Hrafn
2nd December 2013, 23:46
For those interested...
Alfa Laval (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Laval) is a major Swedish company. Since about two months, roughly 400 workers at their factory in have been on strike in Pune (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pune), western India. They went on strike two weeks after sending a letter to the company leadership on the 15th of September, in which the contracted workers demanded permanent employment. These workers are now on lockout, and are protesting at the factory gates.
Many of the workers are heavily in debt, in order to support their families. They receive wages of about 8,000 - 10,000 rupies, while permanently employees receive about three times as much. Meanwhile, Alfa Laval is denouncing the strike as unlawful, and are spreading various lies, as well as blaming the issue on various subcontractors.
Last December, a worker was killed at the factory, and apparently overpay from 2012 hasn't been given to anyone. The conditions are, overall, rather terrible, to put it mildly. Here's a story from the workers.
The workers say they feel helpless and they are worn out, given that it is now almost 2 months that they sit in front of the factory gate with no response from the management. Also, the nights are getting colder in Pune and the city saw some heavy rainfalls in the last days. The workers are 24 hours in the tent in front of the factory, most of the time 100 or 200 at the same time. Anuj Kumar, 35, is one of them. He comes, like many workers in the factory, from rural areas around Pune and got a diploma as a wielder from one of the Indian Technological Institutes run by the state.
Kumar has two children and he has to pay rent from his small salary of around 100 Euros per month. He works for Alva Laval since 15 years. He points at the factory and he says "This is not just a workplace for us, we feel this is our house, our home, because we spent so much time here". Relatives help out with money, so the family can make a living without a wage during the strike. But this is a situation familiar to Kumar.
Whenever Alfa Laval does not need his work, he is delayed for some time, without prior notice. In this time, he has to find other jobs in other factories and then suddenly they call him again and need his workforce urgently. He says its absurd that sometimes permanent workers that earn triple of his income come to him and ask him for technical details of the work. He feels that his skills and his work experience are not recognized by the company, because he is still in this insecure position, after all these years.
The workers who earn just this small amount of money live in small houses with 1 or 2 rooms. In these districts where they can afford the rent, the water supply is irregular and power cuts of sometimes a few hours a day are normal.
A few days ago, a solidarity protest was organized in Lund, Sweden, by the company headquarters. Photos and a statement can be found here: http://motarbetaren.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/616/ (in English). Similar things are being planed, relatively speaking, elsewhere. There has been feedback from the Indian workers on this, and it is highly positive. Work such as this is important.
Photos from the strike, from Alfa Laval, and from solidarity actions can be found here (https://www.facebook.com/stodstrejkenpaalfalaval). The page is partly in Swedish, partly in English, and has some info too. Like, share, and if you want - go to Alfa Laval's own page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alfa-Laval/171132542929029?fref=ts)) (in English) and spread the solidarity.
Some articles in Swedish left-wing media (in Swedish):
http://www.friatidningen.se/artikel/112768
http://arbetaren.se/artiklar/400-i-strejk-pa-alfa-laval-i-indien/
The AL response (in English):
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/protest-illegal-unjustified-alfa-laval-management/1191843
Alfa Laval (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Laval) is a major Swedish company. Since about two months, roughly 400 workers at their factory in have been on strike in Pune (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pune), western India. They went on strike two weeks after sending a letter to the company leadership on the 15th of September, in which the contracted workers demanded permanent employment. These workers are now on lockout, and are protesting at the factory gates.
Many of the workers are heavily in debt, in order to support their families. They receive wages of about 8,000 - 10,000 rupies, while permanently employees receive about three times as much. Meanwhile, Alfa Laval is denouncing the strike as unlawful, and are spreading various lies, as well as blaming the issue on various subcontractors.
Last December, a worker was killed at the factory, and apparently overpay from 2012 hasn't been given to anyone. The conditions are, overall, rather terrible, to put it mildly. Here's a story from the workers.
The workers say they feel helpless and they are worn out, given that it is now almost 2 months that they sit in front of the factory gate with no response from the management. Also, the nights are getting colder in Pune and the city saw some heavy rainfalls in the last days. The workers are 24 hours in the tent in front of the factory, most of the time 100 or 200 at the same time. Anuj Kumar, 35, is one of them. He comes, like many workers in the factory, from rural areas around Pune and got a diploma as a wielder from one of the Indian Technological Institutes run by the state.
Kumar has two children and he has to pay rent from his small salary of around 100 Euros per month. He works for Alva Laval since 15 years. He points at the factory and he says "This is not just a workplace for us, we feel this is our house, our home, because we spent so much time here". Relatives help out with money, so the family can make a living without a wage during the strike. But this is a situation familiar to Kumar.
Whenever Alfa Laval does not need his work, he is delayed for some time, without prior notice. In this time, he has to find other jobs in other factories and then suddenly they call him again and need his workforce urgently. He says its absurd that sometimes permanent workers that earn triple of his income come to him and ask him for technical details of the work. He feels that his skills and his work experience are not recognized by the company, because he is still in this insecure position, after all these years.
The workers who earn just this small amount of money live in small houses with 1 or 2 rooms. In these districts where they can afford the rent, the water supply is irregular and power cuts of sometimes a few hours a day are normal.
A few days ago, a solidarity protest was organized in Lund, Sweden, by the company headquarters. Photos and a statement can be found here: http://motarbetaren.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/616/ (in English). Similar things are being planed, relatively speaking, elsewhere. There has been feedback from the Indian workers on this, and it is highly positive. Work such as this is important.
Photos from the strike, from Alfa Laval, and from solidarity actions can be found here (https://www.facebook.com/stodstrejkenpaalfalaval). The page is partly in Swedish, partly in English, and has some info too. Like, share, and if you want - go to Alfa Laval's own page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alfa-Laval/171132542929029?fref=ts)) (in English) and spread the solidarity.
Some articles in Swedish left-wing media (in Swedish):
http://www.friatidningen.se/artikel/112768
http://arbetaren.se/artiklar/400-i-strejk-pa-alfa-laval-i-indien/
The AL response (in English):
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/protest-illegal-unjustified-alfa-laval-management/1191843