Get sorted – Content List of GurgaonWorkersNews
The first list shows the cronological content of the newsletters published so far, the second list groups articles according to subject:
* Automobile Industry
* Call Centres
* Proletarian Experiences
* Riots and Road Blockades
* SEZ
* Strikes
* Textile Industry
* Urbanisation
Content List (Cronological)
Newsletter no.1 – January 2007
* “Missed Calls” -
Overview on Gurgaon Call Centre Sector
* Interviews with Call Centre Workers (HP, Citibank and others)
Newsletter no.2 – April 2007
* “Death and Development” -
Short news on industrial accidents, road deaths, bomb alarms, serial killings and other achievements of development in Gurgaon and on its highways.
* “Factory and Police Station” -
Recent story by metal worker from Faridabad, told to FMS.
* “Exploitation and the Law” -
Short glimpses of current conditions in various Faridabad factories, in the shadow of the official labour law (March 2007 issue of FMS)
* “Pressline Worker” -
Example of small but sucessful industrial action, trying to avoid the lock-out trap.
* “Bicycle-Rikshaws and Strike at Liberty Shoe factory” -
Short chat with former Liberty Shoe worker and short news on last industrial dispute at Liberty Shoe factory, Haryana.
* “Commuter Riot” -
Fear on the highways, stress on the railways. Proletarian commuters causing a riot at Faridabad Old Station. From October 2006 issue of Faridabad Majdoor Samaachar (FMS).
* “Techy Wage Increase” -
Unsuccessful attempt of wage increase by Gurgaon Call Centre Workers
* “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part One” -
Economy times two in Gurgaon, short summary of recent newspaper articles on the planned SEZ.
Newsletter no.3 – May 2007
* “Thousands of invisible hands moving the automobile [sic!] industry in Gurgaon area, Part One” –
* “After the Slum Fire” -
Short note on a slum fire in Gurgaon, which destroyed about 800 huts of families of cleaning and recycling workers on 24th of April 2007.
* “Whose security is it anyway?”, Part One -
Reports from Security Guards in Gurgaon, one of them employed by G4S, formerly known as Group4.
* “Unions and the Law” -
A short introduction to the Industrial Disputes Act and some general thoughts on union-related local problems.
* “Amtek Incident” -
Short report on a union struggle in the automotive supplying industry which happened in 2006
* “Fashion Express” -
Recent dispute in Gurgaon in March and April 2007. Permanent workers of the textile export company occupy the factory after union leaders got sacked.
* “Concrete on Soil: A Glimpse at Urban Development in Gurgaon, Part One” -
Some background information on population development, land acquisition, planned urban projects and the bubbling real estate sector in Gurgaon.
* “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Two” -
The developers face more resistance from local farmers and the nuisance of legal changes while trying to convert land ownership into capital.
Newsletter no.4 – June 2007
* “Needles and Threats”, Local Textile Industry, Part One -
A text on the local textile export industries, including Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar reports from a young textile worker about his journey from village to industrial city life.
* “No more Heroes!”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Two -
Factory occupation and chain reaction of workers’ unrest at Hero Honda and Shivam Autotech factory in Gurgaon, April 2006. A rough overview of one of the most significant workers’ actions in the area during recent years.
* “Red Flags and Welfare Schemes” -
Some symbolic gestures during the Day of Labour.
* “Extreme Outsourcing”-
Because of rising rents and wages and toll-taking highwaymen, some local call centres make use of internet cafes in order to outsource work; they speed-up the hiring process and put pressure on the less fortunate service workers.
Newsletter no.5 – July 2007
* “Escorts: The big carve-up”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Three -
A short glimpse at the history of Faridabad’s formerly biggest industrial company Escorts and some current reports of permanent and casual workers employed in the tractor division, published in Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar (FMS).
* “126-hours-week for Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, General Motors, …”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Four -
Situation of truck drivers at Anand Nishikawa Ltd., a rubber sealing supplier for the automobile industry in India. One of the Anand Nishikawa Ltd. factories is situated in Gurgaon, Udyog Vihar Phase One.
* “Whose security is it anyway?, Part Two” -
Longer report of a retired skilled factory worker now employed by Haryana Industrial Security Service as a security guard. Published in FMS no.227, May 2007.
* “Masters and Servants, Short note on rich men’s deaths” -
On the 19th of May a servant in Gurgaon killed his master and the master’s wife and child.
* “If you cut the power, we block the roads” -
Women in Old Gurgaon and Faridabad take power into their own hands and protest against water and electricity cuts. A short glimpse at the protest and about the electricity policies in Haryana.
* “Riot and Looting at construction site of Reliance thermal power plant after road death” -
Short note on a riot which did not take place in Gurgaon, but Yamunanagar, both in Haryana, after a man was killed in a road accident.
* “The human fence post, the burried and the real estate boom, Another glimpse at urban development in Gurgaon, Part Two” -
DLF, one of the biggest private developers in India safe guards barren land against slum dwellers, the pavement-mafia in Gurgaon Udyog Vihar is part of the game and there are more deadly accidents in the rat-race of urbanisation.
* “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Three” -
Some general thoughts on ‘Why SEZs?’, some news up-dates and a report from a free journalist attending a resistance meeting of farmers against the SEZ
* “Drifting Social Whirlpool Chakkarpur” -
Some words about a 45 min stroll through convoluting/transforming Chakkarpur, a village in Gurgaon. The pictures and discriptions of the walk can be found on the web-site.
