Hello friends...
I am a new entrant for this website. Have heard a lot about it and its members so wanted some help for my MMS project .I want to have some examples of real life strikes and lockouts in India.... they can be of any year after 1990 but a genuine strike .. thats it.. my email id is
so anyone who can help me on this??????
it would be of great help to me..
Nitin :-)
From China
I am a new entrant for this website. Have heard a lot about it and its members so wanted some help for my MMS project .I want to have some examples of real life strikes and lockouts in India.... they can be of any year after 1990 but a genuine strike .. thats it.. my email id is
so anyone who can help me on this??????
it would be of great help to me..
Nitin :-)
From China
here are some real examples on strikes and lockouts:-
Rates of wages
Ahmedabad textile mill wage dispute led the workers to go on strike in 1918.The aim was to put economic pressure on employers and workers pledged not to return on work until their demands were fulfilled.Mahatma Gandhi leaded this strike
On 30th of September Ford workers in Russia threatened to strike if management refuses to increase wages by 30 percent and offer other concessions. The workers demands come as the firm is planning to almost double production at its St. Petersburg plant, putting additional pressure on its work force, the union official said. While Ford plans to add to its workforce of 1,700, the production boost will nevertheless add pressure to workers who already do overtime in the hope of a bigger paycheck. Most of the plant’s workers earn between 10,000 rubles (350 US-Dollars) and 17,000 rubles (600 US-Dollars) per month. In comparison, Ford workers in Brazil earn between 560 and 910 US-Dollars per month as well as receiving 1 percent of the profit a plant makes. Recent discontent over terms and conditions has led to a dramatic increase in union members, with membership rocketing to more than 1,100 from just 112 in August.
On 30th of September Ford workers in Russia threatened to strike if management refuses to increase wages by 30 percent and offer other concessions. The workers demands come as the firm is planning to almost double production at its St. Petersburg plant, putting additional pressure on its work force, the union official said. While Ford plans to add to its workforce of 1,700, the production boost will nevertheless add pressure to workers who already do overtime in the hope of a bigger paycheck. Most of the plant’s workers earn between 10,000 rubles (350 US-Dollars) and 17,000 rubles (600 US-Dollars) per month. In comparison, Ford workers in Brazil earn between 560 and 910 US-Dollars per month as well as receiving 1 percent of the profit a plant makes. Recent discontent over terms and conditions has led to a dramatic increase in union members, with membership rocketing to more than 1,100 from just 112 in August.
Hours of labour
Buckingham and carnatic mills :-there was a solar eclipse lasting until noon on November 1’1948.The madras labour union requested the mgt to suspend working of morning shift and declare it a holiday.The mgt ultimately agreed to grant half-day paid holiday to morning shift workers only,it being understood that afternoon and night shift workers would work as usual.The noon shift workers who came to work at 3.00pm however,demamded that they shuld also be paid holiday and on mgt’s refusal to grant the demand,a large number of workers applied for leave.The mgt rejected all of these leave application and exhorted workers to work.The workmen,however, resume work until about 9 pm.
Trade unionism
Strike at Honda in gurgaon :-The month-long strike/lock-out at HMSI and the police attack on the workers caused a big stir in India. This is mainly due to the location of the strike: a modern factory of a multinational company in a developing region which up to that point was not seen as prone to industrial disputes. The conflict began in December 2004 after a manager allegedly hit a worker, who was said to be engaged in organising a union within the plant. Another four workers were sacked after they expressed their solidarity with their workmate. The official justification for the dismissals was ”undisciplined behaviour in the factory”. The whole situation came to boiling point when the management sacked another 57 workers and nearly all the workers in the factory reacted by going on strike in June 2005. At the end of June 2005 the management replied by officially sacking 1,000 workers and locking out the strikers.
