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NASSCOM, the IT employers association will not oppose unions in the IT Industry. This was the assurance repeated today by Mr. Raju Bhatnagar, the Vice President for IT and Government Relations, NASSCOM. Mr. Karthik Shekhar, General Secretary UNITES welcomed the assurance given. Many IT employees feared the apparent anti-union attitude of IT employers.



In this first meeting between NASSCOM and the union discussions covered the prospects for the Indian IT industry and employment in the light of the current global economic crisis. The NASSCOM representative said that they were still optimistic about growth and employment in the sector in the coming year. The union representative stressed that IT employees were extremely concerned about their job security in the light of many reports of lay-offs.



Karthik Shekhar, UNITES was accompanied by representatives of UNI the Swiss-based Global Union, Mr. Philip Bowyer, Deputy General Secretary and Ms. Anjali Sinha, Director of UNI's Delhi office.



Other things discussed included gender equality and promotion of women, human resources, safety and security, working hours, changes in the banking and finance sector, developments in the United States and proposed labour law reform following the election of Barack Obama.



UNI global union is a global union with 20 million members worldwide. It has agreements with 30 of the world's largest global companies which are committed to the respect of labour rights. UNI and the companies work together on changes in policy and regulation and promotion of dialogue between companies and unions.



Mr. Philip Bowyer, Deputy General Secretary, UNI global union said, "this meeting is a first step towards establishing a permanent relationship between unions and NASSCOM to develop the IT sector and protect the employees in the industry."