Hughes Blatantly Violating Indian Laws

Apparently Hughes has violated Indian Laws to such an extent that their building validity has been taken away which may leave them with no office to work from!

One of our friends has sent us a link to the story on Hughes. Given below is the link to where you may find this story: http://www.techgoss.com/Story/270S11-Tech-hub–Hughes-battles-HUDA.aspx and http://www.techgoss.com/Story/1939S14-Raid-on-Hughes–Gurgaon.aspx

We strongly condemn US multinationals’ illegal tactics and endless bribing to get their work done, ir-respective of it being in violation of the law. The Indian Govt must act strongly and put such unscrupulous people who run these companies behind bars for good. They are putting their employees’ lives to risk by doing such harm that the fire department has cancelled their  safety certificate too.

We implore our readers, supporters and friends to support us so that we may go to the Labor Commissioner with a complaint on safety of employees working under their roof.

We have requested a few friends in the US to try and get us in touch with Hughes Management so that these facts may be communicated to them as well.

Chief
(BPO Union 2.0)

BPO Union Supports ‘Rahul Gandhi’ as ‘IT and Telecom Minister’

BPO Union Supports ‘Rahul Gandhi’ as ‘IT and Telecom Minister’

BPO Union feels that the time has come for Rahul Gandhi to take charge at the forefront. He must be given responsibility of running the IT & Telecom Ministry in the Central Cabinet.

Given the state of affairs in the Global Markets we need someone of his aptitude and stature to handle the new economy ministry. Not someone who will time and again be accused of corruption in spectrum sale. The BPO & IT Industries are possibly the best bet for our educated masses, and these provide employment at a very basic level of skills and education. Not to mention the foreign exchange it generates for the county.

We need somone who can and will talk to Obama in the same tone that he does and with the same intelligence and grit. Not someone who will be puppetted by his political masters. A good case in point is Maran (when he was IT & Telecom Minister) and his competence was put to waste by his uncle. A sorry state of affairs.

So we prod our friends in the BPO and IT Industies to garner vocal support for Rahul Gandhi as the next IT & Telecom Minister of India.

Chief
(BPO Union 2.0)

Indiscriminate lay-offs in the garb of recession

The Central Government has been alerted by BPO Union to this grave issue and a serious note has been taken of it. Expect very strong action to show immediately after the elections are through and  the new Government is sworn in. From the Govt and from us, our supporters and a few political parties whom we have helped reach a very large number of knowledge workers through various forums which we have access to.

Under the garb of “Global Recession” BPO and IT companies are indiscriminately laying off their staff. In many cases unfair treatement is being also dealt out to them. We are full of mails from friends who have been affected. And to add insult to injury, their dues are not being paid correctly.

BPO Union is very sore at the treatement being meted out to us. So if you thought we were sitting on our behinds doing nothing, think again, and think very hard. If you are a defaulter (read senior exec) shunting out people from your company then you better think of it as being caught between a rock and a hard place! Bet you already know that we are not in the way of saying loud words but we sure scream the loudest when we have to be heard.

Its another round of action soon … and we are gearing up for it. Keep watching this space and keep supporting us as ever. Its the time we need each other the most.

Chief
(BPO Union 2.0)

BPO Union shows solidarity towards rape victim & IBM Daksh Pune employee

Dear All,

BPO Union with all our friends who support us, and who we collectively represent – stand by the lady who has undergone a traumatic experience. In this grave time we are with the family and friends of the victim. We pray that God give her the strength to move forward from these excruciating moments and carry on with her life.

regards,
Chief
(BPO Union 2.0)

BPO Industry Association concedes to BPO Union

BPO Association concedes to BPO Union – accepts the need for a Union in the BPO Industry for the first time

BPO Union made an impact today with the BPIAI conceding – for the first time ever – the need for a BPO Union. Ref a statement made in Hindu Business Line. Thats base one. Until now the associations were vehemently opposing unions in the BPO Industry. They seem to be changing stance now, knowing that times are changing. Good for them, the sooner they realise that we are here to assert our rights the better.

We are not in a tug-of-war; we do not see this as a win; yet we thought it necessary to bring to light the fact that our combined force has shown result. More will naturally follow. Ahoy to the power of the internet.

Meanwhile please keep supporting the petition for laid-off friends at Keane:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BPOUnion

regards,
Chief
(BPO Union 2.0)

Retract & Recall – Etrack, National Skills Registry

The headline in our message says it all. In just three words – Retract and Recall. We’ve said many things over the past few days and tried to say it mildly. Yet over some issues of critical importance we’re outright singular in our assertions.

Etrack (by BPIAI) and National Skills Registry (by NASSCOM) have many flaws, logically, socially and legally. And then they collectively tell you that the industry does not need a union, that everything is so well taken care of by them. A dialog from a movie says it all “They’re peeing all over my head and telling me its raining”…

On a serious note lets look at a few things (in no order or preference):

