Red flag over New India

BPO employees don8217;t want unions. Labour minister should help them say it

It may not have escaped Oscar Fernandes8217;s notice that the media was somewhat underwhelmed by his appointment as the new labour minister. But he should cheer up. He may get a lot of press soon and it won8217;t be because of that old chestnut 8212; fights over PF rates 8212; but courtesy something pretty new in India8217;s labour markets. For this opportunity he should thank a few Left-wing politicians, assorted union leaders and some commentators. But most of all, he must thank an institution his ministry supports.

The government-funded V.V. Giri National Labour Institute had some time back published a study on BPO employees. The study concluded that galley slaves in Roman ships were the appropriate reference point when analysing the working conditions of the BPO sector. BPO offices were called sweatshops. Since that study, elegant Left-wing commentary has given us phrases like 8220;transnational proletariat8221; and 8220;fragmentation of solidarity8221; to explain why BPO is just a global capitalist scam. Young alienated Indians are the victims. For some months now, union leaders have been trying to do something for these youngsters. Some results are evident: CITU has formed the West Bengal Information Technology Services Association WBITSA; as reported in Thursday8217;s Business Standard, CITU strategists have asked 8220;Left sympathisers8221; a term that seems to include children and relatives of prominent Left leaders in IT/BPO sectors to spread the message further; and there are plans that once a pan-Indian BPO union is established the UPA government will be asked, firmly of course, to implement labour laws in this sector.

Oscar Fernandes comes in here. Should he wait as CITU, and perhaps other unions, try to 8220;organise8221; the BPO sector country-wide and then hope the PM will announce a group of ministers to study the issue of applying labour laws? Or should he join the issue right now and argue publicly what a dreadful idea this whole business is. He will need to make only one argument against red flags over call centres: BPO employees don8217;t want unions. That is more definitive than the argument that India can8217;t afford a unionised BPO sector because, as Azim Premji has said, it will do India8217;s image of being globally competitive no good.

If the labour minister feels particularly combative, however, he can start by asking the unions a question: why are they so keen on 8220;organising8221; BPO employees?

The extent of unionisation in the organised sector has fallen. According to labour ministry data, membership of trade unions that submitted returns to monitoring authorities was 92.95 lakh in 1989. In 2002, the figure was 69.73 lakh. Growth in organised sector employment has slowed down as well. Between 1983 and 1994, organised sector employment grew at 1.2 per cent annually. Between 1994-2000, the rate was 0.53 per cent. Unions are therefore looking for new markets. They can, of course, organise workers in the booming construction sector. These Indians mostly work without basic safety devices like hard hats and harnesses. But of course an all India construction workers8217; union is not as exciting as one for the BPO sector. Reminding union leaders of this class bias and this self-interest may be useful everytime they talk of 8220;cyber coolies8221;.

How do the 8220;cyber coolies8221; feel about BPO unions? This newspaper carried a story on Thursday quoting Calcutta BPO employees who were absolutely unimpressed with the idea of trade unions. Much more evidence exists. In a wonderfully informative article in the EPW October 14-20, 2006, Amandeep Sandhu records BPO employees8217; reactions to unions. Sandhu doesn8217;t seem against the idea of unionisation per se. But his facts are uncluttered by his value judgment. He recounts that while researching his dissertation he had lived with five BPO employees in a Bangalore paying guest accommodation. His lodgers, from Bengal and Kerala, were 8220;dead set against unions8221;. They had complaints about work but they were appalled at the idea of being union members.

A multinational labour organisation 8212; the Union Network International UNI 8212; had sponsored a November 2000 effort to unionise BPO employees in India. The Information Technology Professionals Forum ITPF was the result. CITU leaders will be disappointed to know that ITPF, which started in Bangalore and has spread to seven other cities, is registered as a society, not a union. Members didn8217;t want the union tag. The ITPF chairman is quoted by Sandhu as saying his organisation is 8220;against any unionisation8230; ITPF is like Chartered Accountants8217; Association, All India Management Association8230;8221;

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Another UNI initiative resulted in CBPOP, the Centre for Business Processing Outsourcing Professionals. Started in June 2004 in Bangalore and Hyderabad, CBPOP, as Sandhu reports, had an average attendance of 22 for its Bangalore chapter meetings. Sandhu writes about a CBPOP meeting he attended that attracted six members, one of whom, he says, was rather more interested in 8220;spreading the message about the Art of Living movement8221;.

That8217;s when, if I were a union leader, I would have called off all efforts to organise BPO employees. But of course CITU leaders are made of sterner stuff. So they will continue. And one of the things they will try to do is to organise a strike that has IT/BPO sector participation. In Bengal, CITU has already said its new union will be part of the December 14 general strike, which would be barely a month after the November 17 formal launch of the Bengal BPO union.

What8217;s the smartest thing for Oscar Fernandes to do between now and mid-December? Commission a survey that is unimpeachably independent and that asks BPO employees this question: do you want to get unionised? He should feel absolutely confident about the answer. Once the answer carrying the labour ministry8217;s imprimatur comes, it is hard to see how even the most Stalinist union leader can ignore it. What are they going to say? That 700,000 young, educated Indians are not qualified to speak for themselves?

They may say, though, Oscar Fernandes sabotaged BPO unionisation. Which is when we will all be overwhelmed by the new labour minister.