Lessons from the Maruti Workers Strike
The recent struggle of the Maruti workers of Manesar drew huge attention of the Indian workers. Even the bourgeoisie media could not ignore this struggle; anxiety & tension of the big industrial houses also became very apparent. Three consecutive strikes within a very short time span in a plant of such a giant MNC & the high level of spontaneity of the workers exuberated in these strikes have definitely inspired Indian working class who have long been confounded in the face of unabated devastating attacks of the bourgeoisie during the phase of globalization. The most significant aspect of this struggle is that the first strike began against the conspiracy of the management to impose a puppet union on the workers. From this aspect, purpose of the strike since very beginning, was to establish the right of the workers to build a trade union of their own choice, to establish their right to organize & struggle. Since implementation of policies of globalization & liberalization in this country, capitalists are leaving no stone unturned to crush this right of the workers, amongst others - so we can not ignore the gravity of this aspect of the Maruti workers' struggle. It is particularly more significant for this struggle as because it was fought by such a group of workers who had no previous experience of struggle & on the other hand, had fought against such a domineeringly mighty MNC management. Management had explored all possible efforts to break the aspiration & unity of the workers - suspension-termination-throwing the contract workers out of factory-attacks of the police & administration - none was left unexplored. And, the workers had also retaliated these attacks thru' series of strikes.
However, it is probably true that the struggling workers could not envisage the end of third strike thru' such an agreement. Workers were also not prepared for the unexpected turn of events immediately after the settlement - the resignation of whole executive committee including the President & Secretary taking lumpsum money from the management. In a struggle where the struggling aspiration & unity of whole of the workers, including the last-benchers, were so strong till last day, it requires explanation why such an agreement was made that almost led to collapse of the unity & organization of the workers which was the pivot of the struggle. Was it the unwritten condition of the settlement that 30 suspended workers had to resign from the job? If for the sake of discussion we assume that unless it was agreed by the worker negotiators, settlement could not be achieved, then the question arises what was the necessity of the negotiators to accept such condition? This is more important as because everyone remained attached with Maruti workers' struggle would definitely agree that till that time, condition of the workers were not so precarious that there was no other option but to go for such a settlement. We can not comprehend committee members were not aware that being agreed to such a condition would de facto lead to collapse of the Union organization.
The incident of resignation of the leaders who led 3 consecutive strikes & who had with them active support & initiative of nearly 5,000 workers is definitely unprecedented & unimaginable; but on the other hand, it is also revealing some significant aspects - that today even a trade union struggle is taking such a complicated character & so many political questions are objectively surfacing to the struggling workers, & more particularly to their leaders. We know last settlement was made not at the Labour Directorate, but at Haryana Bhavan which is far from the factory & where the leaders were virtually kept abducted for two days till signing the agreement. There, along with the management representatives, not only the high officials of the Labour Dept were present; the most astonishing thing is that the top police officers along with a huge battalion, who were in no way a party in conciliation of a labour dispute, also remained present. At the other end, worker leaders were alone, very few in numbers & for those two days not allowed to keep contact with the struggling workers.
If we set aside this particular fact for some moments, then we shall have no qualm to identify the action of Sonu Gujjar-Shiv Kumar & other leaders as betrayal. As we have heard, initial spontaneous reaction of the workers was also the same. But, such reaction would not only be one-sided & a grave mistake would also be harmful for the struggle of the workers; as because such reaction among the workers is most desirable not only to the Maruti management, but even to the whole of capitalist class. They require it to break the moral strength of the workers, to poison the idea among them that this is the only fate of making a Union; rather it is better for the workers to depend on the management for their well being. However, whatever be the wish of the employers, can the conscious struggling workers forget the situation under which worker leaders were forced to sign the agreement? Why should they forget that the employer, in collusion with the government officials & police, threw the worker leaders into such a situation? Struggling worker leaders must never forget that it was the employer who at the one end threatened & strangulated the leaders, at the other end lured them with money, & finally forced them to be agreed with the agreement & now when they try to convince the workers that the character of the leaders are such, it is simply a huge blasphemy on their part.