Newsletter no.6 – August 2007
* “Motherson: Graveyard-shifts and company supervised gender division at the international car part supplier”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Five -
Account from a young casual worker about his experiences in the Motherson Gurgaon plant
* “How even the poorest worker can still make him(!)self feel like a boss” -
A rather clueless discription of domestic work and violence in a neighbour-hood in Gurgaon
* “Delphi – Automobile Boom and Crisis against the workers”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Six -
The reports of a permanent worker and a worker hired through contractor also describe how a wildcat strike of the temps in January 2007 was finished off by a united front of management and permanent workers’ union.
* “Dig your own hole: A Glimpse at Urban Development in Gurgaon”, Part Three -
Newsletter no.7 – October 2007
* “Working in the grave of Hauz Rani, a textile factory hidden in the cellar” – report from a textile worker, published in FMS no.229, July 2007. Ghost factories manufacture clothes for bigger companies in Gurgaon and Okhla, clothes which are then exported. In June/July 2007 some piece workers went on strike and enforced a piece rate increase.
* “Working at Nutan Printers” – longer report of a print worker in the south of Delhi, published in FMS no.229, July 2007. The print-shop’s main client is the central government, the workers work 35 1/2-hours shifts.
* “Injured!” – a mother tells about how a company tried to get rid of her son after he had been badly injured at work, published in FMS no.229, July 2007
* “How to punish some and spread fear amongst thousands”, Local Automobile Industry Part Seven – A longer, sketchy overview on the situation at Honda Scooters and Motorcycles India (HMSI) factory in Gurgaon, from the repression in summer 2005 to the wildcat strike in September 2006 to the situation of workers hired through contractors today
* “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Four” -
Short note on farmers threatening to commit suicide against land aquisition and short article on mass factory closures in Noida, which might be related to the re-concentration of capital in the Gurgaon, Manesar area
Newsletter no.8 – December 2007
* Reports from workers exploited in the net of automobile suppliers, Local Automobile Industry Part Eight -
Some short reports from workers employed at Omax, Lumax, Breaks India and Anu Industries, all suppliers for the local automobile industry in Gurgaon.
* Three brothers -
Short discription of the long wage and house working days of three brothers who share a room in Gurgaon.
* Made paranoid, kicked out, and crashed… -
We document three short articles on occupational risks of call centre workers.
* Successful wildcat strike of temp workers at Delphi in Gurgaon -
Many of the workers hired through contractors who wildcat struck in January 2007 have left Delphi since then. In August 2007 the temp workers – not represented by any union – laid down tools again for few hours.
* Welcome to the Machine – Summary on re-structuring at Maruti Suzuki, Gurgaon, Local Automobile Industry Part Nine
The supply chains of Maruti are the main arteries of the local industry, they reach down into the backyards of the slums controling their labour intensive work by connecting it with work-shop production, semi-automatized small factories, capital intensive ‘first tier’ factories and the main assembly lines of its plants.
* “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Five” -
- Your backyard a SEZ? Short note on the inflation of SEZs in Gurgaon
Newsletter no.9 – February 2008
* Mass Redundancies in Gurgaon Textile Export Sector, Autumn 2007
* Thoughts on Gurgaon Kidney Trade and the local Medical-Industrial Complex, January 2007
* Short news item on police raids against ‘illegal’ migrant workers in Gurgaon, December 2007
* Workers’ spontaneous actions enforce the payment of minimum wage in several factories
* Up-date on Fashion Express Factory Conflict
* Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Six -
- Summary on recent news items on the developing SEZ in Gurgaon
Newsletter no.10 – April 2008
* Long list of short information from workers employed in over 40 different companies in Gurgaon
Most of the reports do not show much more than the fact that the official legal working standards are not met. Most of the reports are from textile export factories, gathered in September and October 2007
* Accident, everything but accidental!
A worker employed by Dheer Internationals in Gurgaon tells about how the company treated him after his work accident.
* Short report from Motherson Sumi System Worker from Noida
* Wildcat actions of workers struggling over the payment of the new minimum wage, September and October 2007
* Short note on road-picket against power shortage in Gurgaon: Sunstroke for the poor, bar out of ice for the rich
* Short up-date on medical-industrial complex in Gurgaon
Newsletter No.11 – May 2008
* Short letter sent by a female teacher to Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar, telling about wages and working times in schools around Delhi/Gurgaon.
* Female textile worker complains about verbal harassment by supervisor at Gaurav International, Gurgaon. Gaurav International is an Indian garment export house that works with major US companies like GAP & Wal-Mart.
* Continuation of short reports. Most of the reports do not show much more than the fact that the official legal working standards are not met. Most of the reports are from textile export factories, gathered in January and February 2008.
* Wildcat strike by casual workers employed by Eastern Medikit, Gurgaon, December 2007
* Police attack on striking casual workers at automobile parts manufacturer Automax, April 2008 -
The crisis started when hundreds of workers of Automax, a company manufacturing automobile parts, went on a march in Gurgaon, demanding that casual employees be made permanent employees of the company. The police claimed they had had to resort to this “mild action” to “defuse a crisis”.
* Protest by call centre workers against dismissals, December 2007 and March 2008 -
The protests of call centre workers against dismissals and unpaid wages continue. In the case of Voicecraft “as the situation got worse, even the police rushed to the spot and intervened to defuse the crisis”.
* Village demolition by development authorities for industrial projects, April 2008 -
Under the protection of 100 policemen 50 houses in Gurgaon villages Koh and Kasan were demolished for ‘industrial purposes’. Unfortunately we only heard about it through the official media.
* Dog restaurant opens in Gurgaon -
This is not about morality or sensation, but about the death-wishing ignorant arrogance of the ruling classes: while food riots spread across the globe and the local food prices in Gurgaon sore they open a luxurious dog restaurant right next to slums and industrial areas.
