Employ workers from Haryana demand Maruti's labour union

Maruti seems to be in news more often than not, as there has been a long standing strife between the company and its investors over the Gujarat plant issue. Meanwhile, another issue has cropped up to add to their woes. Maruti’s labour union has placed its demand to the company officials for hiring temporary workers from Haryana at the upcoming plant in Gujarat.

The demand of the Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (MUKU) also emphasises on not hiring locals from Gujarat. This could be another blow to the company on the proposed new plant in Gujarat. 

"We have around 4,000 temporary staff and these should be the first ones to get an opportunity at the Gujarat plant," said Kuldeep Jhangu, general secretary of the Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (MUKU) that controls the company's key Gurgaon plant.

Justifying their demand, Jhangu said the temp workers working in Maruti should have the first right to any new employment opportunity. "We have workers from various places like Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. They should get a chance," Jhangu told TOI.

He added that it is for the benefit of the company to hire these temp staff as they are they are technically sound and mature.

However, this demand will be very difficult to meet for the company as they would look forward to hiring local staff. Hiring only temp staff and no locals won’t go down well with the Gujarat government either.

The company’s volatile clashes with its union in 2012 resulted in a lot of losses with production coming to a halt and death of a senior management official. It will be interesting to see how Maruti tackles this issue and what the parent company has to say about it.