About the Results of the Strike
In total the company lost about 1.2 Billion Rupees due to the strike. The media presented the result of the strike as following: All dismissed workers are re-hired, under the condition that they sign a so-called ‘good-conduct’ declaration promising to abstain from further demands and strikes. The workers are granted a wage increase for the year, although we couldn’t find any info on the exact amount. There is contradictory information on the question of whether the days of the strike will be paid or not. Some sources say that all strike days in May and June will be paid, others say that they won’t. The AITUC demands the release of all workers still in custody and union recognition in the company.
The strike and the police attacks got huge public attention and caused diplomatic tension between India and Japan. The Japanese ambassador told the media that the strike would endanger future investment by Japanese companies.
Leave and absence
In Punjab national bank,one sabbarwal,a typist and secretary of Punjab national bank employees union of delhi applied for 7 days leave.The mgt declined to grant him leave.Even so sabbarwal absented him from duty.On resumption of duties,he was charge sheeted for absence without leave.However,sabbarwal refused to accept the notice.The mgt therefore sent it to him by registered post and,pending further enquiry,suspended him.The employee union instructed employees to stick to their seats and to refuse to work until police intervened and threatened arrest or until orders of discharge or suspension were served on them.This was done by coemployees of sabbarwal.Meanwhile a crowd gathered outside bank and some started shouting slogans in support of action of employees.The mgt suspended 60 of aforesaid participating employees.This led to a near industry-wide strike in delhi and state of UP.
Pension issues :-
Mumbai, April 8 (IANS) The employees of State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest bank, decided to continued their agitation over pension issues Saturday as talks with the management failed on the sixth day of their indefinite strike.
Over 200,000 officers and workers of SBI in over 9,000 branches located across the country have been on the indefinite strike since Monday demanding revision in their pension scheme.
The striking workers said their pension ceiling had been kept unchanged at Rs. 4,250 per month based on the salary structure of 1992. Although the salary was revised in 1997 and 2002, the pension ceiling had not been hiked, they said.They want 50 percent of the last drawn salary as pension but the government, while agreeing to look at the issue, has declined to take any stand that will create a disparity in social security benefits with other public sector banks.
While union officials vowed to press ahead with their agitation till their demands were met, personal and business financial transactions continued to be badly affected across the country.'The strike is complete in all parts of the country. No business is being transacted in any of the SBI branches,' said V.K. Gupta, vice president of All India State Bank of India Staff Federation.The trading in the Indian money market has also been adversely affected because of the strike. Industry sources said they would have to face major setbacks in the days ahead if the strike was not called off at the earliest
Incentives and benefits
More than 6,000 Air India (AI) employees — mostly ground staff — affiliated to the Aviation Industry Employees Guild and other unions proceeded on a nationwide, indefinite strike on Tuesday afternoon.
The flash strike was called to demand an increase in performance-linked incentives and other financial benefits. The striking employees make up over a third of the total staff strength of AI.
Strike against government :_
Govt policies and privatization :-
The Indian government's ambitious plan to privatise the modernisation of the country's two biggest airports -- at Mumbai and Delhi -- has sparked off a major controversy, leading to strikes, protests, threats, complaints and accusations.
Thousands of Airport Authority of India employees are on an 'indefinite' strike against the government's privatisation plans, and a bidder who lost out has moved the court challenging the airport bids.This week, the government awarded the modernisation contract for the Delhi and Mumbai airports -- the country's two busiest airports -- to two private consortia. GMR-Fraport clinched the modernisation bid for the Delhi airport, while GVK-South African Airports bagged the Mumbai airport.Airport employees say they will lose jobs if the government goes ahead with the privatisation plan. There are nearly 22,000 employees with the AAI, working across all the airports in the country.
Employees at the Delhi and Mumbai airports fear that the private companies that are going to rebuild these airport will throw them out. They also say that the AAI -- which is a profit making public sector enterprise -- will lose money out of the modernisation exercise.
A national strike in India has disrupted air, rail and banking services across the country. This is the first national strike to take place since the Congress party won power in 2004. Left-wing trade unions are protesting at the government's economic reforms and privatisation plans.
