India: Union betrays more than 3-month-long strike by Toyota workers in Bangalore
Despite the enormous militancy and courage shown by over 3,000 striking workers attached to two Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) plants near Bengaluru, the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, the more than three-month-long strike against speed-ups and witch-hunts against militant workers by management has ended in defeat. The company successfully engineered a split in the leadership of the TKM Employees Union (TKMEU) to conclude the sell-out earlier this month.
Toyota workers and Karnataka farmers stage joint procession in Bengaluru
After the company persuaded a faction of the TKMEU executive committee to sign an “undertaking” on company terms, management declared on March 1 that the union had agreed to end the strike. Although the rest of the TKMEU leadership initially rejected the company’s claims and vowed to fight on, the union performed an about-face two days later and ordered workers back to work as of March 4. This meant the three-month strike came to a conclusion without a single demand being won, including the reinstatement of 70 workers who were vindictively suspended by management.