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DESCRIPTION:SF Rally  3/21 On  International Day Of Solidarity To Defend 13 Indian 
 Maruti-Suzuki auto workers sentenced to life imprisonment-Free The Jailed 
 Unionists\nTuesday March 21, 2017 11:00 AM SF Bay Area Solidarity Action 
 For Maruti-Suzuki Workers \nSan Francisco Indian Consulate 540 Arguello 
 Blvd,/Geary St.  San Francisco, CA 94118\nCall The Consulate And Protest 
 The Sentences Phone: (415) 668-0683\n\nOn March 18, 2017 an Indian court in 
 Gurgaon sentence 13 Maruti-Suzuki auto workers to life imprisonment. They 
 did not have a fair trial and the Indian government wants to threaten all 
 workers that if they fight for unionization particularly at virulently 
 anti-labor multi-nationals like Japan based Maruti-Suzuki they will be 
 severely punished. Now is the time to let the Indian government that these 
 worekrs must be released and Indian workers have the right to organize, 
 form independent unions and take action on the shop floor without the 
 police and military crushing their labor actions.\nOn March 21, 2017 an 
 international day of action has been called for by these workers.\nPlease 
 support their fight\n\nInitiated By\nUnited Public Workers For 
 Action\nwww.upwa.info\nFor more information or to 
 endorse\n(415)282-1908\ninfo@upwa.info\n\nThe 
 Factory\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPK1W2D9hho\n\n\n= = =\nCOURT 
 SPELLS "JUDGEMENT" ON MARUTI WORKERS\nGurgaon sessions court has sentenced 
 13 workers to life imprisonment.\n\nThe convicted are all members of the 
 union body, and Jiyalal, a dalit worker who was wrongfully suspended by the 
 management on speaking up against casteist abuse by a supervisor. The 
 conviction of these workers is a shameful example of the judicial system 
 playing to the tunes of corporate interests and will be challenged by the 
 workers both in court and on the streets.\n\nAnother 4 workers have been 
 sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, out of which they have already served 4 
 years in jail. 14 workers are to be released with Rs. 2,500 fine as having 
 undergone their punishment.\n\nIn the absolute lack of evidence, the court 
 has been forced to admit that the 117 workers acquitted after having spent 
 close three years in jail were illegally detained, and wrongfully confined 
 and it was an unlawful arrest.\n\nHaryana government will have to answer to 
 their crimes, for having ruined hundreds of lives of workers and their 
 families at the behest of Maruti Suzuki.\n\nReject the fallacy of this 
 "rule of law" that serves the interests of the interests of the capitalist 
 class rather than the toiling people!\nRelease the 13 Maruti workers, the 
 prisoners of class struggle!\n\nMaruti Suzuki Verdict: Class Solidarity 
 against a ‘Political 
 Judgement’\nhttp://tnlabour.in/automobile-industry/4962\nPosted on March 
 17, 2017 by Thozhilalar Koodam\nWorkers across Tamilnadu boycott lunch; 
 Join Protests against Maruti Riots Case Judgment\n\nMarch 16th prior to the 
 verdict was declared a National Day of action against the Maruti Riots Case 
 verdict that has incarcerated 31 workers including all the union leaders of 
 Maruti Suzuki Workers Union for the fire accident and subsequent death of a 
 HR Manager on July 18th 2011. Of the 148 workers arrested, charged and 
 jailed for over 3 years, 117 were acquitted from all charges, 13 were 
 charged with murder and attempt to murder and 18 were charged with causing 
 grievous injury. The sentencing for the 31 workers found guilty will begin 
 today 17th March.\n\nLunch Boycott across factories in Chennai\n\n\nCNF 
 automotive, Oragadum\n\n\nDiamond Chain, Ambattur\n\n\nWorkers at 
 Innovators\n\n\nOnLoad Gears, Chennai\n\n \n\nWorkers from Sanmina, On load 
 Gears, CMF Oragadam, Diamond Chains and many other factories had boycotted 
 lunch in show of solidarity with the incarcerated workers of Maruti Suzuki. 
