Is this the shot against coolies that will be heard all over the world?
IT workers in the UK cities of Manchester and Skelmersdale (in West Lancashire) have voted to strike over job losses and offshoring of their jobs to India.
The workers are said to be members of the Unite trade union and work for French company Steria, which has its Indian offices in Noida, Chennai and Pune.
Some 31 employees face loss of their jobs in the UK because of Steria’s offshoring policies.
Needless to say, the workers are petrified that more jobs will be lost to India once those currently in jeopardy have gone.
The Unite trade union said 93 workers participated in the union ballot, with 71% voting for strike action and 89% voting for action short of a strike.
Unite plans to meet Steria next week in a final attempt to save the jobs of those who wish to remain with the company and to seek assurances for future job security.
If the talks fail, a strike will follow soon.
Unite’s Negotiating Officer for the IT Sector Richard Lynch said:
The vote for industrial action is a clear reflection of our members’ anger that their jobs are being offshored to India at a time of increasing economic uncertainty in the UK.
We believe that this export of jobs is unacceptable in the current climate and we urge Steria to halt the compulsory redundancies and to reconsider its plans to offshore 70% of the work on this account.
God, we hope this trend spreads to America.
With Barack Obama’s victory, the unions in America now have a spring in their steps and a rough edge to their voices.
Whatever the idiots at Nasscom may say (‘our IT sector is safe‘), we have a feeling that the vice is tightening around Som Mittal’s cojones.
Separately, UK mobile phone carrier Orange is said to be planning to move back its Indian call centers to the UK to improve service.
UK IT Workers to Strike Over Outsourcing to Coolies added by SearchIndia.com on
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this is great news …. Indians can also do the same and ensure that American Companies dont have free access to Indian Markets … over a period of time these companies will no longer be competitive … from Global …they will become local corporations ….India and China will rise and dominate the world …
As it is Auto companies are biting the dust ..American economy is in doldrums .. so this is just the beginning and there is more to come … you may not remain in a position to invest or outsource or provide jobs to anybody ..if this trend continues .. not even to Americans ..
I have always believed that all said and done .. there are benefits when FDI flows … but that also increases our dependancy on other countries …
French company Steria – Did the French protest about thier job losses to Britian ??? .. I hope they do so soon ..this virus should spread ..
You seem to be a believer in socialism or communism
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You Write: American Companies will no longer be competitive … they will become local corporations India and China will rise and dominate the world
As long as America has a solid base of powerful nuclear & other weapons, it’s difficult to dislodge them/us and will continue to dominate the world. American exceptionalism is here for at least another decade if not longer.
You write: You seem to be a believer in socialism or communism
No. We believe in capitalism….just not the bailout capitalism, which in our definition is by the Republican scumbags, for the Republican scumbags and of the Republican scumbags.
tell me this- the branches in noida,chennai and pune will still have to employ indians right? or will those offices close down ? anyways, don’t know if you have heard, but the meltdown has hit the film industry big time here….major production houses apparently are not willing to take up any new film before next june….so the no. of movie releases would drop like a stone next year…..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: the branches in noida,chennai and pune will still have to employ indians right? or will those offices close down ?
Who knows where all this anti-outsourcing trend is heading.
But we guess the Indian jobs are safe for at least the immediate future.
You write: don’t know if you have heard, but the meltdown has hit the film industry big time here….major production houses apparently are not willing to take up any new film before next june
Yeah, we’ve heard.
Partly meltdown, partly big flops like Drona, Kuselan et al. We are hearing rumors that even Marmayogi, a big budget Kamal Haasan project is in trouble and could be shelved.
Aegan didn’t do well too in places like UK.
The film industry must be peeing in their langots or komanams (loincloths) over the fate of Dostana & Vaaranam Aayiram at the box office.
There is a bit of viability is there in what srinvas trying to say especially in software industry..
These companies would go in import software mode to overcome the outsourcing heat. Bottomline same process would be happening but they will do it in a different mode. I dont think the west is self-sufficient in manpower/IP to meet all its software requiremnts.
Also there is a possiblility, few tycoons moving to India/china and exporting software products from here to the west, this would be all the more dangerous.
Put together all these, stopping or banning outsourcing becomes very difficult.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: stopping or banning outsourcing becomes very difficult
Maybe…the genie is already out of the bottle but outsourcing is having serious repercussions in the West.
Global trade does not mean you make one country (U.S.) poorer to make another country (India) richer.
well, its more like making a specific section of the U.S. society poorer to make a specific section of the indian society richer….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
All sections of American society are getting poorer now. Yeah, even the hedge fund guys are whining.
see the title “workers to strike against coolies”
who’s worse now….
I feel dubbing Indian IT folks as “coolies” is uncouth. I feel the engineers who have spent 4 long years learning, deserve to be addressed properly.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: I feel dubbing Indian IT folks as “coolies” is uncouth
And what would you call them low-wage coolies.
Their Royal Exalted Highness?
Well SI, i do feel calling them coolies is very offensive!!
OH thats not funny…You needn’t call them “royal Highness”..Just give them the due respect,which they deserve..
if IT workers of India are Coolies then what would you call the IT engineers of your country?….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: if IT workers of India are Coolies then what would you call the IT engineers of your country?….
Idiots because they let their jobs go to coolies without protest.
Just imagine if the Indian coolies lose their IT jobs to Bangladeshis or Chinese, 100 buses would be burnt, engineering colleges would go on strike, bandh would be declared…