By Media Collective for TwoCircles.net
At 5.30 am on April 6, 2017, Shatrughan Prasad, a contract worker at SPM Autocomp Systems Pvt. Ltd. got accidentally caught in a conveyor belt. For over an hour, he pleaded to be cut free. But the supervisors refused to cut the belt without the management’s permission because the belt was considered expensive.
Two hours later, the belt was finally cut when gathered workers resorted to a ‘tool down’. But there was no ambulance to take Shatrughan to the hospital. He lay severely injured at the gate for another hour and a half. He was pronounced dead on arrival by the time he was taken to the nearest Rockland hospital at the Industrial Model Township, Manesar.
The management called the police to suppress the worker protest that followed. Later, an FIR was lodged against 33 union leaders from nearby factories who had joined the protest in support. Hundred unknown workers are also mentioned in this FIR. Shatrughan’s family received a compensation of Rs 8 lakh from the company thanks to the workers’ agitation. However, the agreement made by the company to give the family Rs 5,000 per month till the minor son turns 21 years old has not been honoured.
SPM Autocomp Systems Pvt. Ltd. located in Manesar, Haryana is a manufacturer of Exhaust Manifold, an automobile engine component. SPM primarily caters to Maruti Suzuki but also to Tata Motors, Hyundai, Ford, General Motors, Fiat and Honda among others.
Shatrughan’s death precipitated the workers at SPM to form a Union that could address the lack of occupational safety for workers in their factory, the precarious nature of work for the over 200 contract workers and management’s intimidation of workers who are vocal against exploitative practices.
On 18th September 2017, the union body workers submitted the application for registering the Union at the Chandigarh Registrar. Of the 185 permanent workers in SPM’s employment, 65 had signed the registration of the union at the time of submitting the file. Less than a month after, ten workers fighting to unionise were suspended by the company. A complaint regarding this suspension was registered by the workers with the Labour Department, the hearings for which are ongoing.
The SPM management, in response to the Labour Department’s notice regarding the suspension, claims to have transferred the workers. As a result, the application for registering the Union has been rejected on the grounds that all the union body office bearers have been transferred.
On January 18, 2018, the suspended workers protested against this in front of the deputy labour commissioner RK Saini’s office with posters and black bands over their mouths. This is an interview with a group of workers from SPM who wish to remain anonymous conducted by the Media Collective (MC).
Media Collective: Why do you want to form a Union?
Workers: We want to form a Union to first and foremost address the fact that no safety standards for workers are observed in the SPM factory. There have been multiple instances of injuries and accidents. It is often that workers have their hands or legs cut. Just the other day, someone’s finger got chopped off. SPM management may help arrange the first visit to a local doctor, but after that, the worker is completely on his own. If you can’t work after the injury, the management will dismiss you. We don’t even get paid for the days we miss work due to injury.
When we ask why, SPM management says– “No work, no pay.” They, in fact, blame us for getting injured. After Shatrughan’s death, we realised that we cannot work for a management that hasn’t the least concern for its own workers.
Today, Shatrughan has died. Tomorrow, it could be one of us. After his passing, we decided to apply to form a Union. If we have to die, then we might as well die after having achieved something. Why should we die just like that, without cause?
Even if safety is taken care of, our wages are unjust. The Rs 8,000 salary that the management thinks is sufficient is not enough to run our lives. Inflation is high and we have families to take care of. We will be able to push for higher wages if we have a Union.
MC – What kind of safety equipment do workers use in SPM?
Workers: We have no regular access to safety gears like a helmet, nose mask, gloves, ear plugs or goggles. They provide us with gears only on the days when there is an external audit. SPM management gets undue prior information about these audit dates because there is collusion and corruption across the chain of inspection. On those days we get safety equipment. Otherwise, we won’t get one even if we explicitly ask for it.
MC: What are your work shifts?
Workers: We have three shifts of 8 hours each – 7 am to 3 pm, 3 pm to 11 pm and 11 pm to 7 am. These are called A, B and C shifts. Those who work in the machine shop have these shifts, but workers who move materials and make casts have to work for 12 hours for 365 days.
We don’t get holidays. They put us on shift on Sundays as well which means often we work 30 days a month. If we refuse to comply, they tell us that we are not required to come to work on the following day. We don’t have any say in such situations.
If another worker is absent, we will have to work two shifts, which is 16 hours of work. We get single pay and not double pay for overtime as stipulated by law. We don’t get meals during C shift, which workers are provided for in other companies. We only get tea once during this shift, and that tea tastes like hot water. There is no rest area where we can take a break, sit down and drink tea. We stand near the machines and drink our tea. The production is already at a high level but the company wants 100% production.
MC: Why are the workers being targeted by the company with suspensions and transfers?
Workers: Because we are trying to form a Union. We have been suspended for more than two months now. Before that, 20 workers were forcibly transferred to keep them from participating in any agitation against the company. A few other workers, who were pushing for unionising were forced to resign in June 2017. There had been the talk of forming a Union as early as 2016, but SPM management ousted the workers immediately after hearing about the attempt.
SPM management held meetings to dissuade us from forming the Union. They told us that our demands will be met if we gave up on organising workers to set up the Union. They use a lot of intimidating tactics like hiring bouncers who live in the factory premises. They also bring the Sarpanch from nearby villages for court hearings. These people have nothing to do with the matter other than to intimidate us with their presence. There has been a culture of abusing workers and slapping them. The workers are intimidated so much that it is very difficult to stand up to the company. Those who do are beaten up.
However, we don’t intend to stop our efforts to form this independent Union. We are not affiliated with any other trade Union. Our intention is not violence, but to ensure that the SPM worker can work with freedom and integrity.
MC: Are the contract workers in SPM part of the initiative to form this Union?
Workers: Contract workers cannot officially fight along with us to form the Union. They will be fired immediately because of the precarious nature of their employment. However, they are very much a part of this struggle. The second demand on our list of demands is to get permanent jobs for the 240 contract workers who have been working as temporary workers for the past 12-13 years. They do as much work as us, and they are our saathis (comrades).
MC: What has been happening in the court hearings?
Workers: Nothing. We keep getting new hearing dates. We are being accused of negligence at work and sleeping in the factory. Our case is usually heard for twenty minutes to half an hour. Then we are assigned the next dates. They don’t even inform us of the exact timing of the next hearing. The hearings commence whenever the management people arrive. We take up daily wage work to manage our expenses during this period of suspension. We have to leave this work on the days we have to appear in court. We leave all our work to come here but the management will finish all its commitments for the day before appearing. We are all from different places. Some of us are from UP and Bihar. Others are from Orissa, Bengal, Haryana, and Rajasthan. We come from many different places to work in these companies. We are forced to struggle for our lives. But we will not tolerate this dictatorship of the management.
Media Collective is an association of individuals and groups using diverse creative mediums as a mode of interaction with people’s struggles and politics.