Last year, in October, in the weld shop,during the B shift at 11:15 at night,
one manager kicked one of the workers.
The next day, the workers in A shiftstopped work at 9 o'clock in the morning,
in protest against the incident of kicking.
Only after the manager who had kickedapologised in front of all the workers,
the work began again at 2:00 in the afternoon.
The workers of the B shift also stopped work.
The manager apologised again and only thenthe work started at 7:30 in the evening,
As a consequence of the one day stoppage of work,a loss of Rs. 80,000,000 in production.
Is it difficult to find workin the village as a plummer?
It was because work became unavailablein the village that I had to come out here.
In the village there are people to do thefarming, so why should we sit around without work?
So we think, let us get out. So we came here.
It is a small town. There are so many trainedplumbers that you cannot find work.
That's why I came here, otherwise Iwould have continued to live there.
Can you show me one time whatyou do at the hand press?
Do you know where do these productsgo after you have done this work?
My business is to do thework and give it to the owner.
What could this be?
It is for a car - Maruti.
So you work for Maruti Suzuki?
In Maruti, workers get Rs. 30,000per month and you work for Maruti?
We make the pieces for Maruti. If wedon't do this, how will the make Maruti?
How old are you?
I am 17.
But I was desperate, and I told a lie at the job
It is so difficult in my family.There is no one to earn
except me and my older sister.
My father lives, but he has knee problems.He does not work.
I have a younger brother. We are educating him.
So I told them at work that I was 19.
That's how I got the Job.
Otherwise they would not have let me.
Was your first job in a factory?
Yes. It was an export company.I learnt the work there.
You learnt sewing work?
Actually, I had learnt sewing workin the village for 2 years.
Then I had to learn it here again.
You started to learn sewingwhen you were 14 years old.
No, when I was 12 when I started.
In the factory the first 2-3 months are aprobation period, so you had to work very hard?
How many hours did you work?
For 6 months I worked continuouslyfrom 9:00 a. m. to 1:00 a. m.
There was no holiday?
No, there was no holiday.
Because of that I had health problems - breathingproblems. I had to be treated for 1 year.
What do you do?- Operator.
Do you make a whole shirt or just one part?
One part.
How long have you been working in this factory?
For 6 months.
Where did you work before?
Before that I worked in another factory. Brown.
What do they make?
Medicines.
Why have you left the jobin the pharmaceutical company?
Because I did not earn much money.
How much?- Rs 2,500.
And I had to work a lot.
My bones used to hurt.
Then I had to work with medicines.I did not like it. I felt I could not breathe.
What do you earn per month?
For an 8 hour day, Rs 4,200 per month.
You give all your salary to your family?
Can you keep some money for yourself?
I give all the money to my family.
I keep about Rs. 400-500 for myself.
The rest I give.
So you get Rs. 5,500. What are your expenses?What rent do you pay?
Rs. 850
But you live together with someone?
We are three, so my rent costs are Rs. 300.
What do you need for living costs?
For food I manage in Rs. 2,000 - Rs, 2,200.
If you smoke and drink, those expensescan be increased as much as you want.
But I live simply so I manage within Rs. 2000.
Apart from this, for medicine?
If we fall ill, there is no tellinghow much money we will need.
One does not know what the doctors will charge.
But how much money can youapproximately save in a month?
About Rs. 3,000. If someone earns Rs. 6,000,he can save Rs. 3,500.
If someone earns Rs. 4,000,they can save Rs. 2,000.
Do you send money to the village?
Yes, I have to send some to my parents.
In Delhi it is quite difficult to find work.
The population is growing so muchthat there is shortage of employment.
I have a home in Delhi,but i am forced to live in a room here -
for the sake of work, for money.
How many hours do you work?
8 hours a day and after that - overtime.Till midnight.
Sometimes it can take the whole night.
Or 4 hrs overtime daily. We get single overtime.
Usually single overtime?
Most single.
Sometimes for two hours we get double- only for 2 hours.
Is is usual to work for 12 hrs?
Yes, 12 hrs is usual for everybody.
Whether it is a helper or somebody else.It is usual to work 12 hrs.
What is your normal salary per month?
Normally, it is Rs. 6000-7000.Including overtime and everything else.
What do the helpers get?
Rs. 3500 - 3800.
Including night shifts and overtime it comes toabout Rs. 5000 - 5500.
In the factory there are peoplefrom Bihar and other areas.
Does this create a problem between people?Any tension?
No. No tension between people.
Everybody works together like brothers.Nothing like that.
Good.
Everybody lives together.
In companies there are some troubles- because of work and money.
