Fed-up with the incessant labour unrest Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has notified to the court that it will shut its factory at Manesar in Haryana and move to an alternate location, if the state does not help the company in this matter. Honda’s production has come down to 50 per cent in the last two months due to a go-slow strike by workers. The worker’s union has denied being on strike claiming that the production has come down due to non-compliant suppliers.
In a similar scenario some years back, LML had to completely shut down the factory, just when it was starting to establish itself. Though not similar to this the Tata-Singur debacle too is still fresh in our minds. Governance and legislature of labour does seem to be in a dire need of reform, but sadly no end is in sight. Incidents like this will scare off companies looking to invest in the country, something we could do without, especially at times like these when our country has become the next hot destination.
Honda has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to help resume normal production and prosecute those who are responsible. The matter is due for hearing next week.