• These organizations are illegally selling data – They cannot and should not venture into illegal territory, so Etrack and BPIAI must consider their legal positions. Before these companies get get too excited for a debate let us validate our statement. Our Legal guide, a well known tough cookie in the legal fraternity, tells us that these registries are membership driven. So money is collected for a membership and access to the database is provided via such member subscriptions. And say what, these companies don’t even want us to register, they will conveniently mis-use our personal information for their benefit and peddle it further for a cost. You cannot sell our personal information, no sir, absolutely no part of it, to anyone, if we do not give you the explicit permission to do so. And these companies make big claims on Data Privacy to their clients while practicing exactly the opposite at home. They sit on big Govt committees making data privacy policies one day to violate blatantly the same principles the very next day in their very backyard.
• Socially you are in the wrong, friends - A large part of the employees in our industry is women. Companies cannot just keep collecting and sharing a woman’s information (even so much as where she works, her name, father’s name etc) as it may put her to ‘risk’ even if it is un-intentionally. Please, we most humbly request you not to put unsuspecting women to risk. Ir-respective of what companies may say, we are readying to fight their assertions with public support and support from ‘Women’s Rights Groups’ too. In getting too excited over trying to implement these registries these companies may turn it into a complete PR disaster for themselves. We’ll let them decide.
• Citing Banks as a parallel effort may be totally flawed – Many companies have said that Banks have a list of defaulters and so BPOs must have it too. They have a lot of facts to realize. First, the list banks maintain is tenable in law as these are people who have committed ‘crimes’ and hence it is important to keep them off other banks. They are fraudsters and criminals. But if you try telling that shifting jobs frequently is a crime, we’d laugh at you, and the courts will not agree either.
• A PIL may be necessary to ward you off our backs – In case BPOs (with their money muscle, associations and registries) do not stop pressurizing people into submission we will be forced to file a PIL in the court of law. ‘Human Rights’ groups are willing to support our just cause. And there is a straight-forward strong case in our favor. We welcome disagreement from companies.
• Forceful arm-twisting of employees is wrong – BPO companies are strong proponents of all things politically correct. What they practice is, however, a different matter. It is coercion. Visit the www.nationalskillsregistry.com and we quote from the main page “Wipro requires new joinees to register on NSR”. How can they (and why should they) ‘require’ someone to be part of a database as a pre-requisite for employment? Now this is what one may call taking it too far. We hope that better understanding prevails and they can stop before crossing the point of no return. Today we will reason it out but when left with no choice we shall fight it out.
• A signature Campaign to recall these registries – The fact that we may need stronger measures than just polite talk is gaining favor as we talk to more and more people. A PIL is an option but before that we may start an online petition to communicate employees’ dis-pleasure towards these registries which violate our rights as humans and as employees. Look at what TRAI has done in the Telecom sector. A telecom (or any telemarketer) cannot use my personal information, including tel no for any purpose without my explicit permission. Legally the same logic would apply to these skill registries and we are planning to meet the HR Ministry for Govt intervention on behalf of employees.

The message is very clear “BPO Union calls for a total and immediate retract & recall by BPIAI (Etrack) and NASSCOM (NSR) with a public apology to all BPO employees whose sensibilities may have been hurt by their thoughtless acts”.

Chief

Open Letter to Journalists – Thank You!

Dear Friends,

We heartily appreciate your interest in us. For record, we have by now received 14 mails from leading journalists across media requesting an interview.

There is a lot of negativity associated with “Unions” in India and we as a people have yet to embrace the greater meaning of what a Union can be besides its ugly face which is most visible, unfortunately.

We decided that to put as many people and companies at ease as we can, we shall shy away from physical display of any kind. We are however open to answering your questions but shall restrict to online activity. In fact we will desist from any activity except creating a strong platform online. If time and necessity so desires we shall create a physical (offline) presence but that seems a distant act. Until then we are open to communicating with you on/ through our blog and e-mails – we would most appreciate if you ask your questions openly on the blog itself. We do not have a nominated spokesperson and choose to live and work in personal oblivion.

We do have a team of very highly qualified (experienced) comprising PR, Technology, Marketing and Legal guides who tune our strategy and we are well funded for our purpose. Our blog will be updated and ‘key partnerships’ will be visible soon. Keep visiting us and you’ll find us to be very friendly online hosts too! Hope to see your comments (questions/ interview) online. When you do ask questions, for complete transparency, do mention the company that you represent. We assure you that you shall not be disappointed in us … we shall always be open to criticism as well as share all we can with you … only no names please. Not for now at least.

Thanks again.

Warm regards,

Chief

Categories for discusion on this blog

In less than 18 hours of launch we have received more than 30 e-mails and on last count 22 hits. Many people wanted to know about the Categories under which one may blog here so here we are with Categories and their scope.

(pssstt) Among these mails we also have 4 journalists from leading media (news) outfits wanting to know more. Our newly formed community already seems to be getting some attention.

Fun Events Is anything interesting happening. PLEASE tell everyone about it. De-stress yourself. Others are telling you where the Fun is. You are enjoying it.

Grievance@Work Sad about something at work – Say It. Mad about something at work – Say It.

Health Do you face health issues working in a BPO? Ask other how they deal with the same issues. Tell others how you deal with the same issues.

Legal Issues Ahan! So you have no idea about your legal rights in a BPO environment. Ahan! So you have no idea about your legal duties in a BPO environment. Do you know what your employers’ Legal rights against you are? Do you know what your Legal rights against your employer are? Any of the above ring a bell … Ask or Tell.

Workforce Security How far is your employer bound to secure you? Physical security is important – Emotionally secured by your employer? Do you have a ‘real and workable’ sexual harassment policy and committee? Where you can and will be addressed if ever (God forbid) you are harmed? Your employer ever heard of Gender Sensitization? Have you ever gone through a formal seminar to address all of the above?