Govt. policies:-
India’s largest labor unions led a nationwide strike Thursday to protest the government’s domestic and foreign policies, shutting down two states ruled by communists, though there was little impact in other parts of the country.
Sixty million people, mainly employees of the state and union governments in sectors like banking, power, oil and transport, stayed away from work, instead sitting in gatherings of thousands and listening to their leaders rail against the government’s economic policies.
The list of complaints is a long one. Guru Das Gupta of the All India Trade Congress said Indians are being employed in outsourced jobs in almost every sector, which means they work on contracts, put in longer hours and have no job security.
“We are against the government’s anti-poor policies. Despite the increase in wealth, there has been no improvement in living conditions for the poor. There’s a concentration of wealth, and it’s much easier to become a billionaire in India than to reduce poverty,” he said.
Union members criticized the government for not checking inflation. They also protested against disinvestment and the privatization of profit-making state-run industries. They don’t want foreign direct investment in key, lucrative sectors like telecom, coal and retail.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the parent arm of the Center for Indian Trade Unions that is one of the organizers of the strike, recently issued a release opposing Wal-Mart’s entry into the retail sector, in a joint venture with telecom major Bharti. The politicians argue the retail giant will hurt unorganized retailers and domestic manufacturers.
In the Communist bastion of West Bengal, protestors ensured the capital Kolkata’s airport remained shut. All carriers cancelled their flights in and out of the city. Jet Airways, India’s leading airline, said it had cancelled all 17 daily flights that were supposed to transport 1,300 people.
Offices, schools and shops were shut, though essential services remained open. And thanks to West Bengal’s chief minister’s move to bring IT and IT services into the category of a public utility, employees in the industry were allowed to go to work.
The IT sector’s nascent union in West Bengal told employees they could work if they wanted to, to the relief of firms with outsourcing operations in the state.
Sunil Mishra, regional director of the trade group Confederation of Indian Industry, estimated West Bengal had lost around Rs.5,000 million ($111.9 million) in revenue in one day.
Most of the communist state of Kerala was shut down, but essential services like transport, telecom and power were running. In the capital New Delhi, thousands of employees gathered at key locations to protest. But services weren’t affected, and most people went to work — except notably Communist leaders, who reportedly cashed in on paid leave.
The last such national strike was in September 2005. And though employees come out in huge numbers each time and bring some states to a halt, the event is seen more as political posturing. Because the Communists who support the coalition government in the center have indicated that they are unlikely to withdraw support over these issues any time soon.
Reservation issues:-
By IANS, [RxPG] Chennai, March 30 - An industry representative body in Tamil Nadu Friday urged the state's people to reconsider their call for a shut down protesting the Supreme Court stay on quota saying the economic cost of the protest would be enormous.
Political parties in the state have given a call for a shut down Saturday to protest a Supreme Court stay on 27 percent quota based on old census for other backward classes - in elite educational institutions.
The Confederation of Indian Industry's - state council chairman Gopal Srinivasan said: 'The loss of gross domestic product - for the state at current prices per day, will be close to Rs.7.5 billion.'
Urging people to reconsider the protest, he said: 'Tamil Nadu is in the forefront of economic development and stalling the industrial and commercial activity due to the shutdown will have an adverse effect on investors.'
'Industries are committed to meet their productivity target at the end of the financial year,' he said here.
Govt decisions:-
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) A day after India's IT hub Bangalore came to a grinding halt because of protests over a boundary dispute with Maharashtra state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that is part of the ruling coalition in Karnataka, Thursday washed its hands off the entire affair.
Even the main software industry lobby in India refused comment on the fallout of the 12-hour strike though Bangalore is home to some 1,700 firms including Intel Corp., Microsoft and IBM and numerous 24/7 outsourcing operations.
But another industry body for the IT sector, the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT), said when enormous investments and the country's image as a IT hub are at stake, politics should be kept away from business.
'True, India is a democracy where everyone has the right to protest and express concerns. But that should not disrupt economic activities. Now that India is on the global map, such developments are bound to have negative reactions,' said Vinnie Mehta, executive director of MAIT.