We do not get fair payment.
In Bangladesh,the anger of the workers erupted again.
In a factory in the central region of Bangladesh,dispute over outstanding wage,
increase in wages and reappointment in jobs,took a violent turn on 27 June.
Some bosses were beaten up. The policereleased tear gas shells to disperse the crowds.
Workers blocked the National Highway.The auxiliary force of the police fired bullets.
One worker was killed. The workers frommany factories came out on the roads.
Most of the workers from Dhaka area were on theroads, but work was going on in some factories.
These factories became the targets of the workers'attacks, and 50 factories were set on fire.
So after working for 16 hours,how does your body and mind feel?
It is very simple. If we work hard for 16 hours,we go straight to bed and sleep.
We eat and drink whatever is there- hot or cold - and go to sleep.
If we feel exhausted, we go and get a medicinefor bodyache and go back to our job.
If you don't turn up for the job,you will get thrown out.
If you get to work in time, they will enteryour attendance, then they make you work.
And when they make you work - if the day beforeI worked in the company till 2:00 a.m.,
and my body hurts - it does not matter.They make you work as much as any other day.
What pains do you have in your body?
With the body, it is that suddenlymy stomach started to hurt.
I took a tablet and went to the company.
Once I sit at my machine,but if my output is less, this does not suit him.
He wants to get maximum work,according to the target.
He wants to have as much targetfrom me today as he had yesterday.
Do you have other complaints besides the stomach?
There are many complaints.They do not give us clean water to drink.
By drinking dirty waterwe catch a cold, or get a fever
and headache and many things go on in or insides.We get all kinds of illnesses.
Also because of the lack of hygiene in the toilets,we get health problems too
- malaria, tubercolosis or something else.
If you work 16 hrs non stop, without properfood and rest, it is simple - you will get tb.
So when do you get rest?
We go to the company at 9:00 and after 16 hoursof duty we finish at the company at 1:00 a.m.
It takes us 20 - 30 minutes to come to our room.
Then we go to bed.These 4-5 hours are what we get for rest.
This work is hard work. What do you think,how many more years can you work like this?
The situation as it is in my house.
In my family, I have registeredmy children for school and college.
To educate them them and keep them well,to clothe them,
I will have to work,even though it is a lot of stress for me.
It might kill me but I will keep working.It is like this.
For others, for our parents - for their poverty,
to give them money for food,this is why I must earn.
Yes, this is how you think.But what does your body say?
The body does not co-operate.
How can the body co-operate,because you take 16 hours work from it.
If you work with the body properly andgive it proper rest, there is no problem.
But it is very simple.We get Rs. 4000 - Rs. 4300 salary.
If the company does not give us overtime work,
just Rs. 2,000 is the cost of our room and food.
If on top of thatwe take away Rs. 500 for other costs,
then Rs 1000 - Rs 1500 are left.
And we cannot do anything with that.
So we do overtime in the interestof earning more money.
And we think this will solvethe economic problem of our family.
That's why.
And the older you get,the less capable you are of working.
Now, when I am 40, I will not be able tosee the sewing, I will be practically blind.
Because the threads are fine - it is detailed work.
So I have to think what I will do after this.Some people go back to the village and do farming.
What's your name?
Jawaharlal
When did you come to Faridabad?
1970
There was a strike in 1977.
In that strike,I was the General Secretary of the AITUC Union.
Then I was thrown out.Then I was full time with the CPI.
Then I joined CPM full time.
After that I worked for the Naxalite movement.
In 1979 we formed a resistance committee
and we worked through that.
We brought the whole ofFaridabad to a stop in 1979.
What happened then?
When we stopped work in Faridabad in 1979,
guns were fired in which many workers were killed.
At that time, the Bhajan Lal Congress government,
ordered the gunfire.
The guns were fired at the Neelam square
which we today call the Martyr Square.The workers became martyrs.
How many people died?
The count was not correct.
The government said 17 people had died.
The workers also foughtand a police officer was hurt.
His pistol was snatched.Other policemen were also beaten up.
How many people do you think died?
The workers said thatabout 150-175 people had been killed.
But the government made the dead bodies disappear.
Because there were many arrests,
in fear, the protest went down a littlefor some days.
We could not find out,whose dead bodies were missing.
After that the workers' movement declined,
automation was introduced in the companies
and the number of workers decreased.
Many factories closed,
a large number of textile factories closed
and unemployment increased.
Many factories were computerized.
Many workers became unemployed,
and workers went back to their villages.
The factories started subcontracting.
So the movement went back.
Permanent work was reduced.
People started to work on contracts.
