HYUNDAI WORKERS INDEFINITE STRIKE

More than 1300 Hyundai employees at company’s Sriperumbudur unit have gone on an indefinite fast to protest the absence of anti labor policies of the management. Members of Hyundai Motors India Employees Union went on fast in front of the office of Commissioner of Labour in chennai. The employees had been staging an indefinite strike since April 20. They are demanding recognition and solution to certain labour related issues. "After participating in four conciliation meetings, the representatives from the management did not come for the last three meetings. Therefore, we went on an indefinite fast today," CITU Tamil Nadu President A Sounderrajan, who is also the President of the Hyundai employees union, said.

Hyundai Motor India, which employees some 3000 precarious workers, has a history of labor rights abuses in their plants. The company recently terminated the contracts of some 600 workers, some who had worked at the plant for almost 4 years, just prior to them receiving permanent status.

Since July 2007, in response to the formation of the HMIEU, trade union leaders, members and supporters have suffered from dismissals, suspensions and transfers and workers have faced management's widespread use of threats, harassment and intimidation for joining a union. Currently 65 workers have been fired for their union activities and 34 more are in the process of being dismissed.

Approximately 1200 permanent workers, out of a total of 1500 permanent employees, and a large number of precarious workers are supporting the strike.

Among the contract demands, workers are calling for:

* Union recognition and a collective bargaining agreement;
* Equal treatment of all workers;
* Reinstatement of all precarious workers fired as a result of the company's response to the economic crisis or those fired in an effort to deny them permanent status;
* Reinstatement of union members and officers unfairly fired, transferred or suspended and the withdrawal of all charges pending against them.

CPI (M) State secretary N.Varadarajan on Tuesday sought Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi’s intervention to bring to an end the fast by employees of the Hyundai car factory.