 The Sanmina workers who are themselves conducting an on site protest after 
 a General Manager is said to have used casteist slurs against a worker, 
 boycotted their food and 4 workers including a woman worker had to be 
 treated after fainting. Hyundai unions have called for a boycott lunch 
 tomorrow in solidarity with the maruti workers. Workers from Shanti Gears 
 in Coimbatore also joined the one day hunger fast by boycotting lunch at 
 factory canteens\n\n\nShanti Gears Coimbatore\n\n \n\nDemonstrations 
 demanding Justice to Maruti Workers\n\n\nAICCTU Protest at 
 Ambattur\n\n\nWorkers ending hunger fast\n\nWorkers from TI Cycles, Diamond 
 Chains, Innovators, On Load Gears, Saimeera, Jay Engineering, Sanmina, 
 Caterpillar participated in the hunger fast. Over 100 workers participated. 
 The meeting, organized by AICCTU, was addressed by worker from Saimeera, 
 Caterpillar, Gunabalan of Pricol, Rajaguru of Hyundai.\n\n \n\nIt was 
 presided by Com. Palanivel, District Sec for AICCTU. Comrade AS Kumar gave 
 the concluding address and gave the revenue and the profits that Maruti was 
 making during 2012 and 2013 and how repressive the conditions of workers 
 were in Maruti.\n\nComrade Gunabalan traced how the case against him was 
 falsified when he was not even in town on the day of the Pricol workers and 
 highlighted the similarities between Pricol and Maruti workers. He said 
 that they would continue to raise the issue of Maruti workers in the rally 
 being planned March 23rdand on May 1st. Leaders and union organizers from 
 AITUC and Kumugha Viduthalai Thozhillalar sangam participated in the hunger 
 fast\n\n\nWorkers at NDLF Protest, Avadi\n\n \n\nOver 200 Workers from TI 
 cycles, Tubes India and informal sector participated in a demonstration 
 near Avadi Municipality. Organized by NDLF, the workers raised slogans 
 against the maruti verdict, demanding justice for the workers and end to 
 the judicial bais towards capitalist. Com. Mukundan, State President of 
 NDLF, presided over the demonstration, while com. Vijaya Kumar, State 
 Treasures of NDLF spoke in detail about the events leading upto the riots, 
 the criminal actions of the Maruti Suzuki management and the travesty of 
 the judicial process that led to excessive sufferings and financial loss 
 for the 148 workers, of whom 117 have been acquitted entirely. NDLF has 
 also organized similar protests in Pondicherry, Hosur and 
 Coimbatore.\n\n\nCOm. Mukundan addressing the demonstation\n\n\nNDLF 
 Protest Banner\n\n \n\nThe recurring theme in the speeches was the visible 
 double standards in the adjudication of cases and delivery of sentences. 
 Calling it a ‘political Judgment’ all speakers pointed out the manner 
 in which cases against management and owners for violation of labour laws 
 are procrastinated while cases against workers for protests and violence 
 are fast tracked and harsh punishments delivered. The Sufferings of the 
 Pricol workers in Coimbatore, who were incarcerated in a similar case, was 
 highlighted. Speakers also spoke of the glorious struggles in 1921 against 
 B&C mills in Chennai, in which the British colonial government had acted 
 with excessive force in putting down the workers and arresting key leaders. 
 ‘How different was this government which we have supposedly elected 
 democratically?’ questioned Vijayakumar, speaker at the NDLF meeting. The 
 support for the workers of maruti, especially the incarcerated workers were 
 visible. A.S Kumar, also demanded compensation for the 117 acquitted maruti 
 workers and immediate restoration of jobs with back wages. ‘They have 
 been jailed for more than 3 years, how heavily have they suffered, 
 emotionally as well as livelihood wise, the government should compensate 
 them for this unjust suffering’ he said.\n\nFrom one Prisoner of 
 Conscience to another Comrade\n\nGunabalan, one of the Pricol 8, who had 
 been recently acquitted of all charges by the High Court of Madras, said 
 that the workers of Maruti are not alone in this struggle and it was 
 essential for every workers to stand with them at this crucial moment. From 
 his experience as a under trail for many years, he said his greatest 
 strength had been the frequent visits of colleagues, union leaders and 
 family members and the news that workers were continuing to protest, raise 
 money and take care of his family. ‘ this is essential for the workers to 
 know as it will keep them in high spirits’ he said. He also asked the 
 jailed workers not to lose heart and to know that the working class was 
 fighting for them.\n\nSolidarity Actions in Delhi\n\n\nMess at Daikin 
 during Lunch\n\n\nWorkers Marching in Solidarity\n\n\nWorkers at Bhilai in 
 Solidarity\n\n \n\n \n\n\nprotestors at Haryana Bhavan,\n\nClass solidarity 
 action for Maruti-Suzuki workers is taking place in many parts of the 
 country today. In the Gurgaon-Manesar-Dharuhera-Bawal-Neemrana industrial 
 belt, a Few lakh workers from over 40 companies skipped  unch/dinner 
 yesterday. All the unions in the belt came together to stand in solidarity 
 with the Maruti workers whose punishment will be decided today.  
