Topic 2.

6 Industrial-Employee Relations – Exercise – January 2022

* This exercise is for HL students only.

Student name: Nicholas Alexander
TRADE UNION? INDIA’S BPO WORKERS SAY ‘NO’
From Europe to North America, India’s offshore workers (Business Process Outsourcing) –
call-centre operators, data-entry clerks and telemarketers – may seem like the sweatshop
labourers of the information age, toiling for long hours with modest pay, but an intJernational
alliance of unions that wants them to become union members is finding it very hard to recruit
them. These workers think of themselves as members of a relatively well-paid, respected
professional elite in no need of union protection. The back-office outsourcing industry in
India employs around 400 000 workers, yet the Union Network International (UNI)
organisation has only recruited 500 of them so far. ‘A union would make sense if we had no
job security,’ said KV Sudhakar, a technical support worker, ‘but there are so many jobs and
so few qualified staff that firms are trying all possible means to keep employees happy so
they will not leave.’
A similar situation has arisen in the USA where unions have lost many members as
traditional manufacturing industries decline. They find it very difficult to recruit white-collar
workers and professional workers in the finance and other service industries.
An Indian worker who did join UNI is Raghavan Iyengar, a call-centre supervisor. He said
companies give incentives to those who work beyond contracted time and young workers
often ignore health problems, such as insomnia and bad backs, to earn extra money. ‘The
industry’s motto is “shut your mouth and take your money”’, he said, ‘and we want to change
that.’
Source: The Associated Press.

Most workers in call centres in India see little point in joining a trade union.
 1. Define the term ‘trade union’. [2]
A trade union is an organization of workers with the objective of making change in work
conditions, improve pay of its members and providing them with support and legal services.

2. Describe two (2) responsibilities trade unions have when they are representing their
members. [4]
One of the responsibilities of a trade union when representing their members is to protect the
worker’s interests, where they make sure that the worker’s interests are not being affected
by the changes being demanded.
Another responsibility of a trade union is to discuss and negotiate agreements with
employees to know and understand what the workers require or need regarding their
financial and health issues.
3. Evaluate the benefits to call-centre workers in India of joining the UNI. [10]
There are many possible outcomes that may happen from joining a trade union. One of the
benefits is to be able to negotiate with employers regarding work conditions, salary and
many other things that the employees may require. They can do this by collectively
bargaining with the employees. The only problem is that most of the workers in the call
centres in India do not see a point in joining a trade union as they are already comfortable
with their work conditions. Some employees stating that they’re happy with their work
environment and will not leave. An affect of this on the younger generation of workers are
health problems such as insomnia and back related issues.
Although there may be a few issues that workers and trade union representatives may run
into while forming a trade union, The benefits out-weigh the drawbacks. One of the
negative affects that trade unions may cause is conflict in work space. And in the case of
India’s BPO workers, there may be conflict that has sparked, whether to join a trade union
or not. A few other causes of conflict may be:
- A business chance where change is necessary to remain competitive, which can then
lead to job losses.
- Rationalization and organizational changes that may cut costs that may also mean
cutting the employees pay.
A few of the benefits in joining a trade union:
- Negotiate better pay
- Negotiate better working conditions