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DARK UNDERBELLY OF INDIA INC'S SHOP FLOORS
Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment
- Management hits back: There were riots at the Wistron iPhone factory in Karnataka, and soon after, some managers of the firm were back on social media posting 'positive messages' about bouncing back and not breaking down. They blamed the blue-collar workers for the riots, most of them contract workers.
- Allegations: The rioting workers blamed the firm for longer shifts and lesser-than-promised pay. Payment delays actually happened. The brand owner Apple Phones has now put the factory on probation. But in summary, the social media posts clearly show management-worker tension in Indian manufacturing (a dangerous sign). {white-collar vs blue-collar, management vs workers, permanent vs contractual}
- Industrial history of India: There have been strikes and violent incidences from time to time, and then peace is brokered. Maruti's Manesar plant (Haryana) saw major riots in 2012, and one manager was burnt to death. Chennai's auto makers saw labour strikes in 2018. Toyota Kirloskar announced lockout recently, due to union hostility.
- Media silent, statistics screaming: Data from the CIRM of MLE show that in 2018-19, it handled 12427 industrial strikes, averting 461 strikes. Many were related to contractual labour getting paid less than the permanent workers for same work, and that's a repeated problem. The 2020 Wistron violence has dented Indian image globally, and hit the efforts at attracting FDI into India, when global supply-chains are realigning. [CIRM - Central Industrial Relations Machinery; MLE - Ministry of Labour and Employment]
- First lesson first: Industrial bodies too accept that companies have to start treating shopfloor contractual workers much better, and not run after saving every penny. Ethical behaviour is a must.
- The ratio: Wistron had approx. 8500 contractual workers for 1350 permanent ones, a ratio that's common across Indian factories. 7 out of 10 are usually hired through third-party contractors. Why is that so?
- Many manufacturers don't know the revenue inflows of future, and need flexibility to trim the workforce at will.
- Contract workers are much cheaper than regular ones, who are also part of the Union that negotiates for better pay and facilities.
- The unorganised workforce of the formal sector escapes the attention of everyone - the politicians, the system, the media.
- Hence, the contractual workers have zero emotional bonding with the company. Discontentment is natural.
- Solution: The new solution can be "fixed term employment contracts" as notified recently by Centre and 14 states. Now, a firm can avoid the contractors (supplying labour) and hire workers for fixed terms (say, 18 months) directly on its rolls. Workers will get all facilities like regular employees, and it just ends at the end of the term. Firms like Volvo have appreciated this new idea, and have called Wistron incident an aberration not a norm.
- Not all well with permanent: Kirloskar Toyota is struggling with the Union of permanent employees, and disciplinary issues are troubling plant operations. Management says that local workers who actually don't need the jobs are the key troublemakers - these are the ones who've sold farm land to real-estate firms, made big money, and taken up jobs in factories. They just create ruckus and harm operations! But labour activists deny this reasoning as exaggerated. Overall, workers have to see their lives linked to the work being done, else it won't resolve.
- Some experiments: Some managers tried linking production volumes with worker incentives, breaking the parent Japanese firms' lack of such practices. The Japanese do performance appraisal of workmen, which is impossible in India. Such multinationals post an expat, who has Indian managers below him, and push their culture. Local workers resist. Friction starts.
- Lack of education: Over past 20 years, managers in India have moved away from industrial relations, to "more" white-collar jobs, losing touch with labour management. The National HRD network and CII are working on this problem, by redesigning syllabus in business schools.
- What companies can do: They can try to offer a career path to contractual workers to try and reach the level of permanent ones, over time. Also, the contract workers must be paid close to entry level of permanent ones. Firms also are now working in nearby villages by building toilets and schools. They know that without doing good, one cannot do well!
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