Impasse continues at India's largest carmaker

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Saturday said it rolled out just 150 cars from its plant in the north of the country - fraction of the usual number - as many workers remained locked out. Production of cars was halted last Monday after the Japanese-controlled firm accused some workers of sabotaging production and "deliberately causing quality problems" at the factory in Manesar in the northern state of Haryana.
The company normally rolls out 1,200 vehicles every day. New contract workers have had to be brought in after Maruti demanded that existing employees sign a "good conduct" pledge before being allowed back in to the Manesar plant. "The company brought in another batch of 125... trained and experienced people today (Saturday)," Maruti said in a statement, adding that the current strength of workers now available for production was 800.
The carmaker, which employs nearly 2,000 people at the Manesar plant, started rolling out cars again Wednesday after locking workers out in the dispute over alleged sabotage. The Press Trust of India estimated that the production loss suffered by Maruti at 5,625 units.
The company has suspended at least 26 workers and sacked another 17 on charges of hampering output at the plant. The "good conduct" bond is an assurance from the workers that they will not sabotage production, resort to go-slow tactics or otherwise hamper output, the company said.
Representatives of the workers say the number of people who have signed the pledge is small. The labour dispute has been the third to affect production at Maruti in as many months. Workers' representatives were not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP but they have earlier denied the accusations of sabotage.
The company, which sells nearly half of all new cars in India, produces the Swift and A-Star hatchbacks, and the SX4 sedan at the Manesar plant. The company says problems were discovered during quality-control checks and included doors falling off and dents in car bodies. Tensions have been high for months at the plant with the company refusing to recognise a union formed by the workers.