Automotive workers in Southern India took matters into their own hands (literally, and with drastic consequences) earlier this week after 42 of them had been dismissed for indiscipline and preventing other employees from accessing the instrumentation factory in which they were based. Roy George, the 47 year old vice-president of HR at Pricol, an auto-parts manufacturer, was attacked after he dismissed the workers and has since died from his injuries. Nine members of the Trade Union have been arrested in connection with the murder.

Although such instances of violence in India are rare, the decline in orders within the automotive industry has led to a number of redundancies, and an increase in employment disputes. Within Pricol (the company where this event took place) employees had been on strike intermittently for the past two years over pay and other disputes.

12 arrested for murder of senior HR Manager

For further instances of how employees in other cultures have adopted a dramatic approach to work-based disputes, together with a few discussion starters, read The Brits: the wimps of employee relations