Member Speak : Why I Joined the Union
By Bharadwaj Tanikella, AIITEU Hyderabad
It never hits harder than sudden joblessness happening to you or to someone in your close vicinity. Before the pandemic, one was hearing about joblessness here & there, thinking it’d never happen to them. At times, thinking one can handle it, if it does happen to them.
As a professional during the pandemic, I was not merely witness to sudden termination, but almost ended up as one of those unfortunate people. For the next few months, it was panic. The lockdown ended, but the troubles didn’t. The people I’m close to, who lost their jobs, couldn’t find one even after the lockdown.
It is here that I began reading about the protection offered to employees and the importance of reading the terms of employment. Over the course of time, I read about various cases of termination. I wanted to understand how a professional offsets the risk of sudden termination. What are the various options available, in relation to the size of the organisation?
Ultimately, I have realised that you’re not likely to succeed on most occasions to fight for yourself. The companies hold an undue advantage of resources and fear of reprisal is stronger than we can imagine. This is when I decided to join the union.
During the pandemic, I have known AIITEU to fight for many, ensuring reinstatement or compensation. In a few cases, they have provided legal aid. As much as one may despise unions, their importance can never be undermined.
In an era of the freelance boom, the transition of work across the BPO & IT sectors, it’s important that one must have union support. It is not merely about fighting wrongful termination & pandemic related joblessness, but our larger rights as well.
In the course of my association with the union, my knowledge has grown in multiple aspects of employment security, the grasp of laws and regulations including the new IR Code.
I now carry the belief that if something goes wrong, I can have support, and can also lend support to those who might need it.