* German -
On the web-site you can find a structured translation of all Gurgaon Workers Newsletter in German. www.gurgaonworkersnewsgerman.wordpress.com
Newsletter no.12 – August 2008
* Thread cutters, ironing workers, taylors, machine operators, assembly line workers for medical equipment or automobile parts, Coca Cola workers, security guards… – Continuation of short reports from workers employed at different companies in Gurgaon
* Book on working-conditions of women workers in Gurgaon and Noida
* Three short stories of young workers on strike, Gurgaon-Faridabad industrial belt in spring 2008. They are employed at Gulati Exports factory, a major textile exporting company. They work for Action Construction Equipment (ACE), a tractor manufacturer in nearby Faridabad. They laid down tools at Ilpea Paramounts, a manufacturer of plastic and rubber parts for the automobile industry.
* 1,500 cops deployed in Gurgaon to secure the building of parts of the SEZ boundary wall
* City makes Countryside: On the background of the land-grab for the SEZ we summarise some articles on the changing class structure in the rural areas surrounding Gurgaon, Haryana.
Newsletter no. 13 – October 2008
* Gated Communities and Repressive Social Paranoia
With the increasing spatial concentration of wealth and misery, of upward opportunities and downward spirals, those who feel privileged tend to feel threatened. In that way Gurgaon is a landscape of mass-psychosis. Some notes on the consequent urban armament: gated communities, increased repression in the local prisons, more CCTV, more police…
* Ten Construction Workers Die after Accident in Gurgaon
The main driving force and victims of the construction boom are the construction workers themselves. In times of credit crunches real estate developers and construction companies try to squeeze margins and cut corners. In September this resulted in the death of ten construction workers in Gurgaon, ten workers deaths that we heard about that is.
* Short Report from Orient Fan / Wal-Mart Worker
The factory is situated in Faridabad, Sector 6, Plot 11. When a representative of Wal-Mart visits the factory, all workers hired through contractors are told not to come to the factory.
* Yet another list of short information from workers employed at different companies in Gurgaon – Continuation of short reports of workers from Achiever Creation, Elite Medical, Radnik Export, Rolex Auto, Viva Global, gathered and published in FMS, July 2008.
* Wildcat Sit-Down Strike at HMSI
Short news item on yet another short wildcat action by casual workers and workers hired through contractors at Honda HMSI. Sources said about 1,500 contractual and casual workers of HMSI have gone on a sit-in protest, on 6th of September 2008. The strike was triggered when a factory supervisor slapped and manhandled a worker after a scuffle during the night shift
* After wild-cat strike and mass-dismissals: Factory manager of automobile supplier in NOIDA got killed during workers’ unrest
Two weeks after the wildcat-strike at Honda, another wild-cat strike of workers hired through contractors employed by the automobile industry ended in a bloody mess, just around the corner.
* The Bloody Real Estate of Crisis
On 13th of August 2008 on a protest march in NOIDA, another satellite town of Delhi, several farmers were shot dead by the police and dozens got injured. If the protests in NOIDA and the demands for higher compensations are the rock of the current crisis of the real estate sector then the rising interest rates, the rising prices for construction material and the recession of the US economy is its hard place. A glimpse on the current crisis…
* Hells Bells – Glimpses on Current Trends in Gurgaon’s Call Centre Sector
In August 2008 the newspapers announced the lay-offs of hundreds of call centre workers, many of them in Gurgaon. The reasons given for the job cuts are the recession in the US and the high costs for office rents. We summarised some news on the sector.
* Energy Crunch and Destructive Forces in Gurgaon
Maruti runs its own power-plant and in the way most of the factories and call centres in the industrial belt around Delhi do: burning fossil fuels in their generators. About 350,000,000 litre of diesel are consumed each year by these industrial units. A glimpse on the local energy crunch.
Newsletter no.14 – November 2008
* Short Reports from Workers employed in factories in Gurgaon and Faridabad
* Yet another short wildcat strike at Hero Honda plant
After a short strike at Hero Honda in the Dharuhera plant in May 2008 and a wildcat sit-down by casual workers at Honda (HMSI) plant in Gurgaon/Manesar in September 2008, the news reported about another action early October 2008.
* Different view on the strike and killing of the factory manager at Italian automobile supplier in NOIDA
* BPO union or another form of individualisation of call center workers
* Global crisis hits Gurgaon
* Never use a needle, summary of study on local textile export industries
Newsletter no.15 – December 2008
* Factory Workers’ Reports from Gurgaon
* Building Workers’ Riot in Delhi
After a fatal accident on the Commonwealth Games construction site more than thousand building workers destroyed company offices, cars and trucks.
* Crisis in Gurgaon
The two driving industries and symbols of Gurgaon’s urban development have come under crisis attack: DLF real estate giant asks for financial help from Haryana government and Maruti Suzuki scales down production output.
Newsletter no.16 – February 2009
* Working Paper on Class Struggle and Crisis in India
Newsletter no.17 – May 2009
* Auto-biographic story of a 49 years old driver about his experience as a working-class Sikh in Delhi since the 1970s
* Math and Wrath of Misery – The workers’ reports tell us about average daily wages for workers in modern industries of about 100 Rs. This short note puts this wage in a context of daily expenditures.
* Long list of short workers’ reports about wage and working conditions in Gurgaon factories. The reports were gathered/spread between November 2008 and March 2009.
* Proletarian Poverty and Common Wealth Games – After a deadly work accident on the huge Common Wealth Games construction site in Delhi workers struck and destroyed company property.
* Another fatal factory fire -
On 1st of May 2009 the Lakhani shoe factory in Faridabad Sector-24 caught fire, six workers were killed, 30 more were injured severely.
* Tecumseh Workers’ Report about re-structuring process and workers’ resistance at Tecumseh compressor manufacturing factory, formerly belonging to the multi-national Whirlpool.