 Irrespective of the category of exploitation, permanent, contract, trainee, 
 apprentice raised their solidarity voices against the shocking judgement by 
 the lower court and refused food.  All the unions held a meeting in public 
 park on 15th March and  have decided and urged all their members to reach 
 the court today. Future  course of action will be decided after the court 
 announces the punishment.\n\nIn Delhi, workers  affiliated to a variety of 
 unions and solidarity activists gathered at Hariyana Bhavan to protest 
 against the  blatantly unjust , pro-corporate  and anti-worker verdict 
 which was announced on 10th March. However in keeping with the anti-worker 
 policies and actions of the state, Delhi police immediately arrested all 
 the workers who had gathered and detained them. They left some of those 
 gathered at Jantar Mantar and slowly the site of protest shifted to Jantar 
 Mantar.\n\nProtests also took place in Ludhiana, Bhilai, Rudrapur.\n\nhere 
 is an expanding list of factories where workers solidarity actions have 
 been reported\n\n1. Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, Manesar\n2. Maruti Udyog 
 Kamgar Union, Gurgaon\n3. Maruti Suzuki Powertrain India Employees Union, 
 Manesar\n4. Suzuki Motorcycles India Employees Union, Khedki Daula\n5. 
 Honda Motorcycle and Scooters Employees Union, Manesar\n6. Hero MotoCorp 
 Employees Union, Gurgaon\n7. Hero MotoCorp Employees Union, Dharuhera\n8. 
 Daikin air-conditioning Employees Union, Neemrana\n9. Bellsonica Auto 
 Components Employees Union, Manesar\n10. Kansai Nerolac Paints Karmchari 
 Union, Bawal\n11. Rico Auto Workers Union, Dharuhera\n12. Omax Auto 
 Employees Union, Dharuhera\n13. Bajaj Motors Employees Union, 
 Narsinghpur\n14. Sunbeam Workers Union, Gurgaon\n15. Munjal Kiriu Employees 
 Union, Manesar\n16. Sona Koyo Steering Workers Union, Manesar\n17. 
 Microtech Union, Bawal\n18. Ahresty Union, Bawal,\n19.Pricol Union, 
 Manesar\n20. Hema Union, Gurgaon\n21. Napino Union, Manesar\n22. Satyam 
 Auto Union, Manesar\n23. GKN Union, Dharuhera\n24. Metro Ortem Union, 
 Gurgaon\n25. FCC Union, Manesar\n26. Munjal Showa Union, Gurgaon\n27. 
