Maruti Suzuki Limited (MSL) is remembered by all of us for the world-class cars it manufactures. But of late, the company is making news for its dubious labor management practices. The company, which sells more cars in India than in Japan, benefits in multiple ways by doing business in India. Eighty percent of the spare parts used in its cars are manufactured by its vendors by employing low-priced workers, and 70% of the workers in MSL factories are contract workers earning less than one-third of the salary of regular workers. Unfortunately, the company does not consider it important to provide proper service conditions to workers. India has a progressive economic policy, and it tolerates the ill-treatment of workers for the sake of employment generation. Had it been the USA or Europe, the operations of MSL would have been closed down by the government for the misconceived labor policies. A plethora of factors are contributing to the degeneration of people management practices in MSL, starting with greed for more profit, lack of concern for labor problems, the unprofessional approach of managerial staff, and superstitious beliefs of the employer.
Understanding Professionalism
Sometimes patients die because of medical negligence, which is proved by other doctors through autopsy. Occasionally, Chartered Accountants collude in financial scams like Harshad Mehta or Satyam Computers, which are detected by other Chartered Accountants. In either case, the doctors or Chartered Accountants look at the issue dispassionately in search of truth rather than protecting the professional colleagues responsible for the lapses. Human Resource (HR) Managers claim themselves to be professionals, and they have professional associations like the National HRD Network to promote professionalism among them. Almost every month, there are HR conferences of one kind or another happening all over the country to promote professionalism in HR. Every year, new HR propositions like HR business partner, HR competencies, talent management, and so on are advocated to project HR as a profession. However, the question that remains to be answered is how far HR managers have matured to be professionals. The doctors or chartered accountants responsible for the lapses would have lost their jobs or had their licenses revoked. But HR Managers in MSL actually get promotions and pay hikes after every incident of labor unrest. For example, prior to the three prolonged strikes by workers in 2011 at MSL, Mr. S.Y. Siddiqi was General Manager (HR, IT, and Admin), and after the strikes, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. The work at the Manesar factory of Maruti Suzuki Limited (MSL) was stopped from 18th July 2012 to 21st August 2012 due to the failure of the human resource management function, which resulted in the death of a general manager and injuries to around eighty managers by the vengeance of frustrated workers. While everyone has condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the deceased manager's family, no one from the HR profession has tried to find out whether there was anything wrong with the HR department of MSL. Being a large organization, MSL may think that it is capable of earning profit even by closing down the factory for months or by allowing its managers to be killed at the workplace, but it is also important to be careful about the workers who have nothing to lose. The only aspiration most of the workers have for themselves is to go to work for earning their livelihood. When such a fundamental aspiration has been snatched away by the management by falsely implicating them for the misconduct they did not commit, the workers are left with the only option of expressing anger at management.
Poisoning the Benevolence
The parent company of MSL is Suzuki Corporation of Japan. Japanese are known for benevolent HR practices like lifetime employment, decent working conditions, and reasonable salaries. But HR managers in MSL take advice from international consultants by paying huge fees. The five pieces of advice repeatedly given by such consultants are: (1) contract workers can be employed in any number and for any jobs, (2) it is sufficient and lawful if contract workers are paid minimum wages fixed by the government, even though it is much less than the wages earned by regular workers, (3) unionization of workers should be discouraged at any cost, (4) unionization of workers can be avoided by having a large number of contract workers, and (5) payment of fair wages and providing humane working conditions are not important if labor department officers of the government are properly managed. While these consultants fail to understand the socio-cultural dimensions of labor unrest, benevolent organizations like Suzuki Corporation are branded in India as exploitative employers.
Motives Behind the Violence
Motives of all kinds were attributed by the management, government, and the mass media, beginning with infiltration of militants, involvement of Naxalites, and the role of business rivals. Thank God, the only motive not attributed was the involvement of a neighboring foreign country. The workers have alleged that on the evening of 18th July 2012, MSL brought around 100 goons from outside to attack the workers, which has not been officially denied by the MSL management. The workers have further stated that when they confronted the goons in self-defense, it led to the violence. While the motive of workers to indulge in sporadic violence is yet to be fully investigated, the question at this point in time is whether it was ethical on the part of any organization to use goons to deal with employees. The workers' allegation of outside goons entering the factory is equally difficult to believe since no attack or injury of a serious nature on the workers has been reported. The 18th July 2012 violence at MSL is a reasonably well-planned attack by the workers, and they are surely aware of the adverse consequences like criminal prosecution and termination of service. But it is difficult to understand why MSL management closed all the peaceful options for resolving the conflict. In the morning, there was a fight between a worker belonging to a scheduled caste and a supervisor, in which it was alleged that the supervisor insulted the worker by using derogatory language against his caste, and the worker, in turn, slapped the supervisor. When both of them are prima facie guilty of misconduct, the management has punished only the worker by suspension and spared the supervisor. The Maruti Suzuki Workers' Union leaders have peacefully negotiated throughout the day for the revocation of suspension, but management has taken a rigid stand not to negotiate in the matter. When the situation was going out of control, the management orally informed the union leaders that the suspension order would be kept in abeyance. Workers wanted this oral information in writing, and management refused to give it in writing, which finally led to the violence. If management was sincere in its words, it was prudent to give it in writing to avoid the violence.
