As the information technology (IT) sector is going through a turbulent period, punctuated by layoffs reported from across the country, trade unions in the State are intensifying their efforts to find a foothold in the industry, which has traditionally kept them at an arm’s length.
Though the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) have been operating dedicated unions for IT employees for some time, they have very limited success till now. The unions are now trying to win the confidence of IT employees, largely in a siege mentality in the wake of uncertainty prevailing in the industry.
The CITU-affiliated Association of IT Employees (AITE) a few months back launched a committee by the name IT Professionals and has now followed it up with a State-level Redressal Forum and district-level monitoring committees to address the grievances of IT employees. The seven-member forum, comprising domain experts, offers a spectrum of services from legal aid to counselling.
“We plan to launch a Web portal as part of the forum at a protest to be organised in front of the Infopark against layoffs in the IT sector on June 1. It will enable employees to seek assistance, even publishing management atrocities, by maintaining maximum confidentiality since they are apprehensive of any trucks with the trade unions for fear of retribution from managements,” said R. Ratheesh, State convener, IT Professionals.
The INTUC also plans to take out protest marches to the Technopark and Infopark scheduled for next month as a launch pad for renewed efforts to effectively intervene in the sector. State president R. Chandrasekharan warned that no CEO of any IT company which unjustly layoffs employees would be allowed on the roads of the State.
“What the company owners are doing to their employees is outright human right violation by allowing them no freedom whatsoever. Why can’t they devise alternative plans other than layoffs to retain their employees during times of a slowdown after having amassed disproportionate wealth benefiting from their hard work,” said Mr. Chandrasekharan, who has suggested that the Chief Minister convene a meeting of IT company managements to thrash out alternatives to layoffs.
Meanwhile, the Chennai-based Forum for IT Employees (FITE) is planning to intervene in the alleged ‘forceful resignation” of employees from the Kochi centre of Cognizant, which the management has obviously denied while regarding it as “transitioning out” following performance reviews.
“We have received complaints regarding Cognizant from Kochi and are planning to take up the matter with the labour commissioner next week,” said a spokesperson of FITE, which runs multiple WhatsApp groups for employees allegedly laid off by Cognizant, including for those from Kochi.