'The BJP had not given a call for this strike so it can not be held responsible for these problem,' BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told IANS, even as the party agreed that such strikes do cause losses to both the industry and economy.
'Bu sometimes public issues take precedence over rest of the issues,' he said when asked whether his party - as a partner in the ruling coalition in Karnataka - had tried to intervene to stop this strike or limit its effect.
'Strikes are an expression of solidarity for certain causes and they are part of the political process. There is no harm if they are spontaneous and not too frequent.'
'This is a state issue and not a national one,' said a spokesperson for the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), which is the main representative body for the software industry in India.
'We decline to comment. The strike was a pre-decided thing so the call centres must have taken necessary precautions, they did whatever they thought was appropriate,' a Nasscom spokesperson said.
Hundreds of tech firms including global software majors had to logout in view of the shutdown across Karnataka - spearheaded by the Karnataka Gadi Horata Samithi that claimed support of the ruling coalition.
The strike was to protest Maharashtra government's decision to take up the 50-year inter-state boundary dispute and staking claim to the northern district of Belgaum, which is with Karnataka.
They also said the central government was vacillating on properly implementing the Mahajan Commission report of 1967 that favoured Belgaum remaining within the jurisdiction
Public sector strike
India's IT outsourcing industry passed one test last week. More are on the way.
The country's tech hub, Bangalore, was effectively shut down by a public-sector strike, forcing major outsourcers including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro to close shop and send staff home. Outsourcers shifted time-critical work to backup centers in other cities and planned Saturday shifts to make up for lost time. There were no reports of major disruptions to customer work during the strike, staged to call attention to a border dispute.
Strikes are far from the industry's only challenge. U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 touted a documentary late last week that claims consumer data theft is rampant in India's call-center outsourcing industry. That's turning up the pressure for amendments to India's IT Act to make companies more accountable for data disclosure by their employees, such as making outsourcers compensate identity-theft victims.
Also last week, a trial was set to begin to determine whether an employee of an Indian software company, Geometric Software Solutions, tried to sell the source code of its U.S. partner, CAD software maker SolidWorks.
India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, predicts outsourcing will create 10 million Indian jobs in the next five years. The country's reputation is key to its success in this area. Indian outsourcers reacted well to the strike crisis, but they can't afford to wave away the other concerns.
From India, New Delhi
1Rates of wages
Ahmedabad textile mill wage dispute led the workers to go on strike in 1918.The aim was to put economic pressure on employers and workers pledged not to return on work until their demands were fulfilled.Mahatma Gandhi leaded this strike
On 30th of September Ford workers in Russia threatened to strike if management refuses to increase wages by 30 percent and offer other concessions. The workers demands come as the firm is planning to almost double production at its St. Petersburg plant, putting additional pressure on its work force, the union official said. While Ford plans to add to its workforce of 1,700, the production boost will nevertheless add pressure to workers who already do overtime in the hope of a bigger paycheck. Most of the plant’s workers earn between 10,000 rubles (350 US-Dollars) and 17,000 rubles (600 US-Dollars) per month. In comparison, Ford workers in Brazil earn between 560 and 910 US-Dollars per month as well as receiving 1 percent of the profit a plant makes. Recent discontent over terms and conditions has led to a dramatic increase in union members, with membership rocketing to more than 1,100 from just 112 in August.
On 30th of September Ford workers in Russia threatened to strike if management refuses to increase wages by 30 percent and offer other concessions. The workers demands come as the firm is planning to almost double production at its St. Petersburg plant, putting additional pressure on its work force, the union official said. While Ford plans to add to its workforce of 1,700, the production boost will nevertheless add pressure to workers who already do overtime in the hope of a bigger paycheck. Most of the plant’s workers earn between 10,000 rubles (350 US-Dollars) and 17,000 rubles (600 US-Dollars) per month. In comparison, Ford workers in Brazil earn between 560 and 910 US-Dollars per month as well as receiving 1 percent of the profit a plant makes. Recent discontent over terms and conditions has led to a dramatic increase in union members, with membership rocketing to more than 1,100 from just 112 in August.
