HYDERABAD: Along with the surge in IT/ITES layoffs in the country that has crippled the sunny job market in the country, there has been a parallel uprising of IT employee welfare organisations: associations, forums, and trade unions in the country.
But, all does not seem to be going well for IT employees involved in activism as the alien form of collective bargaining is causing techies to undergo mental pressure from operational heads to withdraw from such activities. Several techies say they are discriminated during team meetings and are awarded lower points during the performance appraisal. All of it on grounds of participating in online campaigns, protests and voicing their dissent over unfair work ethics.
Information Technology Employees Association (IIEA), a home grown registered association fighting against layoffs in the IT sector, recently, had to pull off second names from its letterheads circulated on the social media.
“Our members faced serious consequences when their names were noticed by its management after some of our posts went viral,” said Vinay Kumar, president of IIEA. From scrutinising our work to trailing our activities, the companies have done it all, he added. “We had to remove second names of some of our members from the letterheads and delete few posts so as to avoid further backlash,” Kumar added.
Elavarasan Raja, General Secretary of Forum for IT Employees (FITE), a nationwide IT employee forum which is soon forming a 155 member trade union in Maharashtra, said that he was recently warned by his manager for his active participation.
“My manager warned me on Thursday that my activity at FITE is objectionable and asked me to withdraw from it,” Raja said while adding that his job is at stake. “I know the laws better now and I am not bringing them into my organisation so it is well with me. He is currently working with an Indian MNC giant.
“In MNC’s there is diplomacy but in small-scale companies, it is direct ousting,” observed V Sravan, president of Hyderabad IT Employees Welfare Organisation.
The law, however, does not disqualify of IT employees forming a trade union under any provision. “Legally, they (IT Employees) can form a trade union but if it can sustain is a question that cannot be answered now,” said R Chandra Shekaram, Joint Commissioner of Labour, Ranga Reddy Zone. There are several factors that govern its sustainability, he added.