Trust and Negotiation
There is a complete lack of trust, authenticity, and transparency between the management and workers in MSL because the management has deviated from its promises not once but thrice during the year 2011, which resulted in three prolonged strikes. Trust can be built by openness in communication, fairness in decision-making, and devotion to honoring commitments; but the managers in MSL seem to have forgotten all of them. When there is a conflict, it is best resolved by negotiating a solution. The basic rule of negotiation is the flexible approach of giving something to get something in return so as to create a win-win situation for all the parties. But in MSL, every time a negotiation takes place, the management gets something from workers like a good conduct bond and so on, but it does not give anything to the workers as per the promise. When workers are repeatedly duped in the name of peaceful negotiation, the faith is totally lost.
Lack of Expertise
It is alright to outsource labor law compliance work, but industrial relations or dealing with workers is a core activity of HR managers, which ought to have been given due importance. But HR managers at MSL are preoccupied with the holy topics of Indian HR such as 360-degree feedback, assessment centers, psychometric testing, and HRD audit. The way MSL managers are dealing with workers clearly shows their lack of expertise in the labor relation framework of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act 1946, and Trade Union Act 1926. Unfortunately, MSL takes advice on labor matters from international HR consultants by spending crores of rupees when the consultants themselves do not understand the legal framework. This lack of expertise has resulted in a series of mistakes by HR managers at MSL, some of which are discussed below.
Dubious HR Role
The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to seek either letters from the workers not to join any union or to seek a good conduct bond for participating in lawful strikes. But this is what they did during the year 2011. When Shivakumar and Sonu Gujjar started mobilizing workers to form a lawful union of workers, the HR managers took written undertakings from many workers not to join the union. Workers have given such undertakings for fear of victimization by management, but the feeling they carried about the HR department was bitter. The job description of HR Managers at MSL does not require them to manage workers by continuously violating labor law. For example, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 states that if the nature of work performed by regular workers and contract workers is one and the same, then contract workers shall be paid salary and allowances on par with regular workers. But the salary of contract workers in MSL is one-third of the salary of regular workers, which has become a rallying point for the united struggle of regular workers and contract workers. The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to have HR practices contrary to the law of nature. The law of nature is the unwritten code of God and not the one made by parliament. According to this law, regular work shall be carried out by regular workers. It would have been fair and reasonable to have around 20 to 25 percent contract workers to deal with economic recession and business fluctuation, but MSL has a whopping 70% contract workers to perform regular work, and hence the labor turmoil at MSL can be termed as anger expressed by the god of nature. The HR department of MSL is extremely good at managing the national-level trade union leaders affiliated with various political parties. As a result, no trade union leader of eminence has seriously questioned the labor policy of MSL. In fact, some of these leaders even advised the MSL workers during the 2011 strikes to stop the agitation. While MSL workers realized that such advice is against the interest of workers, they started mobilizing themselves by identifying leadership within their rank and file, like Shivakumar and Sonu Gujjar. The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to destabilize the lawfully formed union of workers by a carrot and stick approach. At the end of the third successful strike in the year 2011, the management did not revoke the suspension of twenty-one office bearers and executive committee members of the Maruti Suzuki Employees' Union, including Shivakumar and Sonu Gujjar. All of them were charge-sheeted for major misconduct on the one hand, and at the same time, an enticing financial package ranging from Rs.16,00,000 to Rs.40,00,000 per head was offered in return for peaceful resignation from service. Caught between the devil and the deep sea, these workers finally resigned from service in November 2011 by accepting the financial package. While such a huge financial package to destabilize workers' unions was unheard of in the history of the Indian labor movement, the workers at MSL learned three important lessons from this episode, namely: (1) the management did not want to conduct an inquiry to prove the allegations mentioned in the charge sheet since the allegations are false and baseless; (2) had the charges been true, the workers should have motivated the HR managers to take a lenient view, but here management is motivating the workers to accept financial settlement; and (3) the best way to earn an enormous amount of money being a worker in MSL is by organizing strong unions to go on strike. The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to sponsor the formation of a union by workers. But a senior-level HR manager at MSL on 19th July 2012 has given a media statement from his hospital bed which states, "What sin did I commit? In fact, I took these workers to the registrar of