Maruti Suzuki Wage Pact Triggers Protests

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.'s new wage agreements with three unions have spawned protests by contract workers who say they were excluded, The Economic Times reports.

The new contract will give union workers a monthly raise of 16,800 rupees ($255) over three years through March 2018. ET says workers will receive 50% of the total, or an average 8,430 rupees ($128) per month, in the first year and 4,200 rupees in each of the following two years.

A source tells the newspaper the pact brings Maruti Suzuki's average monthly cost for an hourly worker to about 50,000 rupees ($759). The deal sets a benchmark for India's auto industry.

But ET also reports about 1,000 protesting regular and contract workers at the company's factory in Manesar clashed with police over the weekend. The demonstration led to two arrests and a variety of injuries, according to the newspaper, which says 1,000 members of the India Reserve Battalion were deployed to restore order at the plant.

Protestors complain the wage agreement applies only to regular workers, even though contract employees may perform virtually the same work.