Govt wants Esma for BPOs

But IT employees' union thinks it will stifle legitimate labour movement, wants govt to discuss draft policy before finalising it

But IT employees' union thinks it will stifle legitimate labour movement, wants govt to discuss draft policy before finalising it

BPO employees fear that a government proposal to bring the sector under Esma would take away their right to legitimate protest.

Unites, an IT employees' union, is shocked by the proposal since the Essential Services Maintenance Act (Esma) is usually invoked when striking employees disrupt public life.

The state government could not invoke Esma when truckers went on strike last month since it had lapsed.

However, the act is now in place after a bill was passed in the Belgium session last month.

And now, IT minister Katta Subramanya Naidu wants Esma to cover the IT sector too. "The draft of the state IT policy will be placed before the cabinet in the next meeting," he said.

'Suppression'

The IT sector is not too pleased about this. "It is surprising that the minister should be seeking to bring BPOs under this draconian law when there is no threat from any trade union to paralyse public life," said Kartik Shekar, general secretary, Unites.u00a0

"The BPOs have not been organised into trade unions like other sectors. Why are BPOs being brought under Esma and for whose benefit?"

"Esma is aimed at suppressing legitimate labour movement and formation of organisations,"u00a0u00a0 Shekar said and urged the state government to call for a public discussion before finalising the policy.

Naidu promised to take employees into confidence before doing so.

Public holidays

The policy has also drawn flak since employees fear that they could be forced to work on national holidays like Independence Day and Republic Day.u00a0

BPO employees complain about not getting a day off on national holidays but getting one on American Independence Day. But at least they could have got a compensatory off for working on national holidays.

However, if the sector comes under Esma, they will have to work the way the police or employees of the electricity and water supply boards do.

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