Workers of the world, unite
Summary
While I’m glad that IT workers won a round against big corporations in Karnataka, such victories are shallow if we don’t stand in solidarity with our other, worker brethren, who often endure far worse working conditions.
I didn’t write my weekly post last week. While I was due to ring in one birthday too many, I fell prey to a gnarly viral infection that left me hospitalised for four days. My recovery has been slow and painful, and I won’t wish this sort of illness on anyone.
When I was in the hospital, all I wanted was rest. But as is the nature of round-the-clock care, someone was always in the room every few minutes. It was amusing when housekeeping staff knocked on the door at 10:30 pm so they could mop down the floor or clean the bathrooms. One night, a maintenance man came in at 11:30 pm to check on some equipment.
I’d have taken the late-night calls in my feeble stride if it weren’t for the early morning housekeeping drills that accompanied them. One morning, after badly interrupted sleep, the housekeeping guy knocked on the door at 6 am to clean the room, change my sheets, and give me a sponge bath! The rude awakening was enough to push me over the edge. I refused to get up and escalated my concerns about this mindless schedule to the ward-in-charge.
Of course, by the time the hospital staff had placated me and assuaged my concerns, I was in no state to go back to sleep. As I calmed down, I realised the housekeeping staff only did their job. If they didn’t check the boxes on their maintenance sheets, their bosses would probably have an unpleasant word with them. The schedule was bollocks, but the housekeeping employees had no hand in creating it.
So I invited Ranjit, the housekeeping staff member, to finish his work in my room. As he went about his work, I tried explaining that I had no complaints about him; only about the strange schedule. But as I explained why a patient like me needs 8-10 hours of sleep during recovery and that even a healthy person like him needs eight hours of rest, Ranjit made a startling admission. He said he’s lucky to get even three hours of sleep daily. His primary job at the hospital is a 12-hour shift. It doesn’t pay enough to justify being 3000km away from his hometown in northeast India. So he does another eight-hour job to earn a decent living in this alien city. It’s obvious why he can never get enough sleep.
Ranjit’s plight had me thinking. How can I ask a man to empathise with my need for eight hours of sleep when he has to function on three hours of rest each day? My mind also veered to other thoughts, such as the 14-hour workday proposal in the Indian state of Karnataka. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, here’s a summary. Apparently, after lobbying from tech employers, the Karnataka state government proposed that IT and ITeS employers could make their people work for up to 14-hour long shifts. The government put the proposal on hold after widespread pushback from unions and employees. The AIITEU said,
“The proposal to increase the working hours will not only be counter-productive but also rob the workers of their basic right to live.”
The AIITEU asked the government for a 35-hour work week and a defined “right to log out” of work. While I’m glad collective action won against powerful corporations, I can’t help but notice our double standards. Tech workers are the labour elite in India. I’ve worked a 40-hour work week all my career, even as most other office workers do a 48-hour work week. But spare a thought for the other workers all around us.
People like Ranjit work 20 hours daily because their primary job doesn’t pay a decent wage.
In India, nurses and doctors alternate 12-hour shifts instead of 8-hour shifts.
Security guards, cleaners and other staff in offices and housing societies work notoriously long shifts.
Drivers, warehouse staff and delivery personnel work long days in adverse conditions to provide us with services we take for granted.
Why are IT workers up in arms against the 14-hour workday proposal but won’t bat for a shorter shift and better salaries for the security guards in their apartment complex? We want a high standard of patient care, but why don’t we ask for nurses, doctors, and hospital staff to have better pay and more reasonable shifts? Why is there no labour solidarity? Why do techies deserve better than everyone else?
As I’ve said many times on this website, I’m all for a shorter workweek. Even if workweeks can’t be shorter, I prefer the 8/8/8 balance between work, life, and sleep. But I find it hypocritical for us to argue about such rights for IT workers at the exclusion of workers who are so adjacent to our lives. Any wins against big industry seem hollow as long as entire categories of other workers suffer exploitative employment and unfair work arrangements. We must fight and win together. Recessions and industry downturns represent an easy excuse to squeeze workers. I’m glad IT workers are fighting back against the squeeze. But as we do so, a word of solidarity for our other worker brethren can’t hurt, can it?