i have been foolish enough to send a badly written article to a 'respectable newspaper' , at that time , i didn't think about it , but now i feel it , from now , on they will junk everything that i send to them without even reading , they'll add me to their 'Black List' ,and I'll never ever get to see anything written by me ,on their 'respectable pages' ....
its badly written , but here goes ..
The Need For Unions In The Software Industry
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In most modern industries , trade unions play a proactive role , except perhaps in the software
industry. There has been considerable debate on the issue of having trade unions in the software
industry, but seemingly no noticeable impact has been felt on the ground level till now. The software industry is one of the pillars of the strengthening Indian economy,Yet the workers in this industry are being denied many rights , which has always been considered as fundamental by worker in other industries world over.
The industry is relatively new ,having been existent only for about a quarter of a century , that is perhaps the reason why the traditional trade union movements could not take root here . And they have not made much progress in their efforts to establish their presence amongst the community of software workers. The absence of unions have certainly granted more freedom to employers .Employers are in a position to push measures that put the employees at a disadvantage while garnering greater benefits for themselves. Employers are able to do things unilaterally without effective consultation with the employees.
The recent spurt of laying off of employees in several major IT firms illustrate , the volatility of the situation that the employees are facing. The employees , currently have little option to question employer actions. They are lacking a forum to express their opinions concerning matters that directly
affect them.
Many unfair practices like bonded labor and inhuman working schedules would not be acceptable in other fields but here this goes unquestioned. Employers in IT firms frequently subject their employees to work under harsh bonds , limiting their chances of seeking employment elsewhere for extended periods of time .Many employees are forced to sign contracts that demand hefty penalty in case of breach. If unions were active ,They could act as watch dogs against the firms using unfair and unethical practices.
They could act as a rationalizing agent , and help employees get a reasonable pay
consummate with the industry wide economic scenario.
Most companies are suffering from high attrition rates. Perhaps one of the reasons for it is the lack if employee satisfaction , and trade unions could act as a mechanism to guarantee employee satisfaction, by ensuring greater employee welfare.Right now , in many firms ,the employee relations has been handled under the name of 'Human Resources' .But HR department is just another department , that is ultimately under the control of the
ownership of the firm. How effectively such a configuration could manage employee welfare is not sure , since it is not an independent entity.
Employee welfare should be under the purview of employees only. Independent unions should be a good way of achieving this. There has been many criticisms against unions , but as a fact they have been existing for almost 200 years .They were born at the dawn of the industrial age , and they played and continue to play a great role in getting a dignified treatment for workers.
The IT industry's growth is perhaps as explosive as the industrial revolution. We are now having
immense number of employees working in this industry. May be the lessons learned from all these years of union activism in other industries in all countries could well be a major help in making the IT industry better for all stakeholders.
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