* Real Estate of Crisis in Gurgaon -
Short summary about current real estate crisis in Gurgaon.
Newsletter no.18 – June 2009
* Lakhani Shoes Fire, the Unknown Deads and a Riot -
Some reports from local workers indicate that the official number of fifteen dead workers at Lakhani Shoes is untrue, it could be as many as 100.
* Rural-Urban Migration Reversed? -
Story of a factory worker who became unemployed in Gurgaon and Faridabad industrial areas, who decided to apply for a job with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) ‘back home’ in the village, and who found out that nothing is guaranteed.
* One and a half years and a global crisis later… -
Rather subjective snap-shots about changes in and of Gurgaon, after a longer absence from the disaster-zone of progress.
* Short workers’ reports from Gurgaon industrial area -
Reports from workers collected during Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar distribution in Gurgaon, May 2009.
* Rebel Voices from Female Worker and Friends at Boni Polymers -
Woman Worker’s refusal to be victimised by the crisis in the automobile sector.
* Impressions from demonstration for locked-out and jailed Musashi workers -
The fate of many traditionally lead workers’ struggles in the area: first locked out, then locked-up.
* Babylon will fall eventually: Shaky Grounds of Gurgaon High Rise Real Estate -
The real estate sector in Gurgaon is not only shaken in its money-form, the weak foundation of its high-rising concrete-steel-glass form corresponds to the thin base of its inflated share-holder value.
* The upper-class is revolting -
Thin air on the top. The first half of 2009 saw various protests of the middle class: students at a management college and parents at private schools agitating about high fees and other forms of tighter selection processes.
* Delhi Film Screening -
We plan to screen a series of workers’ documentaries from various times and spaces. If you are interested in the screening or getting hold of the films (see list below), please get in touch.
Newsletter no.19 – July 2009
* Thermo Workers Power to Quit Work -_Short report by a worker who was employed on a site of the Rashtrya Taap Vidyut Nigam / NTCP (National Thermo-Electricity Corporation).
* Worker who works his machine in various textile export factories -_Short report from a worker who is shifted from factory to factory
* Short report by older daily wage worker drudging for Food Corporation of India since 30 years
* Supply Chain Gang: Five short stories of workers manufacturing parts for Maruti Suzuki, Honda and Hero Honda in Gurgaon
* Report on struggle of temp and casual workers at world’s biggest motor-bike factory Hero Honda in Dharuhera (Gurgaon/Manesar)
* The Gurgaon Model and a Murder – Documentation of an older article on the legal adjustments which were undertaken in order to convert Gurgaon farm-land into real estate assets throughout the 1990s
* Water Wars – Short glimpse on the waterfront. A dyeing worker reports on how water-wastage in the dyeing industry in the Delhi industrial belt is covered by police and officials. A friend from Faridabad tells us how water gets to his slum-area – followed by a description of how water supply expresses social hierarchies in a Gurgaon back-yard.
Newsletter no.20 – September 2009
* Short workers’ reports from various factories in Gurgaon -_Reports were given to and re-distributed by Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar in June/July 2009. Most of the 22 reports are from textile export companies.
* A nocturnal roof-top conversation: Skilled textile workers talk about changes in technology and work-organisation undermining their power
* The daily railway bad trip to work – Report by a worker about the conditions and an accident on his daily railway journey to work.
* The Youth is Getting Restless / Hidden Struggles in Okhlas Textile
* Future Deads for Sure – Town planners ignore the crumbling foundations of their high-rising buildings and they gamble with future dead by neglecting their own pathetic-helpless urban fire safety measures. A summary of a main-stream article on the issue.
* Some Video-Interviews with Workers from Faridabad/Gurgaon now Online – You can find some interviews with workers from Faridabad/Gurgaon on www.visions-of-labor.org.
Content List (subject-related)
no.3: “Thousands of invisible hands moving the automobile [sic!] industry in Gurgaon area, Part One” – A short introduction to the local automobile industry, plus five Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar reports from workers employed in different companies of the supplying sector (Yamaha Motors, Super Auto, Talbros Engineering, GEMI Motors, Alpha Instruments)
no.4: “No more Heroes!”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Two -
Factory occupation and chain reaction of workers’ unrest at Hero Honda and Shivam Autotech factory in Gurgaon, April 2006. A rough overview of one of the most significant workers’ actions in the area during recent years.
no.5: “Escorts: The big carve-up”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Three -
A short glimpse at the history of Faridabad’s formerly biggest industrial company Escorts and some current reports of permanent and casual workers employed in the tractor division, published in Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar (FMS).
no.5: “126-hours-week for Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, General Motors, …”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Four -
Situation of truck drivers at Anand Nishikawa Ltd., a rubber sealing supplier for the automobile industry in India. One of the Anand Nishikawa Ltd. factories is situated in Gurgaon, Udyog Vihar Phase One.
no.6: “Motherson: Graveyard-shifts and company supervised gender division at the international car part supplier”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Five -
Account from a young casual worker about his experiences in the Motherson Gurgaon plant
no.6: “Delphi – Automobile Boom and Crisis against the workers”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Six -
The reports of a permanent worker and a worker hired through contratcor also describe how a wildcat strike of the temps in January 2007 was finished off by a united front of management and permanent workers’ union.
no.7: “How to punish some and spread fear amongst thousands”, Local Automobile Industry Part Seven – A longer, sketchy overview on the situation at Honda Scooters and Motorcycles India (HMSI) factory in Gurgaon, from the repression in summer 2005 to the wildcat strike in September 2006 to the situation of workers hired through contractors today
no.8: “Reports from workers exploited in the net of automobile suppliers”, Local Automobile Industry Part Eight -
Some short reports from workers employed at Omax, Lumax, Delphi, Breaks India and Anu Industries, all suppliers for the local automobile industry in Gurgaon.
