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One employee’s computer mouse was being tracked. He couldn’t take a break because if his mouse didn’t move for five minutes, the manager would get a notification –A TWC Bengaluru member

It isn’t always hefty pay packets for city’s. Hear it from a new city initiative, Tech Workers CoalitionComputer mice being tracked to monitor productivity; 22-hour workdays under the garb of ‘flexibility’; women being excluded from important meetings and projects – not all is well inside the walls of the city’s impressive-looking tech parks. On September 7, more such stories of workplace harassment were shared at a meeting of Tech Workers Coalition. A new initiative, TWC, the local chapter of the international collective, has been holding monthly closed gatherings where tech workers can share their problems and look for solutions from the community. Since May 18, six meetings have been held across Bengaluru, where groups of 15-25 employees from tech companies (MNCs, large, mid-size and startups) have participated. They share their troubles with management and bust the myth that techies do not suffer from workplace harassment.This growing discontent is not just restricted to Bengaluru. This month, in Hyderabad, three IT employees and a group of activists from ‘Forum Against Corruption’ filed a Public Interest Litigation against the “white collared slavery”, naming leading IT companies such as, and“The notion that everything is rosy with tech workers often allows IT companies to get away with not following labour laws,” says a co-organiser of TWC Bangalore (members do not want to be identified individually as they deem this a collective effort). “For 20 years, the state government has provided (conditional) exemptions to IT, ITes, animation, gaming, computer graphics, Telecom/BPO and other knowledge-based industries from the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Act (IESO) 1946. The Act gives protection to employees from arbitrary suspension, termination, demotion and dismissal; and ensures companies publish basic details including working hours, transfers, etc.”The co-organiser points out that this basically means that workers and their problems are treated as individual problems and not as part of a larger systemic issue. “If you look at the histories of unions, it’s only through collectivisation that employees reach out to employers. We want to offer workers the chance to talk about their problems and be aware of their rights.”Therefore, sessions at TWC Bangalore have centred around different subjects such as the rights of tech workers and how workplace technologies enable greater surveillance of employees. Experts such as Padmini Ray Murray and Noopur Rawal have spoken at these sessions that have unearthed a range of issues, from burnout to microaggressions and an oppressive culture of surveillance.Employees at aggregator companies, for instance, shared that they were usually contracted, which didn’t entitle them to any benefits, and offered no accountability from the company. In client servicing and IT services companies, employees often work at odd times for wages that don’t measure up. Surveillance is rampant, under the garb of monitoring productivity. “One employee’s computer mouse was being tracked. He couldn’t take a break because if his mouse didn’t move for five minutes, the manager would get a notification,” shares the TWC Bengaluru member. “While the authorities will say these technologies are only there for exceptions and are not monitored otherwise, it is still a managerial control mechanism that is deployed without ever asking the employee for his/ her consent.”Burnout is another problem, because employees are expected to be constantly connected, whether at home, in the cab and even on vacation. An employee of a tech startup shared how under the pretence of a ‘flexible work culture’, they have been made to work from 12pm to 3am, seven days a week. Repetitive stress injuries from long hours at the desk, and an environment where desk time counts for more than the quality of work, also contribute to stress and anxiety.A number of women reported subtle microaggressions in the workplace. “During cricket season for instance, the social construct in the office becomes such that the men play, watch and discuss cricket, and women are excluded. Social gatherings in IT organisations are usually about going out and drinking, which is not something all women can do. Because a smaller group of people end up drinking together and discussing work matters, they form a coterie, which then becomes professional leverage for those in that circle, and further excludes the women,” says the TWC Bengaluru member.There were more direct aggressions too – one female project manager shared how she was edged out of big-ticket projects because it was assumed that she, a mother of a baby, would not be able to take late night calls with overseas clients. “Some younger female coders had a lot of anxiety about having to constantly upskill and performa lot more than the men, to get recognised,” shares the TWC co-organiser.Another issue has been that of employees having to install work applications on their phone – which essentially means that app gives the employer access to personal data, which could potentially be exploited. “Many employees don’t know the implications of automation. These technologies are constantly learning and gathering data about the employee who uses them. Simplifying what this means for the worker is one long-term goal for TWC Bangalore,” says the co-organiser.So far, attendees have included engineers, designers, HR persons and lawyers, researchers as well as mid-size business and startup founders. TWC founders hope to expand the reach of the community to also include blue-collar workers in these industries. As the TWC Bengaluru member says, “We want everyone to use this platform – from the person who is cleaning the floors of one such office to the engineer, manager and HR person working there.”In her session, Murray, an independent researcher, focused on disabusing tech workers of the notion that their work isn’t ‘labour’. “The ergonomics of being a tech worker itself can undermine your physical and mental wellbeing. Also, the neo-liberal environment uses insidious ways to make you think of work as play; work as family. Bean bags, free coffee and table tennis are offered as trade for working long hours. Workers are sold a financial contract as a social contract,” she explains. While at it, she also emphasised the inclusion of the gig economy and startups under the same umbrella. “White collar workers have so far not unionised because they are protected by caste and class privileges. We are trying to awaken them to the idea of collectivised action to protect their own rights as well as of those who are in positions of less privilege.”