Illegally terminated workers of Yazaki India Pvt. Ltd plant of Lakkenahalli of Ramnagara district of Karnataka have been staging a protest under the banner of AICCTU outside the factory gate since 26th December. It was the 13th of December, 2022 when 53 workers were verbally terminated by this Japanese
corporation. More than 100 other workers came out in support of their terminated colleagues and protested spontaneously. Due to this protest, these workers were identified and sacked the next day.
Instead of giving an apology, as demanded by the management in exchange of their jobs, they chose to form a union along with the other 53 terminated workers and launched the movement. Yazaki management was forced to assure in a tripartite conciliation meeting that all the workers will be taken back. They informed that re-joining letters to 45 workers have already been sent and the remaining will be subsequently dispatched. More than 20 workers have already resumed work on the factory floor, however the movement continues until all the 153 terminated workers are back to work. As of 23rd January, the movement has sustained for around a month.
Yazaki manufactures automobile wiring equipment. It has a clientele of Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Mahindra etc. This unit of the company earns super profits riding on the backs of around 3000 workers employed currently, out of which only 130 workers are permanent employees, rest are all either contractuals or “trainees”. Yazaki has a fraudulent policy of recruiting workers guised as “trainees”, whose job roles are same as that of the permanent employees but with lesser salary (around Rs. 11,000) and no job security. Currently more than 1500 such workers are working in this unit. “Training period” of these workers is extended for 4 years, then most of them are sacked and a new set of “trainees” are recruited. This is a strategy used by this multinational to enforce an easy “Hire and Fire” policy.
With the new labour codes being gradually implemented such abrupt terminations of workers would become a day-to-day affair in ‘New India’. The already bad working conditions will become worse. It is very clear that the only way to fight against this precarity and injustice is the path shown by the Yazaki workers, that is, by getting organised under the red banner.
Yazaki being a transnational automobile parts manufacturing company based out of Japan, they have their tentacles all over the third-world nations with 90% of their workforce from outside Japan. They have units in India with Pune as headquarter. In India the automobile sector is allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit with automatic approval. This sector has attracted FDI equity inflow worth US$ 33.53 billion between April 2000-June 2022 in India. Japan as the 3rd largest investor in India is currently operating over 1455 companies with automobiles as its top sector. India’s FDI inflow in FY22 was $58.8 billion, registering a growth of 142% in eight years with the automobile sector as third largest. Karnataka attracted 45 per cent of the total FDI inflow to India in FY22.
Since the inception of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) in the 90’s, we have seen that the governments irrespective of the parties in power have continuously worked in favour of foreign capital. Under the current regime of RSS-BJP, this has accelerated and is more brazen. Now the question arises what is the problem with allowing FDI into the country? Most political parties support and deem it
necessary for “development”.
There are a number of reasons. International capital establishes companies in India to extract super profits and the profit goes to the foreign parent company based in imperialist countries like the US, Japan, etc. instead of indigenous companies where the surplus generated rolls domestically helping further industrialization and employment growth.
Moreover, such companies focus on luxury goods rather than necessities for their higher profit margins. Hence, it cares only in enhancing the purchasing power of the wealthy while reducing masses to penury. Contrary to government propaganda, foreign capital does not facilitate employment generation. On one hand it cuts a large number of jobs with sophisticated machinery imported at inflated rates and on the other hand it mostly (roughly 70% of the FDI inflow) concentrates on acquiring existing businesses and not setting up new enterprises.
Earlier in the colonial period, imperialists exported goods to countries like India, to seize markets; today they export not only goods, but primarily capital as it has a double advantage. First by exporting capital and setting up branches (joint ventures with local corporates) of their industry in India they not only capture markets here, but also make super-profits through exploitation of cheap labour. So, for example, if a cake of Lux soap cost Rs 1 to manufacture by Hindustan Lever in India, it would cost say Rs 3 + transport to manufacture in the UK, by the parent company, Unilever. Therefore, by setting up plants in India they can increase their profits 3 to 5 fold. The rate of return is multifold as the companies exploit cheap labour, lax environmental regulations, and diluted labour laws as compared to their home country. Also, by having a “Hindustan” tag on it, it gives the appearance of being “Indian”, to deceive buyers.
The reality is, foreign corporations dictate domestic policies controlling life and livelihood of people, causing political enslavement, putting sovereignty of the country at stake. Laws and policies like labour codes, amendment to EIA, farm laws, NEP 2020 etc. are some examples. A recent estimate shows that due to the pro foreign capital policies of the Modi government, roughly $500 billion got drained abroad from our country in 2020-21. So, about 17% of India’s present GDP of over $ 3 trillion leaves the country every year, during the colonial period this drain was estimated at 8%. With this development model where imperialist loot is effectively greater than what was in colonial times, neither it is the time to celebrate “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” nor we will become “Atmanirbhar Bharat” as claimed by PM Modi. We need all democratic, progressive and patriotic students, youth, intellectuals, activists to come together, deliberate upon this and work towards bringing massive structural change.
