NEW DELHI: The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today sacked 11 employees at Manesar facility, which has been crippled by a strike since Saturday resulting in a production loss of about 1,800 units so far.
"The services of 11 persons, who were inciting workers to go on an illegal strike and created an atmosphere where safety of people was in danger, have been terminated," MSI Chairman R C Bhargava told .
He said the workers had gone on strike without any notice, but added the management is continuing the dialogue with the striking workers.
Refusing to accept the worker's demand, Bhargava said: "There is no other union... If they have any issue, they should have at first written to us and discussed with us".
He, however, said the company is hopeful of finding an amicable solution soon.
According to some workers, the sacked employees include eight office bearers of the newly formed union, Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU), besides three other workers.
"We will resist any forcible move to evict those 11 people from the factory premises... The strike will continue," an agitator said.
Meanwhile, production at the plant came to a complete halt and the company is estimated to have incurred a loss of about 1,800 units so far as the workers' strike continued for the third day with no signs of immediate breakthrough.
The Manesar plant rolls out about 1,200 units every day in two shifts. The factory produces hatchbacks Swift and A-Star and sedans DZiRE and SX4.
"The situation remains the same as of now (as yesterday's)," a company spokesperson said.
MSEU General Secretary Shiv Kumar, who has also been sacked, claimed that the management last held discussions with them on Saturday regarding their demands.
"Today no talks happened with us. Instead, the management issued a notice informing about the termination... We will continue our strike till our all demands are met," he added.
The strike comes at a time when MSI has seen slowing down of sales as the auto industry grapples with challenges of rising fuel prices and interest rates.
In May, MSI's domestic sales grew by just 3.9 per cent to 93,519 units from 90,041 units in May, 2010.
The strike at MSI is an addition to the growing number of incidents of labour unrest across the Indian auto industry.
Earlier this year, a 50-day long strike since March 16 by a section of workers at the General Motor's Halol plant cost the firm to lose production of 2,000-2,500 units. The same plant came to a halt for four days when workers went on a strike from October 29, 2010, demanding wage hikes and the total production losses amounted to 450 units.
