MSI Strike: Madras HC Bars Company From Using Contract Workers

Chennai: For weeks now, two automobile majors in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram district  -- Myoung Shin India Pvt. Ltd. (MSI) and India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd. (IYM) -- have been facing severe worker resistance against the respective managements’ anti-labour stance. The employees of both the auto giants have been on strike,  demanding fair wages and recognition of labour unions..

On Monday, the Madras High Court issued an interim order which stated that MSI should not use employees other than from the muster roll of the company. The order also prohibited the company from using contract workers for production inside the factory premises.

Also Read: MSI Automotive Workers on Strike in Sri Perumbudur

The striking workers have for long been alleging that MSI was using contract workers to bypass labour laws. The company currently employs about 150 permanent staff and about 550 temporary staff. A majority of this temporary staff are trainees or NEEM (National Employability Enhancement Mission) trainees. This enables MSI to employ a workforce for very low wages and discard them in two or three years on the pretext of training.

Honourable Justice S. Vimala of the Madras High Court observed that there were gaps in the implementation of labour laws in the company based on the report submitted to the Joint Director of Industrial Labour Safety and Health. The matter has been postponed for two weeks by the court. This will be to the disadvantage for the management in terms of both the workforce as well as expenditure.

Workers in MSI are on their 34th day of strike that started on September 6. Fifteen workers have been suspended so far by the management including the office bearers of the union.

The company is the Indian subsidiary of Korean manufacturer Myoung Shin, which  supplies machinery parts to Korean auto major Hyundai. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has even asked the Korean consulate to intervene in the issue.

Yamaha Workers’ Strike

The strike of Yamaha workers has entered the 19th day. The workers formed a union which the management did not recognise, leading to ‘illegal’ termination of Rajamanikandan, the treasurer of the union, which is affiliated to CITU, and Prakash, one of the union secretaries. So far, the management has refused to take reinstate these worker. As a mark of  protest, workers held a huge march near Kanchipuram bus terminal, which led to the arrest of about 600 protesters.

Meanwhile, more workers are coming out in support of the strikers in both the companies. The families of striking workers have already joined the protest. On Monday, CITU Kanchipuram district committee conducted a human chain to express solidarity to the workers, which saw the participation of around 2,000 people.

Also Read: MSI Workers’ Strike: Protesters to go on Hunger Strike on October 2

The district collector and labour commission have called for a meeting on Wednesday, including the management and union representatives. “The future steps for the strike shall be decided after that,” said Kannan Soundarrajan of CITU.