Maruti Manesar plant temporary workers too demand wage hike

New Delhi: Temporary workers at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant on Saturday protested in front of factory demanding hike in wages, a day after the management signed a three-year settlement with permanent employees.

According to sources, around 300 temporary workers, who came for the first shift in the morning, came out shouting slogans demanding wage hikes similar to those given to the permanent employees.

The company's management reached on Thursday a settlement with permanent workers of Gurgaon and Manesar plants, including those of Suzuki Powertrain, over increasing wages by Rs 16,800 per month spread over next three years.

Company sources said impact on production due to the protest by temporary workers was "insignificant", however, the management assured them of looking into their concerns.

"During the course of the day, the production was carried out as normal," a source added.

At present, there are about 1,000 temporary workers at the Manesar plant, which had witnessed a violent worker unrest in July 2012 and killing of an HR manager.

Under the wage agreement with permanent workers signed on Thursday night, the average salary hike per person is around Rs 16,800 per month, of which Rs 8,400 will be given in the first year and Rs 4,200 each in the second and third years.

The agreement is valid from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2018. Talks between the workers and the management had been on since April this year.

Maruti Suzuki has a total of around 2,700-2,800 temporary workers at its plants at Gurgaon and Manesar.

Earlier, in September 2012, the company had signed the wage settlement pact with its Gurgaon workers under which workers were given an average salary hike of Rs 18,000 per month spread over three years.