ckaihatsu
12th December 2016, 13:14
Free the Maruti-Suzuki 11 Unionists in India; Please Endorse the Open Letter to India's Ambassador in Washington!
Appeal to the Indian Government:
Free the Maruti-Suzuki 11!
Open Letter to Indian Ambassador in Washington
(to be delivered in person to Indian Embassy in DC
and Indian Consulates Across the United States)
Attention:
H.E. Ambassador Navtej Sarna
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 2006
Email: [email protected]
Dear Ambassador Navtej Sarna,
We -- the undersigned trade unionists, activists, and supporters of labor and democratic rights -- call upon you to relay to the authorities in New Delhi our emphatic appeal to free the 11 Maruti-Suzuki workers who are still languishing in jail for no other reason than they helped to form an independent trade union -- the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) -- to defend the interests of the workers in their plant.
We have been informed by the organizers of the Mumbai Conference Against War, Privatisation and Precarious Labour -- which gathered on November 18-20, 2016, with the participation and active support of unionists and activists in 44 countries -- that when the Maruti factory in Manesar (Haryana) was privatized in 2002, coming under the control of the Suzuki Corporation, working conditions deteriorated rapidly, with 75% of the workforce becoming precarious workers without any social protections.
We were informed that the workers began to build an independent trade union, the MSWU, uniting the permanent workers and the precariously employed workers. In 2011, the trade union began to take steps to be recognized legally. After a series of demonstrations and strikes, the trade union was recognized, but management refused any discussion on the demands for regularizing precarious jobs. Then in July 2012, management organized a series of provocations aimed at breaking the union and preventing workers from gaining back their permanent jobs with benefits.
Dear Ambassador Sarna,
Four-and-a half years after the company organized these provocations, 11 workers still remain in jail.
This is unacceptable. Workers everywhere must have the right, as stipulated in ILO Conventions, to organize the union of their choosing and to enter into collective bargaining to improve the wages and working conditions. They also must enjoy basic labor and democratic rights to prevent management from framing the workers in their drive to bust the union.
We are aware that foreign corporations in India are demanding that India's High Court rule in favor of the company and keep these 11 workers in jail. They warn that it would "send the wrong signal to foreign investors" if the rights of the Maruti-Suzuki workers were respected.
For our part, we insist that these workers' rights must be respected and enforced. We call upon you, Mr. Ambassador, to convey to the highest authorities in India our firm insistence that the 11 jailed Maruti-Suzuki workers must be freed immediately!
Sincerely yours,
Initial Signatories
Colia Lafayette Clark and Alan Benjamin
Members in the United States of the
Continuations Committee,
Mumbai Conference Against War,
Exploitation and Precarious Labour
[Follows list of other signatories]
* * * * * * * * * *
ENDORSEMENT COUPON
[ ] I endorse the Open Letter to India's Ambassador to the United States and authorize my name to be submitted to the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, and to Indian Consulates across the United States in support of the appeal to free the Maruti-Suzuki 11
NAME
UNION / ORGANIZATION (please list if for id. only)
CITY
STATE
EMAIL
(please fill out and return ASAP to [email protected])
Free the Maruti Suzuki 11! copy.pdf
336K
Appeal to the Indian Government:
Free the Maruti-Suzuki 11!
Open Letter to Indian Ambassador in Washington
(to be delivered in person to Indian Embassy in DC
and Indian Consulates Across the United States)
Attention:
H.E. Ambassador Navtej Sarna
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 2006
Email: [email protected]
Dear Ambassador Navtej Sarna,
We -- the undersigned trade unionists, activists, and supporters of labor and democratic rights -- call upon you to relay to the authorities in New Delhi our emphatic appeal to free the 11 Maruti-Suzuki workers who are still languishing in jail for no other reason than they helped to form an independent trade union -- the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) -- to defend the interests of the workers in their plant.
We have been informed by the organizers of the Mumbai Conference Against War, Privatisation and Precarious Labour -- which gathered on November 18-20, 2016, with the participation and active support of unionists and activists in 44 countries -- that when the Maruti factory in Manesar (Haryana) was privatized in 2002, coming under the control of the Suzuki Corporation, working conditions deteriorated rapidly, with 75% of the workforce becoming precarious workers without any social protections.
We were informed that the workers began to build an independent trade union, the MSWU, uniting the permanent workers and the precariously employed workers. In 2011, the trade union began to take steps to be recognized legally. After a series of demonstrations and strikes, the trade union was recognized, but management refused any discussion on the demands for regularizing precarious jobs. Then in July 2012, management organized a series of provocations aimed at breaking the union and preventing workers from gaining back their permanent jobs with benefits.
Dear Ambassador Sarna,
Four-and-a half years after the company organized these provocations, 11 workers still remain in jail.
This is unacceptable. Workers everywhere must have the right, as stipulated in ILO Conventions, to organize the union of their choosing and to enter into collective bargaining to improve the wages and working conditions. They also must enjoy basic labor and democratic rights to prevent management from framing the workers in their drive to bust the union.
We are aware that foreign corporations in India are demanding that India's High Court rule in favor of the company and keep these 11 workers in jail. They warn that it would "send the wrong signal to foreign investors" if the rights of the Maruti-Suzuki workers were respected.
For our part, we insist that these workers' rights must be respected and enforced. We call upon you, Mr. Ambassador, to convey to the highest authorities in India our firm insistence that the 11 jailed Maruti-Suzuki workers must be freed immediately!
Sincerely yours,
Initial Signatories
Colia Lafayette Clark and Alan Benjamin
Members in the United States of the
Continuations Committee,
Mumbai Conference Against War,
Exploitation and Precarious Labour
[Follows list of other signatories]
* * * * * * * * * *
ENDORSEMENT COUPON
[ ] I endorse the Open Letter to India's Ambassador to the United States and authorize my name to be submitted to the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, and to Indian Consulates across the United States in support of the appeal to free the Maruti-Suzuki 11
NAME
UNION / ORGANIZATION (please list if for id. only)
CITY
STATE
(please fill out and return ASAP to [email protected])
Free the Maruti Suzuki 11! copy.pdf
336K