 Munjal Showa Union, Manesar\n28. Talbros Union, Manesar\n29. Perfetti 
 Union, Manesar\n30. Frigoglass Union, Manesar\n31. Organica Medical, 
 Manesar\n32. ENKY Union, Manesar\n33. Uniproduct Union, Bawal\n34. Autofit 
 Union, Dharuhera\n35. Endurance Union, Manesar\n36. Asti Union, 
 Manesar\n37. MK Auto Union, Gurgaon\n38. Harsoriya Union, Bawal\n39. Amul 
 Union, Manesar\n40. Moser Bear Union, Noida\n41. LG Union, 
 Noida\n\nSouth\n\n	• Diamond Chain, Chennai\n	• TI Cycles, 
 Chennai\n	• Tube India Products, Chennai\n	• Onload Gears\n	• 
 Innovators, Chennai\n	• Saimeera, Chennai\n	• Caterpillar, 
 Chennai\n	• Sanmina, Chennai\n	• Jay Engineering, Chennai\n	• Shanti 
 Gears, Coimbatore\n	• CNF Automotive, Chennai\nBe Sociable, 
 Share!\n\n\nThe Factory (132 min.) (2015) (India) Directed by: Rahul 
 Roy\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPK1W2D9hho \nThe struggle of the 
 Maruti Suzuki workers in India is the focus of this important documentary 
 about autoworkers. Suzuki, a Japanese based multi-national, decided to 
 expand into India with a car assembly plant. The factory was located about 
 30 miles from New Delhi.\nThe film shows that Suzuki was intent on 
 exploiting workers to the max and colluded with the government to set up a 
 company union. The autos come off the assembly line every 50 seconds and 
 workers face a brutal pace. Breaks are limited to only a 7-minute break in 
 the morning and afternoon and 30 minutes for lunch. This excludes the time 
 it takes to go to the canteen. Additionally half the workers are contract 
 workers who are not entitled to healthcare or uniforms. A single absence 
 means a 25% reduction in pay and a two-day absence a 50% cut.\nAfter 
 organizing an independent union called Maruti Suzuki Employees Union, the 
 company created an incident on July 18, 2012 in which a pro-union manager 
 was killed in the factory and the factory ended up on fire. They then 
 changed 148 workers with murder and arson. They also, with the support of 
 the courts and the government, fire 2500 workers who were supporters of the 
 union.\nThe brutality that these auto workers faced is not unique. In 
 Bogotá, Colombia, injured workers have been encamped outside the US 
 consulate for more than 4 years to get justice and compensation for their 
 injuries. These multi-national companies, like Suzuki, Toyota, Nissan, 
 Hyundai, and GM, have one goal and that is the increased exploitation of 
 their workforce for greater profits. The struggle of the Maruti Suzuki 
 workers to free their jailed comrades and also get justice in their fight 
 with this company still continues.\nThis film gives an up close view of 
 what workers face in India and around the 
 world.\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPK1W2D9hho\n\nIndia Maruti Suzuki 
 Workers Strike In Gurgaon/India-Sacked India Maruti Suzuki auto workers 
 demand justice for colleagues who have been in jail for three 
 years\nhttp://en.labournet.tv/video/6048/maruti-suzuki-workers-strike-gurgaonindia\nhindi 
 with english and german subtitles  |  15 min  |  2011  |  hits: 2041\nFrom 
 June 4th to 17th, 2000 workers of the Manesar Maruti-Suzuki factory took 
 part in a wildcat strike.  \n\n" It was a hard struggle. Without previous 
 notice, the workers brought production to a complete standstill. About 2000 
 workers spent almost two weeks in the factory. The strike "delayed" the 
 production of 13200 cars and caused a 6 Mrd. R (133 million US-Dollar / 100 
 million Euros) worth of damage. The workers continued to stike, even though 
 it was officially declared illlegal on June 10th and even though police 
 were stationed within the factory.\n\nThe young workers showed great 
 courage, and the company was hit in a phase of full production capacity, 
 nevertheless the outcome was a defeat for the majority of the workers. 
