Sacked Honda workers back in protest mode

JAIPUR: Over 1,000 people gathered in protest at Tijara, about 50 km from Alwar district headquarters, after the management of the two-wheeler unit of Japanese firm Honda at Tapukara in Alwar went back on its word to reinstate all workers sacked after police intervened in a clash at the plant on February 16.
On June 6, after a breakthrough in talks between the factory management, the labour department and the workers, 256 people were reinstated.The assurance was that talks would continue and the next session of the talks was scheduled for June 13, at which the fate of about 2,800 workers sacked in February would be decided.
"The management reneged on its earlier assurance and refused to meet us on June 13. That was when we decided that we needed to get back into agitation mode,” said Surendra Kumar, a leader of the workers.
In their letter to the authorities, the workers said they would continue to sit in peaceful dharna near the tehsil headquarters until their demands for reinstatement were met. They said they had been deprived of jobs and had lost the ability to pay rent and buy rations.