Rather, the experience of Maruti struggle reveals that today even in case of a plant level trade union struggle, how mighty the unholy nexus of employer-administration & police is. In any factory where workers, in lieu of surrendering to the attacks of the employer, are opting for the path of struggle, are facing the common experience how blatantly the police & administration are now taking the side of the employer. Jute workers of West Bengal are continually fighting since last ten years & they are also facing the same experience. Alliance on behalf of the employers are particularly more aggressive where workers, deserting all old trade unions, are building up the struggle independently; in these cases, employers & their associates are leaving not a single stone unturned to crush the independent initiatives of the workers. And, old trade unions, in the name of supporting the workers, are, for all practical purposes, serving the employers. The government Labour Department is also de facto under the grip of employers.
As a trade union struggle, Maruti workers fought heroically. Within a time span of few months, three consecutive strikes in a plant are truly rare. It reflects how strong the struggling aspiration & strength of the workers was! Till last day of the struggle, workers did not reflect any sort of weaknesses. In addition, during 3rd phase of the strike, workers of Suzuki Powertrain & Suzuki Motorcycles, another two units of Suzuki Group at Manesar, took part in the struggle & it made the whole struggle much stronger. Not only this, this incident brought forward a rare & exciting evidence of solidarity of the struggling workers across the country. Undoubtedly, workers had been able to combat one after another conspiracy of the employer to break their struggle on the basis of these strengths - they had been able to re-instate the employment of nearly thousand contract & trainee workers. But, even after such a strong fight, how it became possible that finally workers had to loose 30 leading workers including the whole of the executive committee members, rather let us say it in another way, what was the weapon of the employer & its allies by which they had been able to throw out 30 leading workers to break the unity of the workers & the union? Maruti-Suzuki workers, particularly their new leaders, have to solve this riddle, take the lesson from this experience - they must do it so that they can stand up again in the coming days with a new vigour & strength.
In this context, first of all, we won't be able & must not also, to explain the action of the leaders merely on the basis of threats & terrors unleashed by the management, though undoubtedly, it remained the main hurdle. We must admit that it was really a near-impossible task to remain undaunted during the horrible pressure the worker-leaders faced at Haryana Bhawan, & it is more relevant particularly for these workers, as because they are fresh, inexperienced & not tempered with previous struggles. Still, the question that remains is that, it was one thing to accept, under duress, the condition of keeping 30 workers under suspension; but, was it inevitable to agree with the condition of self-resignation of the leaders? If, for the sake of advancing the discussion, we accept that situation was such that it was inevitable to the leaders, then the question remains why the leaders did not face the workers. Had they faced the workers, explained to them under what situation they were forced to accept this condition, then that would have been the true role of the leaders; & had they done so, they would not require running away from the workers, workers would not have also been demoralized. On the other hand, they would have been able to provide this rich lesson to the mass of the workers that what an all-pervading powerful force they are fighting against.
