The authorities in the state of Harayana has declared a strike by workers of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd as illegal siding with the management of the automaker, which is facing production falls due to the labor unrest.

The workers who are striking at the factory at Manesar have been asked to vacate the factory by the local labor department and have also been urged to avoid involving in any unlawful activities to help prepare a conducive atmosphere for negotiations.

Some 1,500 workers at Maruti's Manesar factory have stopped work since Friday in the latest strike asking the management to reinstate 44 suspended workers we were not sent back to their jobs after a month long strike against the management came to end on October 1.

Workers of three other factories of by Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd., Suzuki Powertrain and Suzuki Castings Ltd also protested in solidarity with workers from the Maruti plant. Haryana government's labor department has already the process to cancel registration of the workers' unions at Suzuki Powertrain and Suzuki Motorcycle, according to the company management.

"Nobody can force workers to work if they don't want to. They can be forced to vacate the factory because that would be a matter of law. But after vacating the factory if they still don't want to work then nobody can do anything," Maruti Chairman R. C. Bhargava said.