 Their most important goal, improving working conditions and wages, was not 
 attained. Instead, the agreement contained a penalty wage cut of two days' 
 wage per strike day - something that has rarely been seen in India. The 
 agreement also includes the re-employment ot the eleven unionists, who had 
 been fired during the protests, but they will be subjected to an 
 "investigation"  We do not know, whether the majority of workers are 
 demoralised after this strike, but we can well imagine it. \n\nThis strike 
 could have spread. The initial demands and motivations of the maruti 
 workers are in accordance with the feelings of most young workers in the 
 region: more money, less work. In Manesar, there are more than a hundred 
 thousand workers with similar requirements.\n\nThe strike paralyzed 200 
 suppliers in the region, but there were no connections made with the 
 workers of these factories. This might be the greatest difference between 
 this struggle and last year's Honda strike in China. It might also be a 
 reason for the scarce coverage - in mainstream media a s well as in leftist 
 publications - despite the growing importance on the global market of 
 Maruti Suzuki as well as of India as a whole 
 ."\n\n(GurgaonWorkersNews)\n\nSacked India Maruti Suzuki auto workers 
 demand justice for colleagues who have been in jail for three years\nSacked 
 Maruti workers demand justice for colleagues who have been in jail for 
 three 
 years\nhttp://scroll.in/article/772244/sacked-maruti-workers-demand-justice-for-colleagues-who-have-been-in-jail-for-three-years\nWORKERS' 
 RIGHTS\nSacked Maruti workers demand justice for colleagues who have been 
 in jail for three years\nWorkers' groups say Maruti workers are being 
 targeted for demanding their constitutional rights.\nAnumeha Yadav  · 
 Yesterday · 10:00 pm\n\nPhoto Credit: Anumeha Yadav\n\n \nThree years on, 
 Maruti workers are still fighting for justice. On Friday, hundreds of 
 workers who had been dismissed by Maruti Suzuki India Limited, India's 
 largest car manufacturer, after a prolonged worker-management conflict at 
 its Manesar plant in Haryana in 2012, met in Gurgaon to demand the 
 acquittal of their colleagues have been are in jail since 2012. They also 
 urged the authorities to withdraw the non-bailable warrants against 66 
 colleagues who have been on the run for three years.\n\nWorkers' 
 representatives of Hyundai, Ford, Toyota, Hindustan Motors working in Tamil 
 Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttarakhand attended the meeting. It was 
 the first time workers from car manufacturing and vendor companies in 
 automobile zones across the country had organised such a meeting. Satish 
 Kumar, who is the general secretary of the Ford Employees Union in Chennai 
 was among those representing plant-level unions from automobile zones in 
 other states. “A team from Maruti workers' solidarity centre visited 
 Chennai six months back and then, for the first time, we became aware of 
 the details of what the workers had faced. The government and the courts 
 are biased in favour of big industry.”\n\nLong battle\n\nTheir immediate 
 focus was on the dismissed Maruti workers. In 2011-'12, workers at Maruti's 
 Manesar factory stuck work three times to demand that they be allowed to 
 set up an independent union. They asked for improvements in their wages and 
 working conditions. When a fire broke out at the plant during a clash 
 between workers and management on July 18, 2012, a senior manager died and 
 several others were injured. The police charged 147 Maruti workers with 
 murder and rioting.\n\nOf this number, 113 got bail earlier this year, but 
 34 workers were denied bail. Between August and September, the police 
 arrested two more workers from Haryana and Delhi, bringing the total number 
 of workers in jail to 36.\n\nRam Niwas, a member of the Workers' 
 Provisional Committee, which has been working on securing legal aid for the 
 jailed workers, said the unfair practices employed by Maruti Suzuki three 
 years ago were now being replicated across the country.\n\nA 
 struggle\n\nSeveral of the dismissed workers who attended the meeting said 
 they had not been able to find regular employment since 2012. Many spoke of 
 their job applications being rejected if they mentioned that they had been 
 dismissed from Maruti. “I applied for a job at a Hyundai agency in 
 Fatehabad, they turned me away when they found out I had been employed that 
 year at Maruti,” recounted Bittu Kumar who had worked for six years at 
 the Manesar factory. Since last year, he has been working as a Life 
 Insurance Corporation agent.\n\nLaxman Kumar*, a 27-year old worker, 
 against whom the police issued a non-bailable warrant after the incident at 
 the factory said he had been on the run since 2012. “I do odd jobs in 
 different places and visit home once in six months or so for a few hours to 
 see my family," he said. "The police visited my house and recorded address 
 and details for even my extended family, I feel I am not safe at any 
 place.\n\nHarminder Kaur, whose younger brother Sarabjeet Singh had been 
 the general secretary of the workers unions when the conflict turned 
