Articles

Honda Workers Take The Hunger Strike Route

Seven months running, and the ongoing strife between the workers and the management of the Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd (HMSI) seems far from being resolved. On February 16, 2016 when a contract worker was allegedly slapped by a senior official because he refused to work overtime third day in a row. In the
protests that followed
, over 3,000 workers were either terminated or suspended. There seemed to be some breakthrough when the Honda 2F management re-instated 256 workers in June and then 25 workers in September, but the protesting workers say that this was merely the facade of a compromise.

Now, the suspended and terminated workers made their way to the country capital and have decided to sit on an indefinite hunger strike.

“We have been struggling for over seven months. Now we are right here in the country’s capital and within the earshot of the central government, they will have to listen to us,” said Naresh Mehta, President of the Honda Motorcycle and Scooter 2F Kaamgar Union, at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

At the moment, 2,500 contract workers and more than 100 permanent workers remain suspended or terminated

The author can be contacted on Twitter @ManiraChaudhary
Also Read