Maruti settles 13-day strike at Manesar plant; stock rises

NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki late on Thursday night settled the 13-day-old strike at its Manesar plant. The plant will start production from Saturday. According to the agreement, Maruti has agreed to reinstate all 11 sacked employees. The striking staff will lose salary only for a few days and not for the entire duration of the strike. The carmaker has not taken a decision on recognising the new workers union. Production loss at the carmaker so far is estimated to be over . 600 crore, with over 13,200 units less produced.

At 9:25 am, shares of Maruti Suzuki India were trading 2.45% up at Rs 1218.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It touced a high of Rs 1233.35 and a low of Rs 1215.30 in trade so far.

Earlier, All India Trade Union Congress general secretary and CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said “There will be no reference to the management's decision of not allowing trade union activities at the plant,” Dasgupta said. AITUC Gurgaon district president Suresh Gaur said other employee unions in the industrial belt will continue their protest. They will work empty stomach on Friday and hold a two-hour tool-down strike on June 20. About 2,000 workers at the country’s largest carmaker began the strike on June 4 demanding the recognition of a new union — Maruti Suzuki Employees Union. The Haryana state government also helped in settling the issue. The strike paralyzed production for Maruti’s high selling models – Swift, DZire, Sx4 and A-Star – and extended their waiting period beyond six months.