Check out video of the protests by Maruti Suzuki workers and activists in front of Haryana Bhavan in Delhi on May 18th:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/55OtvrAOIys]

Different organizations including Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, KNS (Krantikari Nawjana Sabha) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) have been behind the protests going on for several months against the repressive measures by the Maruti Suzuki Management as well as the Haryana government under Chief Minister Hooda. The Haryana Government has unleashed brutal aggression on the peaceful protesters, who have been demanding the immediate release of all those arrested under false premises, most recently on the night of May 19th, to prevent workers from joining a dharna the next day on May 20th. Despite the arrests to try and intimidate the Maruti Suzuki Workers and activists, the protest in front of Haryana Bhavan went on as planned. But once again the Hooda Government showed its true color by exposing its dirty nexus with the capitalists.

On May 20, when the protesters tried to reach the ministers’ office, they were attacked by policemen who lathicharged the unarmed protesters, injuring several of them, while some were reportedly arrested as well.

Photo Courtesy: Radical Notes

The demands are absolutely legitimate, since it is the legal and ethical right of workers to get organized. But the Maruti Suzuki management has created the trouble by not allowing the workers to form their new union. Instead, with help from the Hooda government, MarutiSuzuki management fired several permanent workers, who are still jobless (thanks to the jobless “growth” under the neo liberal economic onslaught anyway). Many workers  and activists have been threatened by the police and harassed, like arresting them from their homes and that too late at night. This naturally helps because when they nab the protesters individually, they are at their vulnerable most. Therefore, the workers are demanding immediate reinstatement of the fired permanent workers and making all the casual ones permanent with immediate effect. Activists suggest that this movement has been one of the brightest examples of working class unity in recent times, whereby not only casual workers’ rights have come to the fore from permanent workers but also the highly spirited way the workers are protesting from an anti capitalist viewpoint.