Karnataka Allows IT Employees Union Backed By CPI(M) – Is Tech Being Politicalized?

Technology, the pure, powerful and undiscriminating magic can indeed changed several things about India and Indians. The IT boom created millions of jobs, and there was no caste or creed; political inclination or religious beliefs as the reason.

All that mattered was skills in manipulating binary digits, educational qualification and the power to learn more.

However, with the onslaught of automation and AI; robotics and little bit of politics in the business of IT, employees started seeing mass level terminations, something which was unheard of.

And this has resulted in the creation of Karnataka’s first IT Employees Union, which is backed by an active political party.

As technology turns left in India, can it spell doom for the sector? Because historically, whenever unions were formed in any industry (except manufacturing), business has slowed down as investors became wary of the situation.

Karnataka’s Own IT Employees Union Is Here

Labour Commission of Karnataka has now allowed the formation of Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union (KITU) under the Trade Union Act, 1926, and Karnataka Trade Unions Regulations, 1958.

Now, KITU is backed by Centre of Indian Trade Union, which is an affiliate of the CPI(M).

Vineeth Vakil, general secretary of KITU said,

“This is a significant moment for us, being the first dedicated IT employee union. The formation of the union was possible because there were enough number of IT employees facing (various) issues. We will be able to address these issues with vigour with the formation of an IT union.”

KITU claims to have around 250 employees; whereas Bengaluru has 1.5 million IT employees.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu had become the first Indian state to allow creation of IT Employees Union; which happened mainly as an aftermath to TCS incident, where only an announcement of terminations galvanized IT employees.

Earlier, we had reported how IT Employees have been contacting various employee unions such as NDLF seeking protection from terminations and firings.

What Is The Need For Unions?

Recent firing of thousands of IT employees is mainly seen as the reason for the creation of this new IT Union.

Earlier this year, we had reported how fired Cognizant employees took help from Unions to stop their firing; and now with the formation of Karnataka’s first IT Employee Union, we may witness more such incidents where IT employees fight against the management regarding the firings.

Vakil said that now,

“a registered union will definitely encourage more distressed employees to approach us without any worry,”

And precisely this is the worry for the industry.

The ever changing landscape of IT Sector would find very difficult to cope with the demands of an IT Union, because the rules of the business have changed.

Will such politicalization of IT industry work? Will investors shy away from the sector, because a political party-backed employee union will call the shots now?

We will keep you updated as we receive more news on this matter.

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