trade union and I gave the money for registration of the union, but they have in return beaten me badly for all the help I rendered." After sending home all the union leaders of the Maruti Suzuki Employees' Union by paying attractive monetary compensation, MSL should have improved its labor relation practices to remain as a non-unionized organization. But HR managers at the Manesar plant have supported the formation of a new union called the Maruti Suzuki Workers' Union so as to keep its leaders under management control. The Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) was formed at the behest of management very recently in March 2012, and in less than four months, such a friendly union has turned violent on 18th July 2012. It clearly demonstrates the kind of dubious labor relation practices prevailing in MSL. After the 18th July 2012 violence, all the leaders of MSWU have been arrested by police and sent to jail, and it is yet to be seen whether MSL will attempt to sponsor the formation of another union of workers or discourage the unionization activities or take a neutral stand.
Defense Mechanism
While people all over the country are shocked at the way things are going wrong in MSL, its HR managers are tactfully behaving to deny the reality. HR head of MSL, Mr. S.Y. Sidiquee, has invited all his HR friends from other industries and made a presentation on 30th July 2012 to highlight the mistakes of MSL workers and to justify all the actions of managers which led to the violence at the Manesar factory on 18th July 2012. The senior-most HR managers of MSL had started writing articles in business magazines and delivering lectures in managerial forums even before the injured managers were discharged from the hospital. These managers are yet to accept the universally accepted fact that progressive labor relation is a science that can be learned and practiced. The company has not accepted responsibility for the safety of its employees at the workplace and hence has not taken action against any managers for the collapse of security measures. Rather, it is holding the frustrated workers responsible for the insecure climate prevailing at the workplace. The top management of MSL has gone one more step ahead. Instead of resolving the basic problems of workers to promote harmonious labor relations, it has started believing in superstition. Hence, religious rituals were performed at the Manesar plant by inviting South Indian Hindu priests from Karnataka to correct the so-called Vaastu problems. The top management now believes that a graveyard and three temples existed at the sites which were destroyed to build the Manesar plant and hence labor unrest can be eliminated by conducting religious rituals.
Misconceived Diversity
It is true that hiring people from all sections of society brings diversity for business advantage, but MSL practices diversity in wrong ways. Even though it hires people from all sections of society, the demarcation lines are clearly drawn. While people belonging to lower social strata of society like scheduled castes and tribes are hired at the worker level along with rural upper castes, the managerial cadre is dominated by the urban elite from New Delhi. This kind of misplaced diversity policy has failed to promote common understanding between managers and workers; rather, it has given birth to social disharmony among its own managers and workers. It is important to note that organizational fabric cannot be strengthened without knowing the socio-cultural undercurrents among individuals and groups.
Taking Revenge
It is not clear whether it is the desire of Suzuki bosses in Japan, the Chairman of MSL in New Delhi, or HR managers of the company to perpetuate the practice of vengeance against workers. The nature and scale of violence clearly show that about 180 workers were responsible for planning and executing the violence at the Manesar plant on 18th July 2012, which is corroborated by police investigation and labor department findings, but the management is summarily refusing to employ more than 500 workers without any charges being proved against them in the inquiry. It is easier to send home these workers with the assistance of the police department, but such an unethical move would cause ugly wounds in the minds of remaining employees who are allowed to work, and every such unjust act of management may be retaliated unjustly by the workers in the days to come. Management and government may brand dismissed workers as bad, but they have already earned a permanent place as martyrs in the minds of remaining employees.
Winners and Losers
MSL has started operations in the Manesar factory with effect from 21st August 2012 by terminating the services of nearly 500 workers. But it is difficult to judge the winners and losers in this battle. The basic reasons for the escalation of this conflict were just three, namely: (1) low wages, (2) poor working conditions, and (3) employing a large number of contract workers. While MSL has retained the first two problems intact, it has come out with a solution that seems workable. Prior to the July 2012 violence, the company had two contract workers for one regular worker, or say a 70:30 ratio. Now MSL has resolved to reverse this ratio by having one contract worker for every two regular workers, which appears to be a partial victory for the workers, but the joy of regular employment may also be squeezed by management offering harsh working conditions and lower wages. Low wages and poor working conditions continue to be the thorns in the way of peaceful industrial relations in the days to come. It is immaterial whether the workers will unionize again or not, but the sooner MSL resolves these two fundamental labor problems, the better its path for progress.