 violent, was also present at the meeting. "The government and the courts 
 need to at least re-examine the sections they have jailed my brothers and 
 others in under," she said. "How could the police accuse 147 persons of one 
 person's murder? Sometimes, it feels like no one is listening, but I am 
 hopeful that every effort we make is making a dent."\n\n*Name changed\n\nA 
 new documentary brings the India  Maruti struggle alive through the stories 
 of its arrested 
 workers\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ-kImrpSi0\nhttp://scroll.in/article/731388/a-new-documentary-brings-the-maruti-struggle-alive-through-the-stories-of-its-arrested-workers\nRahul 
 Roy's latest film revisits the unionisation dispute that rocked the 
 automobile company's plant in Manesar between 2011 and 2013.\nNandini 
 Ramnath  · Jun 03, 2015 · 01:30 pm\n\nPhoto Credit: Rahul Roy\n\n \nOne 
 of the first things to be said about Rahul Roy’s new documentary The 
 Factory is that it is two hours long. Nobody is more conscious of this fact 
 than Roy. At a recent film screening in Delhi, Roy and the film’s editor, 
 Reena Mohan, wondered how viewers were going to take the length. “I 
 thought, God, what a bore, will people sit through it, but it seems to have 
 gone down well,” Roy said.\n\nThe documentary’s running time is 
 inextricably linked to its subject and narrative treatment. The Factory 
 revisits one of the most contentious cases of industrial unrest in recent 
 history: the face-off between workers and the management of the Maruti 
 Suzuki automobile factory in Manesar in Haryana that started in 2011. Roy, 
 who has also shot the documentary, started filming on July 18, 2013, 
 exactly a year after the death of general manager of Human Resources, 
 Avnish Kumar Dev, during a violent clash between workers and the 
 management. The company alleged that Dev perished from beatings and 
 suffocation after his floor caught fire, and 147 workers  were jailed on 
 murder charges. The workers, who had been clashing with the management over 
 their attempts form a union for several months, countered that Dev’s 
 death was an excuse to frame them and demonise the union.\n\nThe affair, 
 which is by no means over, is filled with dramatic moments. But in keeping 
 with Roy’s longstanding interest in labour, capital and working-class 
 lives and his quiet, observational approach, the film is a sober and 
 rigorous account of the soul-destroying courtroom grind endured by the 
 arrested workers on the inside and their families on the outside. (As of 
 March, 79 workers had been granted bail, while 68 continue to be behind 
 bars.)\n\n“Given the nature and the scale of the issue, the fact that one 
 is dealing with a history and the production part of it, and given the 
 cases, there was no way I could have done justice to it all,” Roy said. 
 “Ideally I would always want a shorter film. But the film needed a 
 certain pace, it needed time to make various connections. Besides, how do 
 you create a sense of the wait in real time, of people’s lives and the 
 frustrations that build up.”\n\nRoy began to shoot his film at a 
 demonstration against Maruti to mark the first anniversary of the arrests 
 in 2013 and ended the film exactly a year later in Gujarat, where the 
 company hopes to shift the plant. “I actually started filming at a point 
 when the movement was not at its peak,” said the 52 year-old filmmaker. 
 “I filmed at a point when the movement was waning in terms of its public 
 presence and the entire concentration was on the court cases.”\n\nIn 
 between the endless waiting, the anxieties and agonies faced by the 
 families of the incarcerated workers and the frustrations of the defence 
 lawyers, Roy traces a short history of Maruti in India – its inception as 
 a public-private joint venture with Suzuki holding the majority stake in 
 1982, its huge share of the car market until recently, and the 
 establishment of the Manesar plant in 2007.\n\nHigh targets usually result 
 in a punishing shopfloor culture. In order to ensure that a finished car 
 rolls off the assembly line every 50 seconds, the plant employs a mix of 
 permanent and contract workers. In a telling sequence, a worker blandly 
 details number of minutes allotted for tea and lunch breaks: seven for tea 
 and 30 for lunch.\n\n\n\n“The production process had to become a very 
 important element,” Roy said. “That was a huge challenge, since I 
 didn’t have access to the management. How do you create a narrative 
 around the production process without putting people to sleep?”\n\nThe 
 fact that the Maruti management obdurately refused to talk to Roy or give 
 him permission to shoot inside the plant also influenced the narrative. The 
 Factory is seen through the eyes of the workers and their supporters. There 
 is no attempt to establish equivalence by seeking the other side of the 
 story. Maruti’s views on the matter come through in indirect ways: 
 through a presentation that plays out on a giant screen as dancers writhe 
 before it in silhouette, media reports and the legal representations made 
 by the company. Maruti appears in the film as a malevolent presence that 
