Basu against strike in IT

Kolkata, Nov 10 (UNI) Discarding CITU's claim over right to strike in the IT sector and giving a shot the the arm of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu today said the industry should be treated equally with essential services.

''What we feel right now is that IT should be considered at par with essential services. If IT employees want to resort to strike then they have to abide by the rules of Essential Services laws,'' Mr Basu told reporters after attending the CPI(M) State Secretariat meeting.

His comment was diametrically opposite to what his protege and Transport Minister Subhash Chakraborty and CITU leaders had said over the past few days defending the right to strike in the sector.

Mr Basu, who made a similar observation about a fortnight ago, however, said employees in the IT sector should be allowed to form union.

When his attention was drawn to a comment made by CITU All India General Secretary Chittabrata Majumdar, who defended worker's right to strike, Mr Basu said, ''I am not aware of who has said what.

There is no debate in our party that some restrictions on strike should be there in the IT sector.'' A debate over the propriety of holding strike in IT sector received momentum following the formation of West Bengal IT Services Association (WBISA) in the state's IT hub at sector five of Salt Lake recently ahead of the proposed left-sponsored nationwide strike on December 14.

While the Chief Minister asserted that measures similar to that initiated during the last month's Trinamool-sponsored bandh would be taken on December 14, CITU leaders remained non-committal, saying a decision whether IT would be brought under the purview of the strike would be taken on December 12.

At a public meeting recently, the Trnasport Minister said unions would be formed and exploitation of employees in the IT sector should be stopped.

Meanwhile, the employers in IT industry held a meeting among themselves to discuss strategies in the event of attempts were made to thrust strike on the sector.Senior officials from move than 100 companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Cognizant and Globsyn took part in the meeting.

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