Hours of labour
Buckingham and carnatic mills :-there was a solar eclipse lasting until noon on November 1’1948.The madras labour union requested the mgt to suspend working of morning shift and declare it a holiday.The mgt ultimately agreed to grant half-day paid holiday to morning shift workers only,it being understood that afternoon and night shift workers would work as usual.The noon shift workers who came to work at 3.00pm however,demamded that they shuld also be paid holiday and on mgt’s refusal to grant the demand,a large number of workers applied for leave.The mgt rejected all of these leave application and exhorted workers to work.The workmen,however, resume work until about 9 pm.
Trade unionism
Strike at Honda in gurgaon :-The month-long strike/lock-out at HMSI and the police attack on the workers caused a big stir in India. This is mainly due to the location of the strike: a modern factory of a multinational company in a developing region which up to that point was not seen as prone to industrial disputes. The conflict began in December 2004 after a manager allegedly hit a worker, who was said to be engaged in organising a union within the plant. Another four workers were sacked after they expressed their solidarity with their workmate. The official justification for the dismissals was ”undisciplined behaviour in the factory”. The whole situation came to boiling point when the management sacked another 57 workers and nearly all the workers in the factory reacted by going on strike in June 2005. At the end of June 2005 the management replied by officially sacking 1,000 workers and locking out the strikers.
About the Results of the Strike
In total the company lost about 1.2 Billion Rupees due to the strike. The media presented the result of the strike as following: All dismissed workers are re-hired, under the condition that they sign a so-called ‘good-conduct’ declaration promising to abstain from further demands and strikes. The workers are granted a wage increase for the year, although we couldn’t find any info on the exact amount. There is contradictory information on the question of whether the days of the strike will be paid or not. Some sources say that all strike days in May and June will be paid, others say that they won’t. The AITUC demands the release of all workers still in custody and union recognition in the company.
The strike and the police attacks got huge public attention and caused diplomatic tension between India and Japan. The Japanese ambassador told the media that the strike would endanger future investment by Japanese companies.
Leave and absence
In Punjab national bank,one sabbarwal,a typist and secretary of Punjab national bank employees union of delhi applied for 7 days leave.The mgt declined to grant him leave.Even so sabbarwal absented him from duty.On resumption of duties,he was charge sheeted for absence without leave.However,sabbarwal refused to accept the notice.The mgt therefore sent it to him by registered post and,pending further enquiry,suspended him.The employee union instructed employees to stick to their seats and to refuse to work until police intervened and threatened arrest or until orders of discharge or suspension were served on them.This was done by coemployees of sabbarwal.Meanwhile a crowd gathered outside bank and some started shouting slogans in support of action of employees.The mgt suspended 60 of aforesaid participating employees.This led to a near industry-wide strike in delhi and state of UP.
Pension issues :-
Mumbai, April 8 (IANS) The employees of State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest bank, decided to continued their agitation over pension issues Saturday as talks with the management failed on the sixth day of their indefinite strike.
Over 200,000 officers and workers of SBI in over 9,000 branches located across the country have been on the indefinite strike since Monday demanding revision in their pension scheme.
The striking workers said their pension ceiling had been kept unchanged at Rs. 4,250 per month based on the salary structure of 1992. Although the salary was revised in 1997 and 2002, the pension ceiling had not been hiked, they said.They want 50 percent of the last drawn salary as pension but the government, while agreeing to look at the issue, has declined to take any stand that will create a disparity in social security benefits with other public sector banks.
While union officials vowed to press ahead with their agitation till their demands were met, personal and business financial transactions continued to be badly affected across the country.'The strike is complete in all parts of the country. No business is being transacted in any of the SBI branches,' said V.K. Gupta, vice president of All India State Bank of India Staff Federation.The trading in the Indian money market has also been adversely affected because of the strike. Industry sources said they would have to face major setbacks in the days ahead if the strike was not called off at the earliest
Incentives and benefits
More than 6,000 Air India (AI) employees — mostly ground staff — affiliated to the Aviation Industry Employees Guild and other unions proceeded on a nationwide, indefinite strike on Tuesday afternoon.