So they did not have any sense of struggle,
They think: "We do not have any legal rightsor any other right
so we can not fight for ourselves".
So they did not protest about anything.
Only a permanent worker can fight.
Now they see that they cannoteven get a job in subcontracting.
So their militancy has become weak.
You have been working in this industryfor such a long time.
Did you ever go on strike, yourself?
It is not possible.
In whichever company we strike, they willthrow everybody out and employ somebody else.
Now they are dishonest withthe payments of the workers.
If the worker says something, they threaten him.
The police people, or the law or the courts- they look after the people with money.
Nobody listens to the poor.
So how will a poor person stand up against thosewho have money? You must think of this problem.
It is like this - if something happens,we take forward a complaint.
After the complaint somelegal process is conducted.
Then the people from the company bribe himand suppress the complaint.
Then everything stays the same.- So there is nobody to listen to us.
If we try to take any step, after consideration,that action is broken before we can take it.
When we think of this,we are not able to take any steps.
We have come from far. We work for Rs. 4,000,and pay Rs. 3,000 for the room.
If we take any step our payments get stuck.
Later we find out our room has been lockedand we have no money to pay the fare to go home.
Do you talk to one another aboutthis situation with the neighbours?
Yes, we talk.- But what he means is who will support us.
If we talk here among ourselves, it does not help.We should have strong contacts further on.
If we have a problem, suppose four of usgo and complain. What can four do? - Nothing!
If we have a contact further on,we can go to them.
But we have nothing like this.
Many companies also employ gangsters.
So the worker who prostests too much gets beaten up- on the road, or inside the company,
in the neighbourhood, in the market- these types of gangsters.
What can you do to improve the situation?
Do you have any suggestion?
To make things better we must make a union.We must have membership.
Then we can complain about unfair treatment.Then the union will act.
What if you complain in the company?
Nobody listens. The government does not listen.They are all corrupt.
Can't you complain to the LC, the Labour Commissioner?
The Labour Commissioners are allsold out to the big industries.
The company buys them.
If a worker complains, the Commissioners inform thecompany that some worker came to make a complaint.
That worker gets thrown outand nothing else happens.
If somebody else complainsthey throw them out too.
So there is no way of complaining?
We do not have a permanent job.
If we want to work, if we open our mouths,we open the lock - straight out.
If we talk, we are out.If we want to work, we must stay quiet.
How long does it take for a machinist to get a job?One month, two months?
For as long as there is work.If there is no work, they remove you.
They make us sign the resignation papersbeforehand - when we join -
so that we can be thrown out any time.
Such steps are often talked about, which todayit is not possible for an ordinary worker to make.
That is why very little happens.
One negative effect of this
is that we blame ourselves and lament our situation.
It is therfore of primary importanceto get out of this trap.
When deciding on an action,it is necessary to keep in mind
that everyone is surrounded by constraints.
The only difference is that some havea little more and some a little less constraints.
It is necessary to see one another as affected,
and move together as fellow sufferers.
The steps themselves are very simple - like straws.
A nest made from strawsbecomes a strong, protected area.
And every bird can easilypick straws and join them.
We started these meetings becausewe started to feel our weakness.
He used to fire us one by one.
While we were working sometimes this one wasthrown out of the gate sometimes that one.
We started to meet to form unity.
If there is unity, if he does somethingto one person, everybody will react.
This will make a difference.This is why we have this meeting.
So you were made redundant in 2005?
Yes in 2005. Then on 25 January 2006,he employed us again.
What happened between that time?
We put posters about this- on the site, at Jantarmantar, ITO,
Connaught Place, Sujan Singh Park, Nehru Place.
We wanted to get the ordinary workers on our side.
We wanted to tell them that this company is doing such and such with us.
That's all.
In America too there was a protestin front of the company's shop.
How effective was this?
We used that incident for maximum impact here. We told everyone.
Because all the goods of our companyare sold there.
There, flyers were distributed about the problem.
So whoever read the paper,
for example the retailers who buy the products, ...
...when they found out, they putpressure and this had more effect.
Then the owner came overand made an agreement with us.
But before this incident, you were membersof the union INTU... - no, IFTU.
What was your experience with the union?
We thought that when we got fired,the union will perhaps get us back our jobs.
But we find this union a little wrong.
They mix with the owners and make usshout slogans and we find that useless.
They look after their own selfish interests.
Are they with the owners?
In the sense that when a person is thrown out, theysend you to this company or that to demonstrate.
They are most selfish - these leaders.I don't like this.
When we put up posters,one leader turned against us.
So the union was opposed to posters?
