clear.
"We can't comment yet on whether we would slam the brake" on investment, said Kenichi Ayukawa, a managing officer in charge of global marketing, said in a brief interview. "We don't know yet exactly what happened. So we expect details to become clear as the police investigation proceeds."
The production halt, now into its fifth day, came after about 3,000 workers stopped work last Wednesday, attacked executives and set a part of the plant at Manesar near Delhi on fire. It was the worst case of labor unrest at Maruti since it began selling cars in 1983.
The company, which declared a lockout on Saturday, said the shutdown will continue until local authorities finish their investigations, which a police official said could take up to two weeks. The company said it is losing at least $9.1 million in revenue for every day of lost production and that it would be difficult to estimate when the factory could resume production.
A prolonged shutdown at Manesar will impact Suzuki as the Indian unit contributes at least 30% of the Japanese company's pretax profit and 46% of Suzuki's overall production outside Japan. Suzuki had disclosed a series of plans to increase capacity in India.
The Manesar plant is crucial for Maruti because it makes its highest-selling diesel cars—the Swift hatchback and the Swift Dzire sedan—as well as the SX4 sedan and the A-Star small car. Diesel cars are currently preferred over gasoline models in India because of a large price difference between the two fuels. In New Delhi, for instance, diesel costs 39% less than gasoline.
he Haryana state government appointed special prosecutor K.T.S. Tulsi to oversee the trial of the accused workers, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Monday after a meeting with executives from Maruti in New Delhi.
"We need to identify what the real causes are," said R. C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti. "The chief minister wants that people who are responsible, correct people not innocents...quickly identified, evidence must be collected quickly, they must be charge-sheeted fast and tried in a very rapid manner so that they can be punished."
Union officials could not be reached for comment.
Narendra Modi, chief minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat, in Tokyo for an investment summit, invited Japanese investment in his state, saying that he sees fewer labor disputes and it is "safe to work" there. Maruti already is building a third Indian plant there.
Shares of Maruti closed 5.65% lower on Monday at 1,079.90 rupees, underperforming a 1.6% decline in the main index. In Tokyo, Suzuki shares fell 3.9% to 1,366 yen in a market down 1.86%.
Maruti Suzuki said last week's violence began after a worker and a supervisor got into a scuffle. Workers claim that the supervisor made a caste-based insult, but both the company and police deny that. The company alleges that several workers prevented disciplinary action being taken against the employee and that they blocked all exit gates, keeping executives and managers on the factory premises. Then the workers attacked them, injuring dozens and killing Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager of human resources at the plant.
Police in Haryana have arrested 97 workers, including a union leader, a senior police official said on Monday. The state police launched a manhunt for 12 union leaders after the company alleged that they instigated the violence.
"We will continue to give protection to the Maruti plants as long as they need it," the police official said.
07-24-12, 12:45 PM
#4
Present a clearer picture of what may have actually happened.
The grim account emerged as output at Japanese-owned Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant near New Delhi remained halted following Wednesday's riot in which nearly 100 executives were hurt when workers chased them with bars and torched offices.
The body of the plant's human resources manager, Awanish Kumar Dev, found charred beyond recognition in a burned-out conference room, was identified by a tooth implant, police said as they issued fresh details about the violence.
"He had no chance of escape, his attackers broke his legs so he was trapped inside," deputy police commissioner Maheshwar Dayal told AFP.
The personnel manager had been huddled with union officials to discuss disciplinary matters when he was attacked, Dayal said.
Police were searching for a dozen Maruti union leaders in connection with the riots, Dayal said, adding 91 workers at the plant -- which has some 3,000 employees -- had already been arrested on accusations ranging from attempted murder to rioting.
A senior Maruti executive who did not wish to be identified told AFP it was not known when the factory, which makes 550,000 vehicles a year -- accounting for a third of Maruti's output -- would reopen.
"We have 100 people injured... They are in trauma," he said. "Who's going to run the plant? We have not assessed when it will reopen."
Maruti said in a statement late Friday that some managers had been released from hospital but that 33 others remained there and were "undergoing treatment for critical injuries received during the violence at the plant".
Earlier the company had said 50 managers had been hospitalised.
A protracted closure would be a blow for Maruti, whose profits slid 29 percent last year on the back of labour disputes over pay and union recognition that cost more than $500 million in lost production.
Investors have wiped hundreds of millions of dollars off the value of shares of Maruti and its parent company, Suzuki Motor, since the riot, spooked by fears of a lengthy shutdown.
Japan's government has condemned the "violence and vandalism" at Maruti, and urged Indian police to "effectively enforce law and order so that such (incidents) would not be repeated".
