Maruti's Manesar unit workers demand five-fold rise in pay

Emboldened by the recognition of their union, workers at Maruti Suzuki India’s Manesar plant are understood to have demanded a hike in their basic salaries, as high as five times in some cases, ahead of the scheduled wage negotiations with the management.

According to sources close to the development, the newly formed Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union (MSWU) has submitted a list of about 20 demands to the management for consideration while finalising the three-year wage settlement agreement.

“The union submitted their list to the management last week. Among the major ones, the workers are demanding raise in basic salaries that can be as high as five times more in some cases,” a source said.

The workers have also asked for linking of dearness allowance to basic pay instead of a fixed amount being given currently, the source added.

When contacted, MSWU general secretary Sarabjeet Singh said: “We have submitted our demand list to the company management on April 18. It has about 20-22 different points.”

He, however, refused to disclose anything about the demands, saying MSWU is yet to start negotiations with the management.

According to an employee at the Manesar plant, a permanent worker with a designation of junior associate-1 draws a total salary of Rs 15,000 to Rs 17,000 a month.

“Out of this total amount, basic pay is Rs 5,000, travelling allowance is Rs 1,600, HRA is around Rs 1,400 and Rs 200 for washing our clothes.

“The major component is a variable performance-linked allowance of Rs 7,000 to Rs 9,000,” he added.

Besides these, the workers get a fixed DA of Rs 150 every month, he claimed.

On April 12, MSI had said it is likely to finalise the wage negotiation agreements at Gurgaon and Manesar plants by the end of May and it will be implemented with retrospective effect from this month.

Siddiqui said MSI has started wage negotiations for a three-year period with its workers at  Gurgaon, while the same for the Manesar plant was to start within the next 2-3 weeks.