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By Laxmi Murthy At a session organised at the World Social Forum by Global Resistance, Jobs with Justice, North American Alliance for Fair Economy (NAFE), Communication Workers Union, UK, Washtec Workers and the New Trade Union Initiative, India , participants discussed the impact of the boom in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry from both ends of the spectrum. Are workers in the US and UK 'losers' and workers in India and China the 'winners'? In analysing this new trend, participants went beyond these binaries and recognised that it was only corporations who gained in this 'race to the bottom'. Tim Costello, from the NAFE, an alliance of 60 organisations of temporary, contract and workers in other non-standard forms of employment in North America , described outsourcing as part of corporate strategy to cut costs. "This signals a new phase in globalisation, where knowledge-based jobs are moving because corporations want the lowest paid labour," said Costello. According to estimates, 400,000 jobs have already left the US , and by 2005, 3.3 million jobs (2% of all jobs) will have moved out of the US . "But the exact numbers are not as important as the impact on labour as a whole, with lowering of wages and reduction in workers' rights under the constant threat of the jobs being taken away," said Costello, who predicted that jobs moving from US to India will move on to even cheaper markets. Suren Mudliar, from the NAFE in South Africa , added that his country was a newer entrant into the BPO industry, but already had about 100,000 workers and accounted for $ 500 million, or 1% of the global market. "What is not talked about enough is that outsourcing is a politically explosive issue in the US . It is providing material for xenophobic demagogues, whose voices are getting louder, especially during election cycles. This is dangerous not only for the US , but for the whole world," said Costello. The recent Senate move in the US to ban outsourcing of government contracts is indicative of the seriousness of the issue and the political moves to tackle it. Indrani Mazumdar of the Centre for Women's Development Studies, Delhi , pointed out that the Indian working class is familiar with the contract system, which is now taking place at a global level. The myth has been shattered that the high-end jobs in the US would stay, and it was only the low-end jobs that would move. Mazumdar, while pointing out that the service sector has come to dominate the US/OECD countries (in the US , 78% jobs are in the service sector, 70% in UK ) underlined that outsourcing of this sector was bound to cause major upheavals among workers in these countries. Fred Azcarate, Executive Director of Jobs for Justice , US , described how his organisation, which brings together community groups and trade unions, attempts to engender cultural solidarity and resistance. "We must reject the notion that corporations can succeed in pitting workers against each other," he said. Gary Jones, from the Communication Workers Union ( CWU , UK ) said that the CWU has been involved in a campaign to defend call centre jobs in British telecom against outsourcing. "The CWU, like any union, will in the first instance defend the employment of its own members. But this does not blind us to the needs of other workers, or of other countries," said Jones. The CWU strongly refuted the notion that off-shoring is good for the development of India and that trade unions in Britain and elsewhere are being narrowly nationalist in defending their interests. "Historically, the economic and political relations between the UK and India have been responsible for the under-development of India . Today, it is a pretence to suggest that off-shoring is promoting a contribution to India 's development. It is simple profit maximisation," said Jones. Current wage rates are Rs 66 an hour in Bangalore compared to about Rs 500 an hour in UK . Nor is this identical work - Indian workers must also speak in a second language, and impersonate British people to assuage racist feelings in Britain . Hence, according to the CWU, there is a devaluation of skilled labour by Indian workers in these wage rates. Notably, the arguments used to outsource to India can be used against Indian workers if a cheaper labour market becomes available tomorrow. This trend has already begun, with a shift to China becoming increasingly obvious. Nagarjuna, of the Free Software Movement, India , highlighted some of the negative consequences of outsourcing. "Today, the wealthiest people own not oilfields, but software! A Government of India body, part of C-DAC, was outsourced by Microsoft to develop Indian language software. Now, those languages will work with Windows 98 or Windows XP, and the Company has made a hefty sum while Indians will have to pay Rs 5000 for this operating system that was developed in India itself," said Nagarjuna. What is the way out? There is no single answer, and strategies have to be adopted at all levels, feels Costello. Just like citizens are played off against immigrants, an established way of managements to control labour is to play up insecurities. White collar workers have to organise, labour rights have to be promoted, jobs created and strategies for job retention developed, and collective bargaining has to be used effectively to control outsourcing. Most importantly, efforts need to be co-ordinated globally, since everybody's job is at risk. Corporations pit workers against each other, and workers need to respond to the complex global economy. While building trust is hard, it is nevertheless possible. Participants felt that transnational solidarity has to be built up to promote job security, demand political accountability and struggle against neo-liberal economic policies. -- Laxmi Murthy is a Delhi-based journalist (InfoChange News & Features, January 2004)
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