Yes. They said either we should put their logoon the posters IFTU, and wave their flag.
They wanted to make a name for themselves.
They would have got known throughthe posters, now we got known.
This is why they were making a fussabout why IFTU was not on the posters.
So the meeting became very important?
Yes, the meeting has always been very important.
It is now 8-9 years. We meet every Sunday.
It is so that whatever work we do during the week,and whatever happens to us, we talk about it here.
And how we can find solutions, we talkamong us here, and then work accordingly.
So the meeting is good for us inevery circumstance. It is necessary.
In order that none of us - no young boy,becomes weak before the management
or in matters of work- this is why it is necessary.
We sit together and offer advice.It seems as if we have brotherhood between us.
Did the company try to find a leader among you,
and try to bribe him?
They try this every time.This is their greatest quality.
Wherever there is a union- this is their greatest threat.
Whenever the management spoke to us, we said,
"We are all leaders. You can talk to who you want".
That's why they had this problemthat if there is no leader,
they have to talk to every worker.
Whenever we had a meeting, also with the owner,
- when he came in January 2006, we had 2-3 meetings -hi had his problem.
Normally their first attempt isthat there should be 2,3,5 people.
But there was nobody like that.
Whatever needed to be discussedshould be put in front of everybody.
When 4-5 people talk,
by bribing them they make an agreementas it suits them only,
but we still are obliged to accept it.This is the biggest problem.
They want over and overagain that we elect a leader,
and they talk to us through a leader.
Then they buy the leader with money,or by threatening or beating him
in order to get an agreementthat suits the management only.
Now if there are 50 people, no one is a leader, how should they threaten and frighten all 50 people?
Two workers have been thrown out of the job, one since 8 months, another since 3 months.
The company made false accusations against them;that they hit the supervisor.
The workers are still being kept out.
When these men had their struggle, I joined them.
When they were successful, I joined them.
I thought we would be fine with them.
In the company, the management makes theyoung men work by putting pressure on them.
But this does not happen to those who are united.
They work according to regulations- so I joined them.
This made the company cross with me,so they accused me and threw me out.
I have been out for 8 months now.
You can come with us to the company.
To do the work of grinding metal?
No not to work, for the protest action.To make photos.
But I cannot go inside.
No only till the gate. To show your support.
It will make a big difference.
At lunch time.
Come at lunch time or at 9:00.
Think about it.It will help us more than we get from the court.
Wednesday at 13:00.
We have to go from Gurgaon to Noida.There is a direct bus.
Do the workers some time in Unistyle, say the piecerate is very low and we would like to have more?
In 7 years, this is the only factory I have been towhere workers stop working,
because they offer Rs. 10 per piece - we saythis is too little - and they will not increase it.
So we stop work. Then through negotiations,they increase it by Rs. 1 or Rs. 2 or Rs. 4.
When we see that this will give usRs. 200 - Rs. 250 more, we start working again.
Recently they offered Rs. 28 for a piece.
We stopped working so he increased itto Rs. 32, then offered Rs. 35.
We still did not workso he eventually offered Rs.37.
How did you make a decision between 50 people?Did you have a leader?
No, there was no leader. There were 50 craftsmen.
When it was lunchtime at 3 o'clock, all thecraftsmen went outside and talked with one another
that the rate was low and it should be raisedotherwise we should stop working at 3:30.
So everybody went inside and stopped working.
When the supervisor asked us to work,we said "First increase the rate".
There was no need for a leader.
Would you like to say anything else?
What should I say?
If the worker unity happens we will see.
This is a 5000 year old civilisation and itwill take time to get rid of this tradition.
If not, then the political leaders will decide
whether we get benefits or get shot.
Is there a union in the factory?
Union?
Union- how do you say it? AITUC for example?
AITUC? Ekta (Unity)! There is unity.
If anybody puts pressure on us,
then not one person alone, but everybody protests.
If somebody shouts, we all answer back.
We are all united.
Questions regarding new forms of organizations,new methods of struggle are knocking at the door.
In Gurgaon, it is not the talked aboutcases of Honda, Sunbeam, Rico Auto
but rather the steps of 2,500 workershired through pro contractors in Delphi;
sudden stoppage of work by 4,500 workers in thespare parts factory of Hero Honda in Gurgaon;
stoppage of work by 3,000 workersin the Honda HMSI factory,
employed by subcontractors
stoppage of work by Eastern Medikitby casual workers on delay in wage payment.
Workers are engaged in searching,making, forming, new paths.
In these conditions, the questionbefore us is what all we should not do;
what all we should do; how to go about it.