THE Karnataka State IT and IT-enabled Services Union (KITU) protested against the state government for alleged inaction against the information technology firms for prolonged violation of labour laws.

The KITU highlighted the fact that the four norms mentioned in the Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act 1946, to set up or run an IT or ITeS firm, are being violated by many companies in the state. According to the government orders, every workplace should constitute an internal committee as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013. However, this is not being taken seriously by the industrial establishments or the government, KITU alleged.

The second norm states that each establishment should constitute a Grievance Redressal Committee consisting of equal number of persons representing the employer and the employees. The KITU said, “The fact that  the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) opposed the participation of KITU representative in a meeting called by the additional chief secretary of labour on January 25, 2019, saying that the industry representatives would participate only if KITU representative is absent, is an open challenge to the second condition requiring equal employer and employee representation.”

The employment Act also requires the companies to intimate information about all the cases of disciplinary action on its employees to the Jurisdictional Deputy Labour Commissioner and Commissioner of Labour in Karnataka. In addition, any information regarding service conditions of the employees, when sought by the Jurisdictional Deputy Labour Commissioner and Commissioner of Labour, should be submitted by every employer within a reasonable time frame. KITU, however, stated that the conditions are not being implemented either by the state or by the IT firms, causing serious distress and job insecurity to the employees.

Given the background that the government orders have not been implemented over the past five years, the Karnataka government has moved ahead to renew the same orders for five more years, starting for May 25, 2019, triggering opposition from the IT employees and the KITU.

The KITU also alleged that the state government has not considered further extension of the orders till the IT management could manage matters in their favor and see to it that the present extension is obtained four months after the lapse of the last date of inapplicability as per the earlier notification of January 25, 2014.

The IT employees union said that over the last five year period, from 2014 to 2019, thousands of establishments which covered for conditional exemption from applicability of Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act, did not consider it necessary to frame service conditions applicable to IT/ITeS sector workmen. This shows the futility of the conditional exemption further given now, KITU stressed.

The IT/ITeS sector employment in Bangalore happens to expand geometrically and outpace all other industrial employments. The government of Karnataka itself has published estimates to reach three million employment in IT/ITeS sector by 2020. “If the government considers that this huge population of working people need not be protected by the rule of law, it is to be condemned,” the KITU urged.

“Freshly recruited employees are asked to deposit their certificate of qualification in original, and huge penalties are demanded if the employees want to discontinue their employment, which in effect is a system of bonded labour,” cried the IT employees union.

They alleged that hundreds of establishments have been following the practice of employing contract workmen at various levels with total impunity, without registering their establishments under Contract Labour Abolition (Regulation) Act 1970 and without statutory license.

KITU said that the employers resort to forced lay-offs, in total violation of the Industrial Dispute Act 1947, where by every establishment employing hundred or more workmen are required to obtain written permission of the government before taking the step. “A case in point is the threatened transfer of the substantial set of workmen from Bangalore to Dehradun by MPS Ltd Bangalore, which was successfully resisted by KITU so far,” said the union members and urged the public to support them in their agitation.