Understanding Professionalism
Sometimes patients die because of medical negligence, which is proved by other doctors through autopsy. Occasionally, Chartered Accountants collude in financial scams like Harshad Mehta or Satyam Computers, which are detected by other Chartered Accountants. In either case, the doctors or Chartered Accountants look at the issue dispassionately in search of truth rather than protecting the professional colleagues responsible for the lapses. Human Resource (HR) Managers claim themselves to be professionals, and they have professional associations like the National HRD Network to promote professionalism among them. Almost every month, there are HR conferences of one kind or another happening all over the country to promote professionalism in HR. Every year, new HR propositions like HR business partner, HR competencies, talent management, and so on are advocated to project HR as a profession. However, the question that remains to be answered is how far HR managers have matured to be professionals. The doctors or chartered accountants responsible for the lapses would have lost their jobs or had their licenses revoked. But HR Managers in MSL actually get promotions and pay hikes after every incident of labor unrest. For example, prior to the three prolonged strikes by workers in 2011 at MSL, Mr. S.Y. Siddiqi was General Manager (HR, IT, and Admin), and after the strikes, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. The work at the Manesar factory of Maruti Suzuki Limited (MSL) was stopped from 18th July 2012 to 21st August 2012 due to the failure of the human resource management function, which resulted in the death of a general manager and injuries to around eighty managers by the vengeance of frustrated workers. While everyone has condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the deceased manager's family, no one from the HR profession has tried to find out whether there was anything wrong with the HR department of MSL. Being a large organization, MSL may think that it is capable of earning profit even by closing down the factory for months or by allowing its managers to be killed at the workplace, but it is also important to be careful about the workers who have nothing to lose. The only aspiration most of the workers have for themselves is to go to work for earning their livelihood. When such a fundamental aspiration has been snatched away by the management by falsely implicating them for the misconduct they did not commit, the workers are left with the only option of expressing anger at management.
Poisoning the Benevolence
The parent company of MSL is Suzuki Corporation of Japan. Japanese are known for benevolent HR practices like lifetime employment, decent working conditions, and reasonable salaries. But HR managers in MSL take advice from international consultants by paying huge fees. The five pieces of advice repeatedly given by such consultants are: (1) contract workers can be employed in any number and for any jobs, (2) it is sufficient and lawful if contract workers are paid minimum wages fixed by the government, even though it is much less than the wages earned by regular workers, (3) unionization of workers should be discouraged at any cost, (4) unionization of workers can be avoided by having a large number of contract workers, and (5) payment of fair wages and providing humane working conditions are not important if labor department officers of the government are properly managed. While these consultants fail to understand the socio-cultural dimensions of labor unrest, benevolent organizations like Suzuki Corporation are branded in India as exploitative employers.
Motives Behind the Violence
Motives of all kinds were attributed by the management, government, and the mass media, beginning with infiltration of militants, involvement of Naxalites, and the role of business rivals. Thank God, the only motive not attributed was the involvement of a neighboring foreign country. The workers have alleged that on the evening of 18th July 2012, MSL brought around 100 goons from outside to attack the workers, which has not been officially denied by the MSL management. The workers have further stated that when they confronted the goons in self-defense, it led to the violence. While the motive of workers to indulge in sporadic violence is yet to be fully investigated, the question at this point in time is whether it was ethical on the part of any organization to use goons to deal with employees. The workers' allegation of outside goons entering the factory is equally difficult to believe since no attack or injury of a serious nature on the workers has been reported. The 18th July 2012 violence at MSL is a reasonably well-planned attack by the workers, and they are surely aware of the adverse consequences like criminal prosecution and termination of service. But it is difficult to understand why MSL management closed all the peaceful options for resolving the conflict. In the morning, there was a fight between a worker belonging to a scheduled caste and a supervisor, in which it was alleged that the supervisor insulted the worker by using derogatory language against his caste, and the worker, in turn, slapped the supervisor. When both of them are prima facie guilty of misconduct, the management has punished only the worker by suspension and spared the supervisor. The Maruti Suzuki Workers' Union leaders have peacefully negotiated throughout the day for the revocation of suspension, but management has taken a rigid stand not to negotiate in the matter. When the situation was going out of control, the management orally informed the union leaders that the suspension order would be kept in abeyance. Workers wanted this oral information in writing, and management refused to give it in writing, which finally led to the violence. If management was sincere in its words, it was prudent to give it in writing to avoid the violence.