The flash strike was called to demand an increase in performance-linked incentives and other financial benefits. The striking employees make up over a third of the total staff strength of AI.
Strike against government :_
Govt policies and privatization :-
The Indian government's ambitious plan to privatise the modernisation of the country's two biggest airports -- at Mumbai and Delhi -- has sparked off a major controversy, leading to strikes, protests, threats, complaints and accusations.
Thousands of Airport Authority of India employees are on an 'indefinite' strike against the government's privatisation plans, and a bidder who lost out has moved the court challenging the airport bids.This week, the government awarded the modernisation contract for the Delhi and Mumbai airports -- the country's two busiest airports -- to two private consortia. GMR-Fraport clinched the modernisation bid for the Delhi airport, while GVK-South African Airports bagged the Mumbai airport.Airport employees say they will lose jobs if the government goes ahead with the privatisation plan. There are nearly 22,000 employees with the AAI, working across all the airports in the country.
Employees at the Delhi and Mumbai airports fear that the private companies that are going to rebuild these airport will throw them out. They also say that the AAI -- which is a profit making public sector enterprise -- will lose money out of the modernisation exercise.
A national strike in India has disrupted air, rail and banking services across the country. This is the first national strike to take place since the Congress party won power in 2004. Left-wing trade unions are protesting at the government's economic reforms and privatisation plans.
Govt. policies:-
India’s largest labor unions led a nationwide strike Thursday to protest the government’s domestic and foreign policies, shutting down two states ruled by communists, though there was little impact in other parts of the country.
Sixty million people, mainly employees of the state and union governments in sectors like banking, power, oil and transport, stayed away from work, instead sitting in gatherings of thousands and listening to their leaders rail against the government’s economic policies.
The list of complaints is a long one. Guru Das Gupta of the All India Trade Congress said Indians are being employed in outsourced jobs in almost every sector, which means they work on contracts, put in longer hours and have no job security.
“We are against the government’s anti-poor policies. Despite the increase in wealth, there has been no improvement in living conditions for the poor. There’s a concentration of wealth, and it’s much easier to become a billionaire in India than to reduce poverty,” he said.
Union members criticized the government for not checking inflation. They also protested against disinvestment and the privatization of profit-making state-run industries. They don’t want foreign direct investment in key, lucrative sectors like telecom, coal and retail.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the parent arm of the Center for Indian Trade Unions that is one of the organizers of the strike, recently issued a release opposing Wal-Mart’s entry into the retail sector, in a joint venture with telecom major Bharti. The politicians argue the retail giant will hurt unorganized retailers and domestic manufacturers.
In the Communist bastion of West Bengal, protestors ensured the capital Kolkata’s airport remained shut. All carriers cancelled their flights in and out of the city. Jet Airways, India’s leading airline, said it had cancelled all 17 daily flights that were supposed to transport 1,300 people.
Offices, schools and shops were shut, though essential services remained open. And thanks to West Bengal’s chief minister’s move to bring IT and IT services into the category of a public utility, employees in the industry were allowed to go to work.
The IT sector’s nascent union in West Bengal told employees they could work if they wanted to, to the relief of firms with outsourcing operations in the state.
Sunil Mishra, regional director of the trade group Confederation of Indian Industry, estimated West Bengal had lost around Rs.5,000 million ($111.9 million) in revenue in one day.
Most of the communist state of Kerala was shut down, but essential services like transport, telecom and power were running. In the capital New Delhi, thousands of employees gathered at key locations to protest. But services weren’t affected, and most people went to work — except notably Communist leaders, who reportedly cashed in on paid leave.
The last such national strike was in September 2005. And though employees come out in huge numbers each time and bring some states to a halt, the event is seen more as political posturing. Because the Communists who support the coalition government in the center have indicated that they are unlikely to withdraw support over these issues any time soon.
