Satyam woes trigger formation of staff union

By Aditi Sharma

Vexed with the management and scared of their future, Satyam employees have joined a group of disgruntled corporate employees and formed a union to fight their cause.

The union, christened ‘Radical Democratic Corporate Employees Congress’ (RDCEC), was formed last week to fight for the rights of corporate employees in general and Satyam staff in particular. The organisers of the union, who call themselves ‘radical democrats’, claimed there was growing support for them from Satyam employees.

“We do not judge our strength by head count. In fact, Satyam employee P V Bharati is a member of the convening committee,” RDCEC, convener, Ravi Teja Padiri told TOI. The union claims that around 70 Satyam associates have joined their rank and file.

More than community support, the union is meant to provide legal aid for employees of Satyam. “There should be no pink slips as the Satyam fraud is under investigation. There are provisions in the law which could ensure that this would happen,” Padiri said. The union would wait till January 31 to see if salaries are paid to approach the court on this issue.

Meanwhile, the union members have demanded crucial details from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) under the RTI Act. “We need details of share holders who have done transactions of over one lakh shares of Satyam before the scam came to light. We have also sought details of stakes of different companies in Satyam,” Bharati, who is on an assignment in Australia, told TOI. She said that the union suspects ‘internal transactions’ of shares. The radicals said that they would wait for a reply from Sebi to go ahead with any kind of litigation.

Freshers who were given job offers by Satyam but not given appointment letters have also found solace in the union. The members said they would approach court to get freshers employed. The union will also work to help employees with many of their concerns, including salary cuts, cost cuts and less number of alternative career options.

On their blog the employees have also expressed their concern about being left
out from the investigation into the scam. The employees have demanded appointment of an independent director from the Satyam staff to be part of the governing board of the company. They have also said that people who were earlier share holders should not have a say in the new governing body. The group has also demanded the government to attach properties of the top brass of the erstwhile management so that there would be no escape for them.

Satyam employees are not alone in their fight for justice. Employees from other corporate giants have also been roped in to strengthen the movement. “There is a provision to start unions in every corporate office. Employees from other organisations who have joined hands with Satyam employees,” Teja said. In the collective, there are employees from Maveric Systems, I Gate Technologies, Shoba Renaissance Information Technologies, Accenture, Infosys, Intergrate Constructions, Cognizant, BWW and Powermech.