Labor unrest halts Maruti production, losses mount
* Local court declares Manesar strike illegalBy Henry FoyMUMBAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Workers at Maruti Suzuki , India’s biggest carmaker, halted production on Friday as part of a long-running dispute, a company statement said, sending the firm’s expected production losses from labour unrest in 2011 to $330 million.The losses compound the woes at Maruti, which saw a 21-percent drop in September sales as rising interest rates and vehicle costs hurt demand in the world’s second-fastest growing major auto market after China.Striking workers demanding the re-employment of sacked colleagues, who took control of Maruti’s 1,000-cars a day plant in the northern industrial hub of Manesar a week ago, stopped production on Friday.A supporting strike at a neighboring Suzuki powertrain plant halted parts supplies to Maruti’s second plant in a nearby town, shutting it down too. That plant usually makes 2,800 cars a day.The high court of the state of Haryana, home to Manesar, declared the current strike illegal on Thursday. Maruti has said it would not compromise with the workers, whom it has accused of deliberately sabotaging production and breaking an agreement signed last month.”No talks are possible as long as the striking workers are inside the factory premises,” a Maruti statement said.Maruti, 54.2-percent owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor , has suffered a production loss of around 16,600 cars, equivalent to over $100 million, since last Friday when violent workers took control of the Manesar plant, the company said.A month-long strike at the Manesar plant that began on August 29 cost around $135 million, and a 13-day strike by 800 workers in June caused almost $95 million in lost output.Shares in the carmaker closed at 1,027 rupees ($20.91) on Friday, down 2.9 percent against a 1.2-percent rise in Mumbai’s benchmark index .Maruti shares have fallen more than 27 percent in 2011, underperforming a nearly 20-percent fall in the broader market. ($1 = 49.125 Indian Rupees)
Maruti Nikaralapam 60% Decline In Quarterly Institutional ! http://newish.info/157524-maruti-nikaralapam-60-decline-in-quarterly-institutional
Maruti Company Nikaralapam Decline ! http://newish.info/153769-maruti-company-nikaralapam-decline
Is the Maruti Cervo a Worthy Competitor to the Tata Nano?
To be launched at the 12th Auto Expo Delhi, which is starting tomorrow, 5th January 2012, Maruti is keeping its fingers crossed for good market response, courtesy the Cervo and the Twin, 2 small cars that may succeed in making a BIG impact!
Maruti Suzuki’s Cervo is the new generation makeover of its best selling Maruti 800 car. With a 3 cylinder, 796cc engine, the Cervo is a cute looking car and a welcome relief from the rather commonplace M 800.
In a country obsessed with mileage, the Cervo is touted to ensure mileage of between 20 to 23 kmpl. Gearing up to maintain its supremacy in the small car, big mileage section, will the Maruti Cervo beat its competitors like the Tata Nano, the Hyundai Eon, and surge ahead fearlessly?
Let’s wait and watch … as 2012 is going to be a year of reckoning for Maruti Suzuki, especially as the Maruti Cervo is to be priced between Rs. 1.6 lakhs to Rs. 2.1 lakhs (ex-showroom).
Deceased Maruti HR manager Awanish Kumar Dev had resigned 6 months back
articles.economictimes.indiatimes.comDestiny or foul play? As the devastated family ofAwanish Kumar Dev grapples with the question, it appears that the unfortunate GM (HR) of Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant had put in his papers six months ago because he had apprehended trouble, but was forced to stay on by the management of the automobile maker.
Aman Sethi: Precarity and the Maruti Violence
thehindu.comThe Hindu’s Amman Sethi this morning questioned whether the recent violence at the Maruti plant in Manesar was, in fact, the start of a new trend for industrial agitation. Against a background of speculation that the unrest could be linked to Naxal forces (and me writing that this would be in keeping with the broad thrust of their tactics) Sethi points to figures suggesting that official incidences of industrial conflict have actually been decreasing.
He then links this to the increasing precarity of the industrial workforce, noting that temporary contract work has taken over as the norm from steadier positions, an erosion of job security that goes hand in hand with the erosion of the ability to protest poor conditions. Interestingly, this trend has been concurrent with dropping wages from 1995 - wages that had been rising since 1981. For me, there is an immediate correlation to be seen there between the effect of the strikes in the 1970s creating better conditions for labourers before the early 90s liberalisation of the Indian economy wiped those gains out: wages fell 15% in the 15 years from ‘95.
Sethi’s piece ends with an account of with some of the informal tactics that the informal workforce has been utilising in order to claim unpaid wages - I’d really encourage you to go and read it for yourself. It is frightening to think how the effects of the post-Fordist turn in employment, so keenly felt in the UK (where legislation is still relatively strong, despite being recently weakened) will play out in the context of India, where those who are wronged will be all the less likely to have access to a course of redress.
