Thin attendance at Daikin, arrested workers to seek bail

GURUGRAM: Tension prevailed at the Daikin Air Conditioners manufacturing plant in Neemrana on Friday, three days after police attacked a workers’ union march as part of a nationwide strike. Attendance was very thin, as most workers chose to stay away from the plant to avoid any untoward incident.
While workers said they were not going back to work due to the prevailing tension, the company said many are absconding and avoiding police, and hence weren’t coming to work. According to members of the Daikin Air Conditioners Majdoor Union, there are two plants and while one was operational with little attendance, there was no work at the other plant at all.

“The management had forced some contractual workers to work at one of the plants, though production remained nil,” said one of the union members, requesting anonymity. The Daikin management refuted the claims and said both plants were functional. “The plants are functional, however many workers are not coming to work, especially the women, as they are concerned about their safety,” said a company spokesperson.

A number of workers are mentioned in the FIR as ‘unnamed workers’ and they are currently absconding. The arrested workers have, meanwhile, decided to move the session’s court on Monday with their bail applications.

TOI had reported on Thursday that all 14 workers arrested in relation with the clash between workers and Neemrana police on Tuesday were produced in a local court on Thursday. The court has sent all 14 to Behror Central Jail on judicial remand.

These 14 workers, who hail from places such as Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, have been charged under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 148 (rioting and armed with deadly weapon) of the IPC. Other sections mentioned in the FIR include 147, 149, 332, 353, 307, 336 and 427 of the IPC.