The experience of Maruti-Suzuki struggle has brought forth once again in the forefront an old lesson. Maruti workers took the 100% perfect decision when they formed the new trade union organization by themselves. They did not allow any central trade union leader to sit on their head. Why they chose this path? Undoubtedly one of the main reasons behind this decision was their experiences of surrounding factories where they found that the exclusive role of external party leaders in trade union has been to destroy the spontaneous natural struggles of the workers by way of making compromises, virtually extending their co-operation with the employer. Secondly, from the experiences, workers were also learning that the in-fighting among the central trade unions to grab the hold of the unions are, in real life, bringing divisions among the workers. The narrow party-interest of all these organizations is becoming a hindrance to the unity of the mass of the workers, which in effect, are helping the management to unleash the attacks. Finally, the third reason is the most significant - it has been taught to the workers for a long time that they must follow the instructions of the leaders, i.e., the directions of the leaders are unquestionable & the role of the workers is only to obey the same. It would not be a mistake if we say that like the workers of many other factories, Maruti workers also took cognizance of this truth that to resist the attacks of the management, they need to form an independent union by themselves setting aside all central trade union leaders, i.e., they need to build a Union of the workers, not of the leaders. We must recognize, the implication of this decision is that the workers themselves can no more afford to remain passive, merely choose some people as their leaders (be it from inside, or from outside) & leave all the responsibilities to them. Maruti workers initiated this process, but could not complete it. They threw away all established central trade union leaders, new leaders from among the workers have also been emerged. But, is it not true that here again mass of the workers had placed those worker-leaders, like Sonu Gujjar, or Shivkumar, on their head? Did not they leave the right to decide the fate of the unions to these leaders? And, is it not the reason for which once the news of resignation of these leaders surfaced, how the mass of the workers had instantly broken with frustration & the Union also was on the verge of collapse? Is it not true that at that instant the question among the workers surfaced whom do we believe? Through their struggle, Maruti workers once again have forced us to remind the old lesson that workers must keep faith only on themselves, they all must take active part to decide all the policies of the union, to remain watchful on the committees - in a word, whoever be the leader/s, they would not be allowed to become the sole authority of the union. On the other hand, true leaders would be called those, who would lead the union as being an inseparable & integral part of the whole workers, & on the basis of the aspiration & opinion of the workers. Union would be led in such a way so that in a 1000-membered union, at least 150 workers would always remain prepared for being the executive committee members. Only in this way, a Union would be developed as a true workers union.
We know that workers of Maruti & two plants of Suzuki (who took part in the 3rd strike) had no previous experience of struggle. But, even after that, they continued three consecutive strikes in a very organized & skillful manner. Their primary strength lied in the struggling aspiration & the united strength of the mass of the workers, particularly that of the Maruti workers. They proved what the workers could do by themselves. However, if they would have some sort of experiences of struggle & an extent of consciousness, particularly among the leaders, they would definitely realize they the force they are fighting against is havoc, here the employers are not alone, they have the open assistance of the state - i.e. the police and administration; in addition they have the direct, or indirect tacit support of the established central trade unions. On the other hand, workers are combating this alliance isolatedly, thru' individual plant level trade union struggles & the resistance is becoming more & more uneven - an isolated, lone battle against such a powerful, centralized, state & party-assisted enemy. It is true for each & every recent plant level trade union struggle, & so virtually we do not find a single recent evidence, where even after a strong, organized & militant struggle, attacks could be properly resisted. In reality, in this era of globalization & liberalization, the whole capitalist class is unleashing the scathing attacks on the working class on the basis of such a common policy, unified planning & centralized manner, that it can only be resisted thru' a unified nationwide struggle of the whole of the working class. Undoubtedly, the leading conscious workers need to concentrate on this problem so that in the coming days this struggle can emerge & for which first of all they have to solve the issue of forging a strong unity of the whole working class. However, subject to the question of emergence of this bigger struggle, leading workers in today's plant level resistance, have to realize that as long as strength of the employer is government & administration, strength of the struggling workers lies among the workers of other plants. Most likely, in absence of experience or consciousness, for all practical purposes, leaders of Maruti-Suzuki struggle did not concentrate in this aspect. And it remained a very major weakness in such an otherwise very strong fight. If we look into a bit critically, we'll find that the task of reaching to the vast workers of Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt & making a sustained campaign among them so that their active support to this struggle can be achieved remained virtually unattended & neglected. It can be said without any hesitation that, had the spontaneous militant rally of at least 25-30,000 workers of different factories in solidarity of Maruti workers' struggle been able to shake this belt & had this mood of solidarity of the workers been reflected in those factories, the alliance of the employers would have thought twice before taking newer measures to break the struggle. In can also be said that Maruti leaders could not perceive how long the management could go. If at least two to five thousand workers would have remained present at the outside of Haryana Bhawan during the whole phase of negotiation, the management would not have dared to terrorize the leaders & the leaders also would have neither succumbed to the terrors of the management, nor would have thought about accepting the money.
