Maruti supplier on edge; standoff over probe into ‘fake’ documents

Tension gripped Bellsonica Auto Component India (BACI), a tier-I supplier to auto major Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), in Manesar, over a dispute between the workers’ union and the management.

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Tension has gripped Bellsonica Auto Component India (BACI), a tier-I supplier to auto major Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), in Manesar, over a dispute between the workers’ union and the management following a probe into the allegations of fake documents being submitted by some permanent workers at the facility at the time of their appointment.

According to the official communication between senior officials of the Labour Department, accessed by The Hindu, “considering the ground situation and hardened stances of both sides there is a very high probability that a serious law and order issue or stoppage of work [strike] may arise in very near future at BACI. Any manufacturing stoppage at the BACI has the potential to stop the lines at MSIL.”

The trouble began on March 1, when the workers’ union announced a six-hour strike accusing the management of hatching a conspiracy to lay off permanent employees in the guise of a probe into their documents.

“The company had terminated three permanent employees last year for short attendance and issued show-cause notices to 30 more alleging that the documents submitted by them at the time of their hiring were fake. It is an attempt to lay off permanent employees,” said workers’ union general secretary Ajit Singh, suspended earlier this month on charges of indiscipline.

Mr. Singh also alleged that the management had deployed bouncers inside the facility and was not adhering to the Labour Department’s appeal for a status quo during the conciliation process. Two more office-bearers of the union — president Mohinder Kapoor and secretary Sunil Kumar — have also been suspended on similar grounds.

The relations between the union and the management were also strained over the grant of permanent union membership to a contractual worker last year. The union faces a deregistration threat over the matter, with the Haryana Labour Commission issuing a show-cause notice in January under Section 10 of the Trade Unions Act, 1926.