Reservation issues:-
By IANS, [RxPG] Chennai, March 30 - An industry representative body in Tamil Nadu Friday urged the state's people to reconsider their call for a shut down protesting the Supreme Court stay on quota saying the economic cost of the protest would be enormous.
Political parties in the state have given a call for a shut down Saturday to protest a Supreme Court stay on 27 percent quota based on old census for other backward classes - in elite educational institutions.
The Confederation of Indian Industry's - state council chairman Gopal Srinivasan said: 'The loss of gross domestic product - for the state at current prices per day, will be close to Rs.7.5 billion.'
Urging people to reconsider the protest, he said: 'Tamil Nadu is in the forefront of economic development and stalling the industrial and commercial activity due to the shutdown will have an adverse effect on investors.'
'Industries are committed to meet their productivity target at the end of the financial year,' he said here.
Govt decisions:-
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) A day after India's IT hub Bangalore came to a grinding halt because of protests over a boundary dispute with Maharashtra state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that is part of the ruling coalition in Karnataka, Thursday washed its hands off the entire affair.
Even the main software industry lobby in India refused comment on the fallout of the 12-hour strike though Bangalore is home to some 1,700 firms including Intel Corp., Microsoft and IBM and numerous 24/7 outsourcing operations.
But another industry body for the IT sector, the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT), said when enormous investments and the country's image as a IT hub are at stake, politics should be kept away from business.
'True, India is a democracy where everyone has the right to protest and express concerns. But that should not disrupt economic activities. Now that India is on the global map, such developments are bound to have negative reactions,' said Vinnie Mehta, executive director of MAIT.
'The BJP had not given a call for this strike so it can not be held responsible for these problem,' BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told IANS, even as the party agreed that such strikes do cause losses to both the industry and economy.
'Bu sometimes public issues take precedence over rest of the issues,' he said when asked whether his party - as a partner in the ruling coalition in Karnataka - had tried to intervene to stop this strike or limit its effect.
'Strikes are an expression of solidarity for certain causes and they are part of the political process. There is no harm if they are spontaneous and not too frequent.'
'This is a state issue and not a national one,' said a spokesperson for the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), which is the main representative body for the software industry in India.
'We decline to comment. The strike was a pre-decided thing so the call centres must have taken necessary precautions, they did whatever they thought was appropriate,' a Nasscom spokesperson said.
Hundreds of tech firms including global software majors had to logout in view of the shutdown across Karnataka - spearheaded by the Karnataka Gadi Horata Samithi that claimed support of the ruling coalition.
The strike was to protest Maharashtra government's decision to take up the 50-year inter-state boundary dispute and staking claim to the northern district of Belgaum, which is with Karnataka.
They also said the central government was vacillating on properly implementing the Mahajan Commission report of 1967 that favoured Belgaum remaining within the jurisdiction
Public sector strike
India's IT outsourcing industry passed one test last week. More are on the way.
The country's tech hub, Bangalore, was effectively shut down by a public-sector strike, forcing major outsourcers including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro to close shop and send staff home. Outsourcers shifted time-critical work to backup centers in other cities and planned Saturday shifts to make up for lost time. There were no reports of major disruptions to customer work during the strike, staged to call attention to a border dispute.
Strikes are far from the industry's only challenge. U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 touted a documentary late last week that claims consumer data theft is rampant in India's call-center outsourcing industry. That's turning up the pressure for amendments to India's IT Act to make companies more accountable for data disclosure by their employees, such as making outsourcers compensate identity-theft victims.
Also last week, a trial was set to begin to determine whether an employee of an Indian software company, Geometric Software Solutions, tried to sell the source code of its U.S. partner, CAD software maker SolidWorks.
India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, predicts outsourcing will create 10 million Indian jobs in the next five years. The country's reputation is key to its success in this area. Indian outsourcers reacted well to the strike crisis, but they can't afford to wave away the other concerns.
From India, New Delhi
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Strikes and Lockout.doc