 instituted an unhealthy work culture to ensure profit at all costs, 
 actively blocked the workers’ legitimate demands to allow them to form a 
 union, and influenced villagers living near the plant through corporate 
 social responsibility programmes into providing them with muscle power when 
 the workers went on strike.\n\n“In the larger sense, what is fairly clear 
 is that there is almost a nexus between the state and corporations coming 
 together,” Roy said. “For instance, why did the state appoint KPS Tulsi 
 as the public prosecutor for what is essentially a murder trial?” The 
 erstwhile Congress Party government in Haryana paid Tulsi Rs 5.5 crore for 
 his appearance. He was replaced in December by a team of 85 state 
 lawyers.\n\nTulsi and the rest of the prosecution team are another 
 invisible entity in a film that sticks close with its subjects, filming the 
 arrested workers as they arrive at or leave the court premises, 
 interviewing their lawyers, and spending time with their 
 families.\n\n“Where you place the camera reveals a lot about the film and 
 filmmaker,” Roy explained. “I very consciously decided that the camera 
 would always be on one side. It would look at the workers’ angle, not in 
 terms of becoming a PR job, but becoming observant to how they are dealing 
 with the issues.” The documentary\n\nThe Factory is one of the several 
 films funded by the Justice Project, which examines political, social and 
 economic conflicts across the subcontinent.\n\nFilmmakers and researchers 
 in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka have produced films as 
 well as academic studies on such varied subjects as the Ayodha mosque 
 dispute, the death of garment workers in Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013, 
 and post-civil war compensation in Sri Lanka. The Factory and other films 
 as well as the research papers ewill be presented at a seminar in Colombo 
 in early June, and a similar event will be held in Delhi in July.\n\nSweat 
 and blood\n\nThe Factory is in the same mould as the landmark 1976 
 documentary Harlan County, USA, Barbara Kopple’s exhaustive account of a 
 lengthy and complicated strike by coal mine workers in Kentucky in 1973. 
 Kopple spent a few years with the workers and their families and captured 
 the crests and troughs of the movement. Some of Harlan County, USA’s most 
 stirring sequences are of the solidarity and courage displayed by the mine 
 workers and their families, who battle violence, litigation and changes 
 within the union with utmost clarity about their basic rights and their 
 unquestionable contributions to their employer’s bottomline.\n\nThe 
 Factory  also has several stories of fortitude and courage displayed by the 
 workers, many of whom are products of Industrial Training Institutes and 
 have a well-defined sense of what is due to them. Roy has previously 
 examined working-class lives in his films Majma, When Four Friends Meet and 
 The City Beautiful, but he has mostly been engaged with the informal 
 sector, such as handloom weavers in The City Beautiful. “Labour has been 
 an abiding interest, so there is a continuum with my previous films, but I 
 have always worked with unorganised labour,” said Roy, who graduated from 
 the Jamia Milia Islamia University in Delhi in 1987 and was a part of the 
 generation of documentarians who worked on video and investigated the 
 economic and social divisions that opened up in India after the Emergency. 
 “This was the first time I was working with organised labour, but it was 
 a very different class of labour. The big issue in the Maruti case was 
 about dignity – the workers felt stripped of their dignity all the time. 
 They displayed tremendous intellectual rigour and political acumen. These 
 are not workers who are going to take things lying down – they are 
 educated, they are on Facebook and they use smartphones – and this is 
 something the Indian industry has to face.”\n\nIn some cases, neither a 
 degree nor a Facebook account is needed to arrive at the realisation that 
 big business can be the cause of unrest rather than progress. The Factory 
 begins in Haryana and ends up in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home 
 state Gujarat, where Maruti has been allotted land to set up a plant. The 
 farmers whose land is being acquired for the project are most unhappy at 
 Maruti’s sudden appearance on their horizon, and they declare their 
 opposition to the project. Visuals of row upon row of cars waiting to leave 
 the parking lot give way to lines of cows ambling over land that might, 
 some day, become yet another battleground between the forces of profit and 
 the human beings who are supposed to deliver it.\nWe welcome your comments 
 at letters@scroll.in\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/03/18/18797526.php
SUMMARY:SF Rally on International Day of Solidarity to Defend 13 Indian Maruti-Suzuki Auto Workers
LOCATION:San Francisco Indian Consulate 540 Arguello Blvd,/Geary St.  San Francisco, 
 CA 94118
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/03/18/18797526.php
DTSTART:20170321T180000Z
DTEND:20170321T190000Z
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