Shubhreet Oberoi
New Delhi, 11 October 2005
Here's to C2. And to all other Left wing labour unions that go with it. The IT and ITeS sector is crying foul at the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu)'s move to unionise its 5,00,000-strong workforce. Companies fear that trade unionism will prevent the sector's future growth and restrict job opportunities for NextGen Indians.
"Employees in this sector do not need external intervention as they are well looked after. It's not a good move and I do not think it will succeed," Nasscom's agitated president Kiran Karnik told ET. IT and BPO employers complain that external trade union influences will not only disrupt 24x7 work practices on their premises, but will also disillusion impressionable youngsters. As a result, business would recede.
According to the Okhla-based call centre, Tecnovate, Rajesh Magow," A trade union could send wrong signals to foreign investors and even divert employee attention to unimportant issues. This is because unions try to politicise even trivial issues to sustain popularity." Most IT and ITeS companies have an open door policy in place that allows employees to directly interact with managers above their immediate superiors. The hierarchy is flat.
"IT and ITeS firms offer some of the finest human resource practices in terms of compensation and infrastructure, which are absolutely top of the class," says Prosenjit Ganguly, head of HR at HTMT, a BPO firm. "Though it is true that the shift timings are weird, those who have walked into the profession know this fully well," he adds.
Take this as it may. Citu has a different take of its own: "A union for IT workers in the urgent need of the hour. I would call IT professionals 'the labourers of the information age'. They toil longer hours, work at night and some of them still get meagre salaries. So a labour union would fight for their rights," says Citu president M K Pandhe.
Mr Pandhe says the main reason why Citu is pitching for a union is because IT industry is not governed by any labour law. And cyber coolies need support. AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta agrees. "It is a question of workers' rights. The Indian constitution guarantees a union for workers in every field. When there is union for workers in the government itself, I see no reason why the IT-BPO should be excluded," he says.
Left trade unions insist that it's high time this massive industry, which contributes more than 4.5% of the national economic output., had a trade union to protect workers' interests. "Already, we have begun the process of holding consultations with many senior IT employees in places such as Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Trivandrum," says Mr Pandhe.
BPO organisations think otherwise. "I believe the industry has managed its stupendous growth by putting right HR practices in place and will also do so in the future," says Radhika Balasubramanian, chief support officer at Mumbai-based BPO, Intelenet Global Services.
However, the call centres and tech companies are yet to draw up a definite plan of action to contest the formation of trade unions. This is primarily because of the belief that a majority of the IT-BPO sector employees may not be too keen to join a union. ET spoke to a number of BPO employees who said unions invited a lot of hassles.
In fact, this is not the first time that trade unions are trying to mobilise IT workers. Way back in 2000, Left leaders attempted to organise a union for Indian software programmers in Bangalore. The move did not succeed as programmers flinched at the prospect of joining a trade union. "The task is not going to be easy because young It professionals always have a negative image of trade unions in India," says Narayan Ram Hegde, member of Union of Network International, a global body of 900 TUs that is backing Citu's efforts.
New Delhi, 11 October 2005
Here's to C2. And to all other Left wing labour unions that go with it. The IT and ITeS sector is crying foul at the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu)'s move to unionise its 5,00,000-strong workforce. Companies fear that trade unionism will prevent the sector's future growth and restrict job opportunities for NextGen Indians.
"Employees in this sector do not need external intervention as they are well looked after. It's not a good move and I do not think it will succeed," Nasscom's agitated president Kiran Karnik told ET. IT and BPO employers complain that external trade union influences will not only disrupt 24x7 work practices on their premises, but will also disillusion impressionable youngsters. As a result, business would recede.
According to the Okhla-based call centre, Tecnovate, Rajesh Magow," A trade union could send wrong signals to foreign investors and even divert employee attention to unimportant issues. This is because unions try to politicise even trivial issues to sustain popularity." Most IT and ITeS companies have an open door policy in place that allows employees to directly interact with managers above their immediate superiors. The hierarchy is flat.
"IT and ITeS firms offer some of the finest human resource practices in terms of compensation and infrastructure, which are absolutely top of the class," says Prosenjit Ganguly, head of HR at HTMT, a BPO firm. "Though it is true that the shift timings are weird, those who have walked into the profession know this fully well," he adds.
Take this as it may. Citu has a different take of its own: "A union for IT workers in the urgent need of the hour. I would call IT professionals 'the labourers of the information age'. They toil longer hours, work at night and some of them still get meagre salaries. So a labour union would fight for their rights," says Citu president M K Pandhe.
Mr Pandhe says the main reason why Citu is pitching for a union is because IT industry is not governed by any labour law. And cyber coolies need support. AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta agrees. "It is a question of workers' rights. The Indian constitution guarantees a union for workers in every field. When there is union for workers in the government itself, I see no reason why the IT-BPO should be excluded," he says.
Left trade unions insist that it's high time this massive industry, which contributes more than 4.5% of the national economic output., had a trade union to protect workers' interests. "Already, we have begun the process of holding consultations with many senior IT employees in places such as Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Trivandrum," says Mr Pandhe.
BPO organisations think otherwise. "I believe the industry has managed its stupendous growth by putting right HR practices in place and will also do so in the future," says Radhika Balasubramanian, chief support officer at Mumbai-based BPO, Intelenet Global Services.
However, the call centres and tech companies are yet to draw up a definite plan of action to contest the formation of trade unions. This is primarily because of the belief that a majority of the IT-BPO sector employees may not be too keen to join a union. ET spoke to a number of BPO employees who said unions invited a lot of hassles.
In fact, this is not the first time that trade unions are trying to mobilise IT workers. Way back in 2000, Left leaders attempted to organise a union for Indian software programmers in Bangalore. The move did not succeed as programmers flinched at the prospect of joining a trade union. "The task is not going to be easy because young It professionals always have a negative image of trade unions in India," says Narayan Ram Hegde, member of Union of Network International, a global body of 900 TUs that is backing Citu's efforts.
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