In any case, the fact is that the workers of other local factories did/could not take part actively in solidarity to Maruti workers' struggle - the responsibility of this weakness lies more on workers of other factories than on Maruti workers. Why such thing could happen, when local workers knew it very well that the mighty MNC Maruti-Suzuki Corporation is head of the local Gurgaon-Manesar automobile industrial hub & hence these workers would not remain unaffected with the result of Maruti struggle. Was it so that these workers were indifferent to this struggle? Most probably not, at least it could not be the main problem. A minimum organization is required to unite workers of different factories. Old central TUs could have taken this role, but they have already lost this position. We have also seen that in a joint rally of 5-6,000 workers in support of Maruti struggle, they could not bring even 1,000 workers - most of the workers were from Maruti-Suzuki. In reality, in the question of motivating workers for the struggle, particularly, rallying workers of one factory in solidarity to the struggle of another one, these TU leaders have neither urge, nor ability. They don't have urge means they don't want to organize strong & effective solidarity programme of mass workers, as because they don't want to antagonize the employers - at the most, they can take some programme on the basis of a small organized obedient force solely for their own projection. At the other end, they don't have the ability means they have already lost all the trust & confidence of the workers, particularly of the struggling workers, lost all the ability to mobilize workers in the arena of struggle. So, for the sake of their own interest, workers have to take this task in their own hand. At this moment, this only can be the only solution of this problem. As workers of Maruti & some other factories have themselves built up their own unions in their factories setting aside all old central TUs, in the same way workers themselves have also to build up the unity of the workers of the locality. It is not at all impossible to build up at least a local industrial belt level permanent platform/organization of the advanced workers, cutting across all factories. Building up of this platform/organization is not only necessary, objectively possible also. Advanced workers can & will be able to build it. At every locality, these local platforms have to emerge as the most trusted leader of the workers. If the workers can build up such independent unity from below, at their own initiative, then it can be assured with full conviction that before unleashing attack on the workers at any plant, employers & their stooges, i e, the government-administration-police will have to think twice; at the same time, this will be the real force, depending on which struggling workers will also be able to remain strong & tight for the common general interests. The experience of the struggle of the Maruti-Suzuki workers, particularly of the happenings at the end, teaches all of us this specific & most significant lesson.
Hopefully, even though Maruti management has been able to throw conspiratorially 30 leading workers out of factory, workers have not dispersed/disintegrated. Once again, from the ashes of preliminary shocks & frustrations, they are trying to stand up on their own feet & have already formed a new workable committee. We firmly believe that even though Sonu Gujjar/Shivkumar have deserted, but newer Sonu-Shivkumars enriched with real-life experiences & thus with higher & developed consciousness, will definitely emerge from those workers who have the strength & determination to perform three consecutive strikes. We hope, workers of Maruti-Suzuki will march towards building up a truly workers' own union & be able to find true worker leaders. But they must not forget that this journey will not at all be easy for them.
Particularly since last few years it is widely seen that the primary target of the capitalist class, particularly of the big industrial houses, has been to curb the right to organize & struggle of the workers, crush the struggling unions - so that workers can not stand any more. They want only those unions which would make compromises with them. This was the reason for which Maruti management conspired to impose the pet union of Maruti, Gurgaon Plant on the workers of Maruti, Manesar Plant. Manesar workers had been able to resist this conspiracy. However, now if these workers do perceive that management have also learnt a lesson & would act cautiously from now on, that would be a grave mistake from the part of the workers. As because, character of the employers, particularly that of Maruti-Suzuki like mighty MNC employers, can never change. Their target is very clear - if they can not break the union in a straight way, they would definitely change their course of action & that would become much more dangerous for the workers. Most likely, they would try to evolve newer methods to degenerate struggling aspiration of the workers. Workers must remain cautious & careful for this. It is now to watch, whether in the coming days, combating all further conspiracies of the management, Maruti workers would be able to hold aloft firmly the flag of struggling union. Right now, this is the most important challenge before the Maruti workers, particularly to their new leaders. Workers of Gurgaon-Manesar area have also to stand firmly besides Maruti workers.
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