India's Maruti workers locked out over 'sabotage'

Production at a Maruti Suzuki plant halted on Monday as India's top carmaker locked out its workers, demanding they sign a "good conduct" pledge following alleged sabotage, the company said. The Japanese-controlled company said it had asked all workers to sign what it called a "good conduct" bond, promising they would not sabotage production, resort to go-slow tactics or otherwise hamper output at its Manesar plant.
"Production is right now at a stop," said a company spokesman, who declined to be named, citing company policy. It was the third dispute to affect production at Maruti in three months. The 2,000 workers were not being allowed back into the factory, one of two operated by Maruti in the northern Indian state of Haryana, until they had signed the pledge, the company said.
Workers denied the allegations of sabotaging production at the company which sells nearly half of all new cars in India. The company spokesman said 10 workers had been suspended and five fired last week for "sabotaging production and deliberately causing quality problems" at the Manesar plant, which rolls out 1,200 vehicles every day in two shifts.
The production problems were discovered during quality-control checks and included doors falling off and dents in car bodies, according to the firm. "We have done no such thing. It is completely baseless," said Arvind Kumar, who is part of the unrecognised Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU).
In the three days to August 25, the company produced only 1,570 cars, less than half of the planned 3,700, said a company executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. Of these, only 969 cars were cleared after quality checks. Maruti produces the Swift and A-Star hatchbacks, and the SX4 sedan at the Manesar plant.
"The situation had reached a stage where it was directly harming customers' interest and trust," the spokesman told AFP. "Talks are on but it is a very serious matter if buyers' lives are at risk." In June, 11 days' worth of production was lost, costing the company nearly $93 million, after workers downed tools demanding recognition of a new union and the reinstatement of dismissed workers. In July, production was again halted for a day due to a labour dispute at the plant.