Bangalore Techies do RTI to bring out Layoff Facts!

New Democrats: Bangalore: Thursday, July 13, 2017.

RTI about Wipro Layoffs

According to a message received in WhatsApp group one member of Bangalore IT Union raised RTI request to know the following:

• Wipro has fired how many between Apr-Jun 2017?
• What is the duration within which Wipro has to intimate Labour commissioner after they terminate an employee.
• Have Labour commissioner office been informed of terminations?
• Labour commissioner are they aware whether Wipro is having GRC (Grievance Redressal Committee) to whom an employee can raise any complaints / grievance?

This RTI petition was sent to Labour commissioner office as per notification issued by Karnataka government exempting IT companies from Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.”(labour-notification-dated-25th-jan-2014-1). The RTI was submitted using http://forum.onlinerti.com/

(Please note the exemption is not for Industrial Disputes Act 1947 or Trade Unions Act 1926. Forming a trade union and/or raising disputes under ID Act are very much available to IT employees in Karnataka).

Campaigning among the reserve army of unemployed graduates

There is also a discussion on how to campaign among the reserve army of unemployed, that is millions of graduates who compete for less than 2 lakh jobs created in IT sector every year. Companies use this reserve army to put pressure on current employees – increase work load, lengthen working day and even send out senior employees to hire freshers at much lower salary.

How to counter this? A strong union within the company can address most of these challenges. In the meantime educating our young friends looking to enter IT sector is important.

Following is a message received in a WhatsApp group. It talks about awareness campaign among unemployed graduates to let them know the true state of affairs in IT companies

1. Layoff or fire happens in most of the companies every year but none of the state govt or central govt has not bother about employees job safety.
2. HR can give silly reasons and send employees out any time.
3. IT employees should work hard both mentally and physically to make these entrepreneurs rich.

Employees family has to suffer due to unbalance of these conditions.

We have to make viral ” Freshers not to join IT” by giving the above reasons, using FB, Twitter, What app, Websites, Web portals and all in digital media.”

Only by uniting with all  our fellow employees as well as prospective employees, using all available means of protest, we can stop the corporate layoff terror and other issues faced in  work place.