Labour discontent has been mounting in India, especially in the auto sector, with inflation pinching pay packets and rampant use of cheaper contract workers fuelling unhappiness on shop-floors.
But the rioting suggests "a pressure-cooker situation in which discontent last year over pay and working conditions was a long way from being settled", said Deepesh Rathore, chief analyst at consultancy IHS Automotive India.
"Part of the problem may also be that Japanese working standards are quite disciplined... there is a lot of pressure on the worker," he said.
The union said the trigger for the violence was a supervisor who insulted a worker over his low-caste status, but Dayal rejected this, saying both workers "belonged to the same low caste".
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was due to travel to Tokyo on Sunday where he was expected to meet executives of Suzuki Motor and suggest Maruti expand its planned new operations in his business-friendly coastal state.
"Maruti will have to bring Manesar back to life, it's an important plant, but it may speed up its investment in Gujarat where law-and-order is much better and it has less chance of trade union problems,' said Rathore.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), a leading industry lobby, said the violence could further sour India's investment climate, already tarnished by stalled economic reforms and a string of corruption scandals.
"Such acts of violence sully the image of India as a manufacturing base," said SIAM chief S. Sandilya
Read more: http://india.nydailynews.com/newsart...#ixzz21ZT2IhsM
The body of the plant's human resources manager, Awanish Kumar Dev, found charred beyond recognition in a burned-out conference room, was identified by a tooth implant, police said as they issued fresh details about the violence.
"He had no chance of escape, his attackers broke his legs so he was trapped inside," deputy police commissioner Maheshwar Dayal told AFP.
The personnel manager had been huddled with union officials to discuss disciplinary matters when he was attacked, Dayal said.
Police were searching for a dozen Maruti union leaders in connection with the riots, Dayal said, adding 91 workers at the plant -- which has some 3,000 employees -- had already been arrested on accusations ranging from attempted murder to rioting.
A senior Maruti executive who did not wish to be identified told AFP it was not known when the factory, which makes 550,000 vehicles a year -- accounting for a third of Maruti's output -- would reopen.
"We have 100 people injured... They are in trauma," he said. "Who's going to run the plant? We have not assessed when it will reopen."
Maruti said in a statement late Friday that some managers had been released from hospital but that 33 others remained there and were "undergoing treatment for critical injuries received during the violence at the plant".
Earlier the company had said 50 managers had been hospitalised.
A protracted closure would be a blow for Maruti, whose profits slid 29 percent last year on the back of labour disputes over pay and union recognition that cost more than $500 million in lost production.
Investors have wiped hundreds of millions of dollars off the value of shares of Maruti and its parent company, Suzuki Motor, since the riot, spooked by fears of a lengthy shutdown.
Japan's government has condemned the "violence and vandalism" at Maruti, and urged Indian police to "effectively enforce law and order so that such (incidents) would not be repeated".
Labour discontent has been mounting in India, especially in the auto sector, with inflation pinching pay packets and rampant use of cheaper contract workers fuelling unhappiness on shop-floors.
But the rioting suggests "a pressure-cooker situation in which discontent last year over pay and working conditions was a long way from being settled", said Deepesh Rathore, chief analyst at consultancy IHS Automotive India.
"Part of the problem may also be that Japanese working standards are quite disciplined... there is a lot of pressure on the worker," he said.
The union said the trigger for the violence was a supervisor who insulted a worker over his low-caste status, but Dayal rejected this, saying both workers "belonged to the same low caste".
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was due to travel to Tokyo on Sunday where he was expected to meet executives of Suzuki Motor and suggest Maruti expand its planned new operations in his business-friendly coastal state.
"Maruti will have to bring Manesar back to life, it's an important plant, but it may speed up its investment in Gujarat where law-and-order is much better and it has less chance of trade union problems,' said Rathore.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), a leading industry lobby, said the violence could further sour India's investment climate, already tarnished by stalled economic reforms and a string of corruption scandals.
"Such acts of violence sully the image of India as a manufacturing base," said SIAM chief S. Sandilya
Read more: http://india.nydailynews.com/newsart...#ixzz21ZT2IhsM
07-24-12, 07:49 PM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
The union said the trigger for the violence was a supervisor who insulted a worker over his low-caste status, but Dayal rejected this, saying both workers "belonged to the same low caste".
Last edited by mmarshall; 07-24-12 at 07:53 PM.
07-25-12, 08:20 AM
#7
I thought they had gotten rid of the caste-system in India by now, as the country modernized and became part of the world economy. The caste system, like allowing cows to wander around in and out of buildings at will, was an old Hindu tradition left over from colonial times....and, of course, centuries before.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
mmarshall
Car Chat
36
05-09-18 11:07 AM
LexFather
Car Chat
4
04-28-06 07:52 AM
