1-24-06, 8:50 am

  More than 1,500 workers of Toyoto Kirloskar Motor Corporation are on warpath against the dismissal of three of their colleagues in voilation of Section 33(1)(b) of Industrial Disputes Act (IDA). The employees were dismissed after so-called independent enquiry instituted by the management in spite of the fact that the issue of suspension related to the employees was pending before the Industrial Tribunal, Bangalore.   The workers under the leadership of Toyoto Kirloskar Motor Employees Union (TKMEU), affiliated to CITU, observed a sit-in strike against this arbitrary action of the Toyota management. The strike began on January 6 and continued through the day and night till January 8 afternoon. The management tried to use huge police presence to threaten and evict the workers from the factory premises. The militant workers occupied the LPG Bullet   area and made it known that if the police lathi-charged or even fired upon them, they would not budge from the area. The management then denied food, water and toilet facilities to the workers. The 1,400 workers (all below 28 years) withstood the pressure admirably.   The state government of Karnataka instead of directing the management to withdraw its illegal action, has used police to help management and threaten the workers. The workers held dharna before the office of the Labour Commissioner on January 9. However, the venue was later shifted to centrally located Bannappa Park at the advice of the Labour Commissioner, as the management claimed that there is no conducive atmosphere to attend the conciliation. The day and night dharna by more than 1000 workers is continuing at the time of writing this.   Meanwhile, the management has declared a partial lockout since January 8. The idea is to use other workers, supervisors and trainees and restart the production. The union has put the following demands before the state government:

1. To order the management to keep the dismissal order in abeyance. The government can do this under Section 10B (Karnataka Amendment) of I.D Act 2. To order, under Sec 10B, to restart production in the unit employing all the workmen who were on rolls as on January 6, 2006 3. To refer for adjudication the justifiability of the strike/lockout 4. To prohibit the lockout 5. To prosecute the management for violating Sec.33 of ID Act and 6. To sanction all applications for prosecution for violating certified standing orders, Contract Labour Act, and Unfair Labour Practices.   Hire and Fire Policy   A total of 15 leaders and activists of Toyoto Kirloskar Motor Employees Union (TKMEU) are under suspensison since February 2004. All of them were suspended on flimsy grounds like not participating in the warm up exercises for five minutes before the commencement of the actual work. The union activists were suspended or their wages were deducted for three or five days if they talk to co-workers or for wearing black badges as a part of their protest programme. Even for attending to nature calls, the employees have to take the permission of their superiors!   The work load in the factory is very high and even if a worker falls sick, he is pushed to work to meet the production targets, which are quite high. Several employees developed spinal cord problems and few had to go for surgery due to the heavy load of work. Many of them are suffering from respiratory troubles also due to lack of protection against paint and dust.   Among the 15 suspended employees, two are office bearers of TKMEU -- Deepak, general secretary and Sathish, vice president. There were also four executive committee members and nine activists of the union. Of these 15, three have been terminated, sparking off this agitation. The union leaders apprehend that, going by their earlier experience, all of them would be dismissed on flimsy grounds. True to the character of an MNC, the management is intolerant to the trade union activity in the industry.   Earlier, in 2002 also the mangement dismissed two office bearers of TKMEU, including the then general secretary, the matter of which is still pending before the Industrial Tribunal. In 2002, the employees observed a historic 52-day strike against the dismissal. But the cruel management did not budge.   Although there is only one union which is recognised in the industry, the mangement did not enter into the wage agreements excepting in 2002. Whenever the union submits the charter, the mangement unilaterally increases paltry amount as salary or allowances without any written agreement, inspite of the fact that the company earns huge profit.   The workers by their own experience have realised that the state government's labour department does not come to their rescue. However, in the case of Toyoto Kirloskar, the management is so blatant that it is not ready to respect the directions of the Conciliation Officer. He hadgiven the following orders:

1. Three dismissal orders in question must be kept pending till the judgement of the Industrial Tribunal 2. Lockout must be lifted 3. No disciplinary actions against the protesting workers 4. Workers should withdraw the protest to maintain the conducive atmosphere

But the management is not ready to honour the advice of the Labour Commissioner where as workers are ready to co-operate.   Management sponsors Goondas   Eventhough large scale police force was deployed on the day of the strike, a good number of goondas belonging to JD(S) and the Congress were seen in the vicinity of the factory. They heckled the journalists who assembled there to ascertain the problems and make reports. Due to timely intervention by the union leadership, much damage could not be done by the goondas sponsored by the management.   Govt-Management nexus   The management is so influential that the earliler Congress government led by S M Krishna had declared automobile industry as a public utility service thus debarring the TKM employees to go on strike.   Inspite of heavy odds the workers are determined to continue the struggle. A large number of workers and employees have expressed their solidarity with thestruggling employees. On behalf of CITU, V J K Nair, state general secretary and Meenakshi Sundaram are guiding the struggle. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member K Varadarajan, CPI(M) state secretary G N Nagaraj addressed the agitating workers and expressed their solidarity.   Meanwhile, the struggle of Toyota workers is evoking solidarity even from abroad. The general secretary of World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) has sent a message expressing solidarity on January 15. This message was read out to the striking workers, who cheered it.

From People's Democracy