Emergence of IT and ITES – Effect on labor laws
India’s emergence as the fourth largest economy and also as a candidate for a UN Security Council seat is a result of the high pace of economic development it has achieved in the current phase of liberalization. Over the course of fifteen years, India has come to be recognized as the IT hub, provider of skilled manpower to the world, etc. It has also regained its position as the mouthpiece nation of the developing world. On the other hand, India ranks poorly in terms of the Human Development Index. The development of social capital is inadequate and its access is worse, as it remains confined to urban areas and the rural elite. For the majority of the population, even more so those who were previously part of the Organized Sector workforce, the emerging conditions could not be worse. The informalization of work, the obsolescence of skills, the absence of formal social security has left them in a state of despair.
The direct effect of informalization has been the deterioration of respect for labor rights. The provisions of a large number of labor laws remain unenforced. Compliance with core labor standards remains good only on paper. The desire for more FDI and pressure from multinationals have caused the government to overlook the violations. Furthermore, the unions are divided along political lines. However, there is an increase in activities among non-conventional labor organizations, but they are not influential at policy-making levels. The shrinking size of the labor force in the organized sector, with declining government support against aggressive employers, has further expanded the size of the labor force that does not receive the benefits of legislative protection and welfare policies. government labor.
Available discussions of the ITES-BPO sector in India strongly suggest that the sector is characterized by some degree of ‘representation insecurity’ or ‘voice insecurity’. The near absence of trade unions or similar organizations in the sector, until recently, reflects this aspect. The surprising absence of institutions for collective bargaining and social dialogue, the bleak scenario of the implementation of labor legislation and a strong inclination of companies to manage labor relations individually, technology-assisted surveillance mechanisms, etc., Cumulatively led to a situation in which the industry is characterized by totalization of labor control or the ‘end of employee voice’.
The grim profile of union activities in the Indian outsourcing sector, during the early phase of the industry, could be due to a number of reasons, including the unique profile of the contract workforce in the sector, the atypical nature of work and the organization of work. , mobile nature of work and high turnover rates in the industry. Problems related to the newness of the occupations in the sector (and therefore the lack of experience of the interested parties to deal with the problems), etc. Some of these aspects are developed later to reach certain conclusions about organizational problems in the sector.
Business and technological modernisation, such as particularly the outsourcing of web-based services, must not be undertaken at the expense of labour, i.e. by pitting workers against workers everywhere and rolling back labor rights across the board. a race to the bottom, ignoring the universal workforce. (freedom of association, collective bargaining, non-discrimination, non-use of forced labor and elimination of extreme forms of child labor) and forgetting that the end and goal of all economic development is the improvement of the lives of working people
The well-documented job turnover rates in the ITES sector, the highest among industries, only show very well that the occupants of these ‘highly paid’ jobs find their jobs difficult, boring and undesirable in the medium to long term. Decent working conditions are a prerequisite for the provision of a good and reliable service. To make these jobs sustainable and minimize costly turnover, owners and managers of call centers, BPOs, IT and software companies, as well as governments, must address human resource concerns and respect human resource basic rights. employees to establish their own unions. elect and bargain collectively as provided for in the respective ILO Conventions.
It is also widely recognized that the lower degree of unionism or community among workers is closely related to the technology-assisted organization of work and controls practiced in the sector. Work arrangements and workplace interactions are pre-designed and implemented, leaving workers minimal room for any “undesirable” socializing aimed at organizing or forming employee collectives. Employees have to work continuously and in their never-ending race after work goals, they don’t even find time to think about community and unionism. HR practices in the ITES-BPO sector indicate a paradigm shift in personnel management versus conventional manufacturing/service sectors. The task of disguising work as fun falls to Human Resources (HR) managers. They pay attention to a number of issues, ranging from hiring the right people to mapping out their career options for employees.
Agreements between companies and unions at the national level must ensure the following:
o Job Security: Companies must immediately cease proposals to outsource, relocate, or subcontract jobs that result in the forced dismissal of workers.
o Redeployment: Effective redeployment must be carried out while protecting the value of the career and the terms and conditions of employment.
o Labor standards: Companies to whom work is subcontracted must observe all ILO core labor standards. These are, in particular, the rights to organize and collective bargaining. In addition, we need mechanisms to monitor compliance with the rules; they must include trade unions and their global union federations.
ITES owners and managers, governments and relevant international organizations should consider adopting a universal charter. The recognition of a universal charter with clauses that respect minimum labor standards, fundamental rights in labor relations, healthy and safe working conditions, maximum limits on working hours and the representation of workers are essential to protect the interests not only of ITES employees but also of ITES industries themselves. They are the key to stabilizing jobs in what is otherwise considered a ‘transition industry’.
It follows from the above that, due to multiple factors, union penetration in the ITES-BPO sector in India has been minimal in the first phase of the sector’s emergence and growth. However, it would be a mistake to conclude that this sector would continue to be a union-free zone for years to come. There are already outbreaks of organized community among BPO workers in different parts of the country.
The government’s recent clarifications that all labor laws are equally applicable to the sector and the government’s continued efforts towards effective policy formulation also suggest the emergence of a more encouraging framework for healthy unionism in the sector. Thus, the approaches of various actors towards the community in the sector are gradually changing and workers’ associations are increasingly seen as desirable institutions to improve labor relations and social dialogue.