no.8: “Successful wildcat strike of temp workers at Delphi in Gurgaon” -
In August 2007 the temp workers – not represented by any union – laid down tools again for few hours. The management first reacted by threatening with lock-out and closure of the plant, then decided to give the workers a significant pay rise.
no.8: “Welcome to the Machine” – Summary on re-structuring at Maruti Suzuki, Gurgaon, Local Automobile Industry Part Nine
The supply chains of Maruti are the main arteries of the local industry, they reach down into the backyards of the slums controling their labour intensive work by connecting it with work-shop production, semi-automatized small factories, capital intensive ‘first tier’ factories and the main assembly lines of its plants.
no.10: * Short report from Motherson Sumi System Worker from Noida
no.11: * Police attack on striking casual workers at automobile parts manufacturer Automax, April 2008 -
The crisis started when hundreds of workers of Automax, a company manufacturing automobile parts, went on a march in Gurgaon, demanding that casual employees be made permanent employees of the company. The police claimed they had had to resort to this “mild action” to “defuse a crisis”.
no.12: * Three short stories of young workers on strike, Gurgaon-Faridabad industrial belt in spring 2008. They are employed at Gulati Exports factory, a major textile exporting company. They work for Action Construction Equipment (ACE), a tractor manufacturer in nearby Faridabad. They laid down tools at Ilpea Paramounts, a manufacturer of plastic and rubber parts for the automobile industry.
no.13: * Wildcat Sit-Down Strike at HMSI
Short news item on yet another short wildcat action by casual workers and workers hired through contractors at Honda HMSI.
no.13: * After wild-cat strike and mass-dismissals: Factory manager of automobile supplier in NOIDA got killed during workers’ unrest
no.14: * Yet another short wildcat strike at Hero Honda plant
After a short strike at Hero Honda in the Dharuhera plant in May 2008 and a wildcat sit-down by casual workers at Honda (HMSI) plant in Gurgaon/Manesar in September 2008, the news reported about another action early October 2008.
no. 18: * Rebel Voices from Female Worker and Friends at Boni Polymers -
Woman Worker’s refusal to be victimised by the crisis in the automobile sector.
no.18: * Impressions from demonstration for locked-out and jailed Musashi workers -
The fate of many traditionally lead workers’ struggles in the area: first locked out, then locked-up.
no.19 * Supply Chain Gang: Five short stories of workers manufacturing parts for Maruti Suzuki, Honda and Hero Honda in Gurgaon
no.19 * Report on struggle of temp and casual workers at world’s biggest motor-bike factory Hero Honda in Dharuhera (Gurgaon/Manesar)
no.1: “Missed Calls” -
Overview on Gurgaon Call Centre Sector
no.1: “Interviews with Call Centre Workers (HP, Citibank and others)”
no.2: “Techy Wage Increase” -
Unsuccessful attempt of wage increase by Gurgaon Call Centre Workers
no.4: “Extreme Outsourcing”-
Because of rising rents and wages and toll-taking highwaymen, some local call centres make use of internet cafes in order to outsource work; they speed-up the hiring process and put pressure on the less fortunate service workers.
no.8: “Made paranoid, kicked out, and crashed…” -
We document three short articles on occupational risks of call centre workers.
no.11: * Protest by call centre workers against dismissals, December 2007 and March 2008 -
The protests of call centre workers against dismissals and unpaid wages continue. In the case of Voicecraft “as the situation got worse, even the police rushed to the spot and intervened to defuse the crisis”.
no.13: * Hells Bells – Glimpses on Current Trends in Gurgaon’s Call Centre Sector
In August 2008 the newspapers announced the lay-offs of hundreds of call centre workers, many of them in Gurgaon. The reasons given for the job cuts are the recession in the US and the high costs for office rents. We summarised some news on the sector.
no.14 * BPO union or another form of individualisation of call center workers
no.2: “Death and Development” -
Short news on industrial accidents, road deaths, bomb alarms, serial killings and other achievements of development in Gurgaon and on its highways.
no.2: “Exploitation and the Law” -
Short glimpses of current conditions in various Faridabad factories, in the shadow of the official labour law (March 2007 issue of FMS)
no.3: “Whose security is it anyway?” -
Reports from Security Guards in Gurgaon, one of them employed by G4S, formerly known as Group4. The worker reports about the massive and open money swindle the company undertakes. Another guard reports why he had to work 48 hours without a break.
no.5: “Whose security is it anyway?, Part Two” -
Longer report of a retired skilled factory worker now employed by Haryana Industrial Security Service as a security guard. Published in FMS no.227, May 2007.
no.5: “Masters and Servants, Short note on rich men’s deaths” -
On the 19th of May a servant in Gurgaon killed his master and the master’s wife and child.
no.6: “How even the poorest worker can still make him(!)self feel like a boss” -
A rather clueless discription of domestic work and violence in a neighbour-hood in Gurgaon
no.7: “Working in the grave of Hauz Rani, a textile factory hidden in the cellar” – report from a textile worker, published in FMS no.229, July 2007. Ghost factories manufacture clothes for bigger companies in Gurgaon and Okhla, clothes which are then exported. In June/July 2007 some piece workers went on strike and enforced a piece rate increase.
no.7: “Working at Nutan Printers” – longer report of a print worker in the south of Delhi, published in FMS no.229, July 2007. The print-shop’s main client is the central government, the workers work 35 1/2-hours shifts.