Trust and Negotiation
There is a complete lack of trust, authenticity, and transparency between the management and workers in MSL because the management has deviated from its promises not once but thrice during the year 2011, which resulted in three prolonged strikes. Trust can be built by openness in communication, fairness in decision-making, and devotion to honoring commitments; but the managers in MSL seem to have forgotten all of them. When there is a conflict, it is best resolved by negotiating a solution. The basic rule of negotiation is the flexible approach of giving something to get something in return so as to create a win-win situation for all the parties. But in MSL, every time a negotiation takes place, the management gets something from workers like a good conduct bond and so on, but it does not give anything to the workers as per the promise. When workers are repeatedly duped in the name of peaceful negotiation, the faith is totally lost.
Lack of Expertise
It is alright to outsource labor law compliance work, but industrial relations or dealing with workers is a core activity of HR managers, which ought to have been given due importance. But HR managers at MSL are preoccupied with the holy topics of Indian HR such as 360-degree feedback, assessment centers, psychometric testing, and HRD audit. The way MSL managers are dealing with workers clearly shows their lack of expertise in the labor relation framework of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act 1946, and Trade Union Act 1926. Unfortunately, MSL takes advice on labor matters from international HR consultants by spending crores of rupees when the consultants themselves do not understand the legal framework. This lack of expertise has resulted in a series of mistakes by HR managers at MSL, some of which are discussed below.
Dubious HR Role
The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to seek either letters from the workers not to join any union or to seek a good conduct bond for participating in lawful strikes. But this is what they did during the year 2011. When Shivakumar and Sonu Gujjar started mobilizing workers to form a lawful union of workers, the HR managers took written undertakings from many workers not to join the union. Workers have given such undertakings for fear of victimization by management, but the feeling they carried about the HR department was bitter. The job description of HR Managers at MSL does not require them to manage workers by continuously violating labor law. For example, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 states that if the nature of work performed by regular workers and contract workers is one and the same, then contract workers shall be paid salary and allowances on par with regular workers. But the salary of contract workers in MSL is one-third of the salary of regular workers, which has become a rallying point for the united struggle of regular workers and contract workers. The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to have HR practices contrary to the law of nature. The law of nature is the unwritten code of God and not the one made by parliament. According to this law, regular work shall be carried out by regular workers. It would have been fair and reasonable to have around 20 to 25 percent contract workers to deal with economic recession and business fluctuation, but MSL has a whopping 70% contract workers to perform regular work, and hence the labor turmoil at MSL can be termed as anger expressed by the god of nature. The HR department of MSL is extremely good at managing the national-level trade union leaders affiliated with various political parties. As a result, no trade union leader of eminence has seriously questioned the labor policy of MSL. In fact, some of these leaders even advised the MSL workers during the 2011 strikes to stop the agitation. While MSL workers realized that such advice is against the interest of workers, they started mobilizing themselves by identifying leadership within their rank and file, like Shivakumar and Sonu Gujjar. The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to destabilize the lawfully formed union of workers by a carrot and stick approach. At the end of the third successful strike in the year 2011, the management did not revoke the suspension of twenty-one office bearers and executive committee members of the Maruti Suzuki Employees' Union, including Shivakumar and Sonu Gujjar. All of them were charge-sheeted for major misconduct on the one hand, and at the same time, an enticing financial package ranging from Rs.16,00,000 to Rs.40,00,000 per head was offered in return for peaceful resignation from service. Caught between the devil and the deep sea, these workers finally resigned from service in November 2011 by accepting the financial package. While such a huge financial package to destabilize workers' unions was unheard of in the history of the Indian labor movement, the workers at MSL learned three important lessons from this episode, namely: (1) the management did not want to conduct an inquiry to prove the allegations mentioned in the charge sheet since the allegations are false and baseless; (2) had the charges been true, the workers should have motivated the HR managers to take a lenient view, but here management is motivating the workers to accept financial settlement; and (3) the best way to earn an enormous amount of money being a worker in MSL is by organizing strong unions to go on strike. The job description of HR managers at MSL does not require them to sponsor the formation of a union by workers. But a senior-level HR manager at MSL on 19th July 2012 has given a media statement from his hospital bed which states, "What sin did I commit? In fact, I took these workers to the registrar of trade union and I gave the money for registration of the union, but they have in return beaten me badly for all the help I rendered." After sending home all the union leaders of the Maruti Suzuki Employees' Union by paying attractive monetary compensation, MSL should have improved its labor relation practices to remain as a non-unionized organization. But HR managers at the Manesar plant have supported the formation of a new union called the Maruti Suzuki Workers' Union so as to keep its leaders under management control. The Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) was formed at the behest of management very recently in March 2012, and in less than four months, such a friendly union has turned violent on 18th July 2012. It clearly demonstrates the kind of dubious labor relation practices prevailing in MSL. After the 18th July 2012 violence, all the leaders of MSWU have been arrested by police and sent to jail, and it is yet to be seen whether MSL will attempt to sponsor the formation of another union of workers or discourage the unionization activities or take a neutral stand.
