Scoring a self goal

We, at least some of us, are good at self-goals. Hundreds of thousands of young college graduates have found jobs in the BPO sector. These are jobs that simply didn8217;t exist before. If the BPO sector hadn8217;t happened, many of these Indians would have been jobless. That it happened is proof that Indian entrepreneurship can quickly take advantage of new opportunities. BPO/IT is one field where China concedes India8217;s superiority. It is India8217;s calling card in global competitiveness assessments. Indian BPO/IT companies are now establishing centres elsewhere, even in Latin American countries where the notion of India-headquartered multinational operations would have been considered mad five years back. So what do some us do? Try to unionise BPO employees, of course.

There8217;s now increasing chatter from unions about organising BPO employees. Never mind that, as our columnist today points out, BPO employees don8217;t want to be organised. Never mind that it is employers who feel the heat in the BPO sector because of the high rates of attrition 8212; employees have a lot of bargaining power in a sector where demand for certain skills is rising fast. Never mind that Americans and Europeans are agitated about losing the very jobs that some 8220;intellectuals8221; in India have dismissed as 8220;dead end8221;. None of this will impress either unions or their fellow travellers. But it must impress all governments, at the Centre and at the states.

The government must know that the BPO sector is premised on a 24215;7 workflow. Disruptions, especially prolonged strike action, is unthinkable here. Bangalore already has had a taste of what can happen after Kannada-championing agitationists, supported by all the political parties in that state, forced a shut down. Employees were bussed to Chennai in some cases to carry on operations. But these can8217;t be permanent solutions. Indeed just the spread of the word that India8217;s BPO/IT sector is getting unionised is enough to alter perceptions to India8217;s disadvantage. So what the unions and some politicians funded by union contributions are trying to do deserves the strongest response. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee can show the way, as he has when confronted with equally bogus arguments about land for industry. The Bengal BPO union formed by CITU is determined to implicate the sector in a December strike. Bhattacharjee should be equally determined to foil the plan. Everybody should cheer him. Everybody should follow.