no.7: “Injured!” – a mother tells about how a company tried to get rid of her son after he had been badly injured at work, published in FMS no.229, July 2007
no.8: Reports from workers exploited in the net of automobile suppliers, Local Automobile Industry Part Eight -
Some short reports from workers employed at Omax, Lumax, Delphi, Breaks India and Anu Industries, all suppliers for the local automobile industry in Gurgaon.
no.8: Three brothers -
Short discription of the long wage and house working days of three brothers who share a room in Gurgaon.
no.8: “Made paranoid, kicked out, and crashed…” -
We document three short articles on occupational risks of call centre workers.
no.9: * Thoughts on Gurgaon Kidney Trade and the local Medical-Industrial Complex, January 2007
no.9: * Short news item on police raids against ‘illegal’ migrant workers in Gurgaon, December 2007
no.10: * Long list of short information from workers employed in over 40 different companies in Gurgaon
Most of the reports do not show much more than the fact that the official legal working standards are not met. Most of the reports are from textile export factories, gathered in September and October 2007
no.10: * Short report from Motherson Sumi System Worker from Noida
no.10: * Short up-date on medical-industrial complex in Gurgaon
no.11: * Short letter sent by a female teacher to Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar, telling about wages and working times in schools around Delhi/Gurgaon
no.11: * Continuation of short reports. Most of the reports do not show much more than the fact that the official legal working standards are not met. Most of the reports are from textile export factories, gathered in January and February 2008
no.12: * Thread cutters, ironing workers, taylors, machine operators, assembly line workers for medical equipment or automobile parts, Coca Cola workers, security guards… – Continuation of short reports from workers employed at different companies in Gurgaon
no.12: * Book on working-conditions of women workers in Gurgaon and Noida
no.13 * Ten Construction Workers Die after Accident in Gurgaon
no.13 * Short Report from Orient Fan / Wal-Mart Worker
no.13 * Yet another list of short information from workers employed at different companies in Gurgaon – Continuation of short reports of workers from Achiever Creation, Elite Medical, Radnik Export, Rolex Auto, Viva Global, gathered and published in FMS, July 2008.
no.14 * Short Reports from Workers employed in factories in Gurgaon and Faridabad
no.14 * Global crisis hits Gurgaon
no.15 * Short Reports from Workers employed in factories in Gurgaon and Faridabad
no.15: * Crisis in Gurgaon
The two driving industries and symbols of Gurgaon’s urban development have come under crisis attack: DLF real estate giant asks for financial help from Haryana government and Maruti Suzuki scales down production output.
no.17: * Auto-biographic story of a 49 years old driver about his experience as a working-class Sikh in Delhi since the 1970s
no.17: * Math and Wrath of Misery – The workers’ reports tell us about average daily wages for workers in modern industries of about 100 Rs. This short note puts this wage in a context of daily expenditures
no.17: * Long list of short workers’ reports about wage and working conditions in Gurgaon factories.
no.17: * Proletarian Poverty and Common Wealth Games – After a deadly work accident on the huge Common Wealth Games construction site in Delhi workers struck and destroyed company property.
no.17: * On 1st of May 2009 the Lakhani shoe factory in Faridabad Sector-24 caught fire, six workers were killed, 30 more were injured severely.
no.18: * Lakhani Shoes Fire, the Unknown Deads and a Riot -
Some reports from local workers indicate that the official number of fifteen dead workers at Lakhani Shoes is untrue, it could be as many as 100.
no.18: * Rural-Urban Migration Reversed? -
Story of a factory worker who became unemployed in Gurgaon and Faridabad industrial areas, who decided to apply for a job with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) ‘back home’ in the village, and who found out that nothing is guaranteed.
no.18: * Short workers’ reports from Gurgaon industrial area -
Reports from workers collected during Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar distribution in Gurgaon, May 2009.
no.19 * Thermo Workers Power to Quit Work -_Short report by a worker who was employed on a site of the Rashtrya Taap Vidyut Nigam / NTCP (National Thermo-Electricity Corporation).
no.19 * Short report by older daily wage worker drudging for Food Corporation of India since 30 years
no.19 * Water Wars – Short glimpse on the waterfront. A dyeing worker reports on how water-wastage in the dyeing industry in the Delhi industrial belt is covered by police and officials. A friend from Faridabad tells us how water gets to his slum-area – followed by a description of how water supply expresses social hierarchies in a Gurgaon back-yard.
no.20 * Short workers’ reports from various factories in Gurgaon -_Reports were given to and re-distributed by Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar in June/July 2009. Most of the 22 reports are from textile export companies.
no.20 * The daily railway bad trip to work – Report by a worker about the conditions and an accident on his daily railway journey to work.
no.20 * Some Video-Interviews with Workers from Faridabad/Gurgaon now Online – You can find some interviews with workers from Faridabad/Gurgaon on www.visions-of-labor.org.
no.2: “Commuter Riot” -
Fear on the highways, stress on the railways. Proletarian commuters causing a riot at Faridabad Old Station. From October 2006 issue of Faridabad Majdoor Samaachar (FMS).
no.5: “If you cut the power, we block the roads” -
Women in Old Gurgaon and Faridabad take power into their own hands and protest against water and electricity cuts. A short glimpse at the protest and about the electricity policies in Haryana.
no.5: “Riot and Looting at construction site of Reliance thermal power plant after road death” -
Short note on a riot which did not take place in Gurgaon, but Yamunanagar, both in Haryana, after a man was killed in a road accident.
no.15: * Building Workers’ Riot in Delhi
After a fatal accident on the Commonwealth Games construction site more than thousand building workers destroyed company offices, cars and trucks.
no.2: “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part One” -
Economy times two in Gurgaon, short summary of recent newspaper articles on the planned SEZ.
no.3: “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Two” -
The developers face more resistance from local farmers and the nuisance of legal changes while trying to convert land ownership into capital.
