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Pink slip fear for ITeS employees

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW DELHI, INDIA: Indian ITeS employees fear termination from work if they join trade union, a study made by the Union of Information Technology Enabled Services professionals (UNITES Pro) has revealed.

According to the report ‘Union Formation in India Call Centres/ BPO - The Attitudes and Experiences of UNITES members,’ 54 percent of the 7000 respondents interviewed said they feared that their companies might terminate them for joining trade union – such as UNITES Pro.

The study also revealed that over 57 percent of ITeS companies opposed to UNITES and a similar number were ready to offer higher salaries in order to prevent them from joining a trade union. About 54 percent of BPO employees see themselves as professionals, and not just doing back office work.

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Commenting on the study, Phil Taylor, professor of work and employment, department of human resource management, Strathclyde Business School said that it was imperative that there needs to be trade union in the high growth sector.

Expressing similar sentiments Ernesto Noronha, associate professor in organizational behavior at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), said that ITeS employees play a significant role in the nation-building process.

"If Indian companies can go global, accept trade unions in other countries in which they have a presence, and then why not back in India," he asks.

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Interestingly, 47 percent of respondents said that they did not believe in joining trade unions and another 45 percent felt that joining trade unions will affect their careers.

However, though 14 percent of respondents' 'mind and heart were seen as being captured by employers,' only 26 percent see trade unions as damaging to the Indian industry’s growth.

Philip Jennings, general secretary of Switzerland-based UNI Global Union, the parent body of UNITES Pro said that the Indian IT Industry should re-look at trade unions as drivers for growth.

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"We are here for better employee-employer relations. In fact most of the problems, which leads to a high attrition rate, can be resolved by trade unions. The employees in the Indian ITeS sector are well educated and belong to the middle-class they will not resort to striking work or any other activities, which are usually adopted by labor class. Trade unions are only drivers for growth," he said.

“Trade unions such as UNITES is apolitical. We are here only to solve the problems of both employees and employers. We do not bring an ideology, mandate, agenda or a political philosophy,” he said.

Joining issue with Jennings, Taylor expressed similar sentiments. “In an industry where employees’ voice is an asset, employees need to have a voice. Trade unions play a significant role in further accelerating the growth of the industry by doing away with issues relating to employees,” he adds.

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The study is a collaborative research project between academics in the department of human resource management at the Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, UK and the Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

The study was conducted to understand why a sizeable number of BPO employees have chosen to join an organization that is seeking to provide employees with both voice and independent representation, through trade unionism.

Though the study involved only UNITES members, it reflects the opinion of the industry, given the fact that the researchers have been closely observing the industry for over two decades now.