Defense Mechanism
While people all over the country are shocked at the way things are going wrong in MSL, its HR managers are tactfully behaving to deny the reality. HR head of MSL, Mr. S.Y. Sidiquee, has invited all his HR friends from other industries and made a presentation on 30th July 2012 to highlight the mistakes of MSL workers and to justify all the actions of managers which led to the violence at the Manesar factory on 18th July 2012. The senior-most HR managers of MSL had started writing articles in business magazines and delivering lectures in managerial forums even before the injured managers were discharged from the hospital. These managers are yet to accept the universally accepted fact that progressive labor relation is a science that can be learned and practiced. The company has not accepted responsibility for the safety of its employees at the workplace and hence has not taken action against any managers for the collapse of security measures. Rather, it is holding the frustrated workers responsible for the insecure climate prevailing at the workplace. The top management of MSL has gone one more step ahead. Instead of resolving the basic problems of workers to promote harmonious labor relations, it has started believing in superstition. Hence, religious rituals were performed at the Manesar plant by inviting South Indian Hindu priests from Karnataka to correct the so-called Vaastu problems. The top management now believes that a graveyard and three temples existed at the sites which were destroyed to build the Manesar plant and hence labor unrest can be eliminated by conducting religious rituals.
Misconceived Diversity
It is true that hiring people from all sections of society brings diversity for business advantage, but MSL practices diversity in wrong ways. Even though it hires people from all sections of society, the demarcation lines are clearly drawn. While people belonging to lower social strata of society like scheduled castes and tribes are hired at the worker level along with rural upper castes, the managerial cadre is dominated by the urban elite from New Delhi. This kind of misplaced diversity policy has failed to promote common understanding between managers and workers; rather, it has given birth to social disharmony among its own managers and workers. It is important to note that organizational fabric cannot be strengthened without knowing the socio-cultural undercurrents among individuals and groups.
Taking Revenge
It is not clear whether it is the desire of Suzuki bosses in Japan, the Chairman of MSL in New Delhi, or HR managers of the company to perpetuate the practice of vengeance against workers. The nature and scale of violence clearly show that about 180 workers were responsible for planning and executing the violence at the Manesar plant on 18th July 2012, which is corroborated by police investigation and labor department findings, but the management is summarily refusing to employ more than 500 workers without any charges being proved against them in the inquiry. It is easier to send home these workers with the assistance of the police department, but such an unethical move would cause ugly wounds in the minds of remaining employees who are allowed to work, and every such unjust act of management may be retaliated unjustly by the workers in the days to come. Management and government may brand dismissed workers as bad, but they have already earned a permanent place as martyrs in the minds of remaining employees.
Winners and Losers
MSL has started operations in the Manesar factory with effect from 21st August 2012 by terminating the services of nearly 500 workers. But it is difficult to judge the winners and losers in this battle. The basic reasons for the escalation of this conflict were just three, namely: (1) low wages, (2) poor working conditions, and (3) employing a large number of contract workers. While MSL has retained the first two problems intact, it has come out with a solution that seems workable. Prior to the July 2012 violence, the company had two contract workers for one regular worker, or say a 70:30 ratio. Now MSL has resolved to reverse this ratio by having one contract worker for every two regular workers, which appears to be a partial victory for the workers, but the joy of regular employment may also be squeezed by management offering harsh working conditions and lower wages. Low wages and poor working conditions continue to be the thorns in the way of peaceful industrial relations in the days to come. It is immaterial whether the workers will unionize again or not, but the sooner MSL resolves these two fundamental labor problems, the better its path for progress.