no.5: “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Three” -
Some general thoughts on ‘Why SEZs?’, some news up-dates and a report from a free journalist attending a resistance meeting of farmers against the SEZ
no.7: “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Four” -
Short note on farmers threatening to commit suicide against land aquisition and short article on mass factory closures in Noida, which might be related to the re-concentration of capital in the Gurgaon, Manesar area
no.8: “Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Five” -
- Your backyard a SEZ? Short note on the inflation of SEZs in Gurgaon
no.9: * Not yet special enough: Special Economic Zones, Part Six -
- Summary on recent news items on the developing SEZ in Gurgaon
no.12: * 1,500 cops deployed in Gurgaon to secure the building of parts of the SEZ boundary wall
no.2: “Pressline Worker” -
Example of small but sucessful industrial action, trying to avoid the lock-out trap.
no.2: “Bicycle-Rikshaws and Strike at Liberty Shoe factory” -
Short chat with former Liberty Shoe worker and short news on last industrial dispute at Liberty Shoe factory, Haryana.
no.3: “Unions and the Law” -
A short introduction to the Industrial Disputes Act and some general thoughts on union-related local problems.
no.3: “Amtek Incident” -
Short report on a union struggle in the automotive supplying industry which happened in 2006. Permanent workers got bashed up by paid goons while the division between permanent workers and workers hired through contractors remained unharmed.
no.3: “Fashion Express” -
Permanent workers of the textile export company occupy the factory after union leaders got sacked.
no.4: “No more Heroes!”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Two -
Factory occupation and chain reaction of workers’ unrest at Hero Honda and Shivam Autotech factory in Gurgaon, April 2006. A rough overview of one of the most significant workers’ actions in the area during recent years.
no.6: “Delphi – Automobile Boom and Crisis against the workers”, Local Automobile Industry, Part Six -
The reports of a permanent worker and a worker hired through contractor also describe how a wildcat strike of the temps in January 2007 was finished off by a united front of management and permanent workers’ union.
no.7: “How to punish some and spread fear amongst thousands”, Local Automobile Industry Part Seven – A longer, sketchy overview on the situation at Honda Scooters and Motorcycles India (HMSI) factory in Gurgaon, from the repression in summer 2005 to the wildcat strike in September 2006 to the situation of workers hired through contractors today
no.8: “Successful wildcat strike of temp workers at Delphi in Gurgaon” -
In August 2007 the temp workers – not represented by any union – laid down tools again for few hours. The management first reacted by threatening with lock-out and closure of the plant, then decided to give the workers a significant pay rise.
no.8: “Welcome to the Machine” – Summary on re-structuring at Maruti Suzuki, Gurgaon, Local Automobile Industry Part Nine
The supply chains of Maruti are the main arteries of the local industry, they reach down into the backyards of the slums controling their labour intensive work by connecting it with work-shop production, semi-automatized small factories, capital intensive ‘first tier’ factories and the main assembly lines of its plants.
no.9: * Workers’ spontaneous actions enforce the payment of minimum wage in several factories
no.10: * Wildcat actions of workers struggling over the payment of the new minimum wage, September and October 2007
no.11: * Wildcat strike by casual workers employed by Eastern Medikit, Gurgaon, December 2007
no.11: * Police attack on striking casual workers at automobile parts manufacturer Automax, April 2008
no.12: * Three short stories of young workers on strike, Gurgaon-Faridabad industrial belt in spring 2008: strikes at Action Construction Equipment (ACE), a tractor manufacturer in nearby Faridabad, and at Ilpea Paramounts, a manufacturer of plastic and rubber parts for the automobile industry.
no.13 * Wildcat Sit-Down Strike at HMSI
Short news item on yet another short wildcat action by casual workers and workers hired through contractors at Honda HMSI.
no.13 * After wild-cat strike and mass-dismissals: Factory manager of automobile supplier in NOIDA got killed during workers’ unrest
no.14: * Different view on the strike and killing of the factory manager at Italian automobile supplier in NOIDA
no.14 * Yet another short wildcat strike at Hero Honda plant
After a short strike at Hero Honda in the Dharuhera plant in May 2008 and a wildcat sit-down by casual workers at Honda (HMSI) plant in Gurgaon/Manesar in September 2008, the news reported about another action early October 2008.
no.17: * Tecumseh Workers’ Report about re-structuring process and workers’ resistance at Tecumseh compressor manufacturing factory, formerly belonging to the multi-national Whirlpool.
no. 18: * Rebel Voices from Female Worker and Friends at Boni Polymers -
Woman Worker’s refusal to be victimised by the crisis in the automobile sector.
no.18: * Impressions from demonstration for locked-out and jailed Musashi workers -
The fate of many traditionally lead workers’ struggles in the area: first locked out, then locked-up.
no.18: * The upper-class is revolting -
Thin air on the top. The first half of 2009 saw various protests of the middle class: students at a management college and parents at private schools agitating about high fees and other forms of tighter selection processes.
no.19 * Report on struggle of temp and casual workers at world’s biggest motor-bike factory Hero Honda in Dharuhera (Gurgaon/Manesar)
no.20 * The Youth is Getting Restless / Hidden Struggles in Okhlas Textile
no.3: “Fashion Express” -
Permanent workers of the textile export company occupy the factory after union leaders got sacked.
no.4: “Needles and Threats”, Local Textile Industry, Part One -
A text on the local textile export industries, including Faridabad Majdoor Samaachaar reports from a young textile worker about his journey from village to industrial city life.
no.7: “Working in the grave of Hauz Rani, a textile factory hidden in the cellar” – report from a textile worker, published in FMS no.229, July 2007. Ghost factories manufacture clothes for bigger companies in Gurgaon and Okhla, clothes which are then exported. In June/July 2007 some piece workers went on strike and enforced a piece rate increase.
