The more than 20 lakh contract workers in the Haryana state are on struggle path to get the state minimum wage increased. The minimum wage in Haryana is one of the lowest in the Northern states. While Delhi is having a minimum wage of Rs. 8,085, Gujarat Rs. 6.637, Punjab Rs. 6,240, and Maharashtra Rs. 5,800, the minimum wage in Haryana is only Rs. 5,342.(Of course, even these minimum wages are not being paid in many sectors through various dubious means).
The Minimum wages are to be refixed after every five years, but this has not been done in Haryana. Haryana Government has a record of anti-worker profile, which could be understood from the fact that how brutally it dealt with the strike in Maruti Suzuki in 2012. More than 100 workers are still jail on fabricated charges. The workers have gone on strike for equal pay for equal work and regularisation of contract workers. The managements in the Gurgaon-Mansoor area which are mainly auto sectors, with the factories of Suzuki and Hero Honda and other ancillary factories are notorious for their attack on the workers.
A meeting of the trade unions in the area have met and is planning to start serious agitation for improving the minimum wages. We support the fully justified struggle.