Report by correspondent of Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC)
In July, the Karnataka government proposed an amendment to the Karnataka Shops and Establishment Act. The amendment sought to standardise a 14-hour working day instead of the existing 10-hour working day in IT companies. IT workers responded to the proposal with militant gate meetings and street campaigns for over two weeks. The strong opposition coalesced into a demonstration on 3rd August at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park.
“We are workers, not your slaves!” read the banner at the protest site.
The protest was led by the Karnataka IT Workers Union (KITU). Representatives of the Union of IT and ITES Employees (UNITE), an active union working for the welfare of workers in the IT industry in Tamil Nadu, also attended the protest. Commitment of support has been received from industry unions in other states as well.
There are about 1500 IT companies in Bengaluru, which contribute a large share of India’s software exports, which is the fastest growing component of the country’s GDP. The enormous capitalist profits generated in the IT industry is the outcome of the sweat and toil of a skilled workforce that is highly exploited.
IT workers are already working 10-hours a day, longer than the 8-hour day which is the norm for industrial workers. It is an intense work culture that demands constant availability, even outside official hours. They are expected to stay connected and be accessible 24 hours. According to reports by various agencies that have studied the sector, 45 per cent of IT sector employees are experiencing mental health issues like depression and 55 per cent are dealing with deteriorating physical health.
According to KITU, the proposed legal amendment will allow IT companies to go from a 3-shift to a 2-shift system. About one-third of the employed workers will likely get thrown out of their jobs.
The IT industry is notorious for its “hire and fire” labour practices. There is constant pressure on employees to upgrade their skills in their spare time. This is almost impossible when they have to work for 10 hours and spendtwo or three hours travelling between their home and workplace every day. It barely leaves them with enough time to recover and make it to work the next day.
The proposal to amend the Act was mooted by the capitalist owners and discussed at a meeting convened by the state Labour Ministry at their behest. KITU has approached the Additional Labour Commissioner with a memorandum demanding that the proposal to increase the work day be cancelled, and fair compensation be paid to workers who have been laid off.
Labour activists and union leaders are calling for a drastic change in working conditions in the IT industry that will ensure fair wages, job security and reasonable working hours. They are demanding a halt to the further intensification of the exploitation of IT workers.
The proposal to increase working hours is not confined to Karnataka’s IT industry. Itis happening in other states and sectors as well. It is part of the attempt of capitalists to intensify the exploitation of workers and extract more profits from them every day. The fact that central and state laws are being amended to legalise this offensive shows that the Indian state defends the interests of capitalists and not the rights of workers.
The protests being organised by IT workers shows that all sections of the working class, including unskilled and highly skilled workers, are facing the attempts of the bourgeoisie to intensify their exploitation.
The 8-hour limit to the working day is a right which the international working class won through many decades of struggle in the past. It is a right that belongs to all workers, skilled and unskilled, because every worker needs adequate time for rest, recreation and to attend to family matters. The struggle of IT workers against attempts to legalize the prolongation of their working hours deserves unconditional support from all sections of the working class. An attack on one is an attack on all!
IT workers’ struggle to form unions
The rapid growth of India’s Information Technology (IT) sector began in the decade of the 1990s. The efforts of IT workers to form unions began in the following decade, in the face of extraordinarily long working hours, insecurity of jobs, and stagnation in salary levels.
Unionization efforts initially emerged on a small scale, such as ITEU TN (2008), Union for ITES Kerala (UNITES 2010). Since 2017, more unions have been registered in Bengaluru, Pune, and other IT hubs, including the Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union (KITU), the Forum for IT Employees (FITE), and the Nascent IT Employees Senate (NITES). They organized IT workers to demand and fight for job security, fair compensation, and better working conditions. In the same year, the Kolkata-based All India IT and ITES Employees’ Union (AIITEU) was formed. Affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), AIITEU has chapters in most Indian tech hubs, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi.
With the mass terminations, wage cuts, and overwork perpetrated during the covid-19 crisis, more and more IT workers are realizing that they need a union to represent their interests and fight for their rights. Thousands of tech workers have been fired in the name of ‘downsizing’ or ‘rightsizing’. They have been blackmailed and forced into submitting their resignation. In this situation, workers are increasingly reaching out to become union members.
In the face of intimidation, terminations, and many legal challenges, IT workers have persisted in organizing for a stronger collective voice to fight for their rights.