no.9: * Mass Redundancies in Gurgaon Textile Export Sector, Autumn 2007
no.9: * Up-date on Fashion Express Factory Conflict
no.10: * Long list of short information from workers employed in over 40 different companies in Gurgaon
Most of the reports do not show much more than the fact that the official legal working standards are not met. Most of the reports are from textile export factories, gathered in September and October 2007
no.11: * Female textile worker complains about verbal harassment by supervisor at Gaurav International, Gurgaon. Gaurav International is an Indian garment export house that works with major US companies like GAP & Wal-Mart.
no.14: * Never use a needle, summary of study on local textile export industries
no.19 * Worker who works his machine in various textile export factories -Short report from a worker who is shifted from factory to factory
no.20 * A nocturnal roof-top conversation: Skilled textile workers talk about changes in technology and work-organisation undermining their power
no.20 * The Youth is Getting Restless / Hidden Struggles in Okhlas Textile factories
no.2: “Death and Development” -
Short news on industrial accidents, road deaths, bomb alarms, serial killings and other achievements of development in Gurgaon and on its highways.
no.3: “After the Slum Fire” -
Short note on a slum fire in Gurgaon, which destroyed about 800 huts of families of cleaning and recycling workers on 24th of April 2007. The first two days after the fire office bosses came down to the slum, asking why their offices kept on being dirty.
no.3: “Concrete on Soil: A Glimpse at Urban Development in Gurgaon, Part One” -
Some background information on population development, land acquisition, planned urban projects and the bubbling real estate sector in Gurgaon.
no.5: “The human fence post, the burried and the real estate boom, Another glimpse at urban development in Gurgaon, Part Two” -
DLF, one of the biggest private developers in India safe guards barren land against slum dwellers, the pavement-mafia in Gurgaon Udyog Vihar is part of the game and there are more deadly accidents in the rat-race of urbanisation.
no.5: “Drifting Social Whirlpool Chakkarpur” -
Some words about a 45 min stroll through convoluting/transforming Chakkarpur, a village in Gurgaon. The pictures and discriptions of the walk can be found on the web-site.
no.6: “Dig your own hole: A Glimpse at Urban Development in Gurgaon”, Part Three -
The article has a look at the relation between private developers and public institutions and the outcome for the making of the city Gurgaon.
no.11: * Village demolition by development authorities for industrial projects, April 2008 -
Under the protection of 100 policemen 50 houses in Gurgaon villages Koh and Kasan were demolished for ‘industrial purposes’. Unfortunately we only heard about it through the official media
no.11: * Dog restaurant opens in Gurgaon -
This is not about morality or sensation, but about the death-wishing ignorant arrogance of the ruling classes: while food riots spread across the globe and the local food prices in Gurgaon sore they open a luxurious dog restaurant right next to slums and industrial areas.
no.12: * City makes Countryside: On the background of the land-grab for the SEZ we summarise some articles on the changing class structure in the rural areas surrounding Gurgaon, Haryana.
no.13: * The Bloody Real Estate of Crisis
On 13th of August 2008 on a protest march in NOIDA, another satellite town of Delhi, several farmers were shot dead by the police and dozens got injured. If the protests in NOIDA and the demands for higher compensations are the rock of the current crisis of the real estate sector then the rising interest rates, the rising prices for construction material and the recession of the US economy is its hard place. A glimpse on the current crisis…
no.13: * Gated Communities and Repressive Social Paranoia
With the increasing spatial concentration of wealth and misery, of upward opportunities and downward spirals, those who feel privileged tend to feel threatened. In that way Gurgaon is a landscape of mass-psychosis. Some notes on the consequent urban armament: gated communities, increased repression in the local prisons, more CCTV, more police…
no.13: * Energy Crunch and Destructive Forces in Gurgaon
Maruti runs its own power-plant and in the way most of the factories and call centres in the industrial belt around Delhi do: burning fossil fuels in their generators. About 350,000,000 litre of diesel are consumed each year by these industrial units. A glimpse on the local energy crunch.
no.17: * Short summary about current real estate crisis in Gurgaon. The gold rush is over, the makers of neo-liberal bubble-town Gurgaon leave behind concrete-steel skeletons, tomb-stones of their unfinished business.
no.18: * Rural-Urban Migration Reversed? -
Story of a factory worker who became unemployed in Gurgaon and Faridabad industrial areas, who decided to apply for a job with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) ‘back home’ in the village, and who found out that nothing is guaranteed.
no.18: * One and a half years and a global crisis later… -
Rather subjective snap-shots about changes in and of Gurgaon, after a longer absence from the disaster-zone of progress.
no.18: * Babylon will fall eventually: Shaky Grounds of Gurgaon High Rise Real Estate -
The real estate sector in Gurgaon is not only shaken in its money-form, the weak foundation of its high-rising concrete-steel-glass form corresponds to the thin base of its inflated share-holder value.
no.19 * The Gurgaon Model and a Murder – Documentation of an older article on the legal adjustments which were undertaken in order to convert Gurgaon farm-land into real estate assets throughout the 1990s
no.19 * Water Wars – Short glimpse on the waterfront. A dyeing worker reports on how water-wastage in the dyeing industry in the Delhi industrial belt is covered by police and officials. A friend from Faridabad tells us how water gets to his slum-area – followed by a description of how water supply expresses social hierarchies in a Gurgaon back-yard.
no.20 * Future Deads for Sure – Town planners ignore the crumbling foundations of their high-rising buildings and they gamble with future dead by neglecting their own pathetic-helpless urban fire safety measures. A summary of a main-stream article on the issue.
February 12, 2008 at 12:34 pm
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