The spectre of ghost workers and the prospect of job losses at Satyam Computer Services have made the company a fertile ground for trade unions seeking to plant their flags in the software space. And the first off the block happens to be the Congress party?s own trade union?the Indian National Trade Union Congress (Intuc).
Intuc president and Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh G Sanjeeva Reddy told FE, ?The IT industry workers have never been part of the trade union movement. When their salaries were good and companies were growing fast, they felt it was below their dignity to be part of a trade union. Now that their company (Satyam) is in trouble and the fear of job losses is high, they are approaching us to form a union.?
?We?d love them to come under the banner of our constructive trade union movement so that we may represent them and safeguard the company and employees? interests. Discussions are on and we expect to form the union very soon. Once the workers become members, we will register the union and begin addressing grievances,? Reddy said.
Reddy is seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to pursue amendments to the Companies Bill, 2008, so that professional employees can orchestrate a management buyout if the promoter fails to run the company, as well as allow unions to be formed in IT companies, multinationals and special economic zones.
?Workers and trade unions need to be strengthened in such a manner that if any employer fails to run the company, like in the case of Satyam, the workers can come forward, take over the industry and run it by themselves,? said Reddy. ?I will strongly suggest to the PM to amend the companies law so that every worker is compulsorily made a shareholder of the company.?
?This will ensure workers are clued in about the firm?s profitability and adjust themselves according to market realities rather than take an agitational approach. Since moneyed investors are often interested only in the markets rather than professional management, the government must ensure that professionals are engaged before granting a firm licence,? Reddy said.
The MP?s statement assumes significance as he is the chairman of the All-India Congress Committee?s labour cell, apart from being a special invitee to the Congress working committee. An Intuc member from 1948, Reddy has been a part of the AP Cabinet from 1968 to 1971, handling labour, employment, training and rehabilitation.
Intuc will also petition the government to grant two seats on a company?s board to workers? representatives, like it is done in public sector banks. ?We will tell the PM, to avoid a repeat of Satyam, trade unions that can function as an internal watchdog should be allowed. If there were workers on Satyam?s board, they could have nailed the fraud long back,? the MP pointed out.
The Left parties? trade unions?CPM?s Centre for Indian Trade Unions (Citu) and CPI?s All India Trade Union Congress ? have been somnolent so far. A senior Citu official told FE, ?There?s no union at Satyam and none of the employees have approached us yet. They possibly feel that as long as their job is retained, they don?t mind a cut in their salaries.?
However, Citu?s political bosses have started picking up the pieces. Speaking in Hyderabad on Sunday, CPI (M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said, ?Instead of a bailout package for Satyam, the government of India could attach properties of the beleaguered company and save the jobs of employees.? Yechury said that the properties of all eight Satyam group firms, including Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, under investigators? scanners should be confiscated to save their workers? livelihoods. Currently, only an informal IT/BPO workers unions called UNITES operates out of Bangalore with a claimed strength of 18,000 members.
