The Anatomy of Wistron Workers’ Violence
The Press has extensively reported the violence at Wistron. It points to a big malaise about the way work is organised and compensated. Let us begin with the two excerpts which are important and noteworthy.
Mint report says, “In its complaint to the Police the company executive stated that equipment worth ₹412.5 crore was lost. Infrastructure worth ₹10 crore, ₹60 lakh worth cars and golf carts, smartphones and other gadgets worth ₹1.5 crore were among those which suffered the damage, stolen or lost. He stated in his complaint that 5,000 contract labourers and about 2,000 unknown culprits carried out the vandalism in the factory facility.
And Times Now News reported, “Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Aswathnarayan said the state government has sent out a very strong message that there is no place for violence in industrial disputes, in an interview to ET NOW, after workers went on the rampage over the weekend.”
The Questions Nobody Is Asking
These are obvious questions, but unfortunately nobody is asking.
If 5000 contract labourers (the company reportedly employs 8900 contract workers and 1200 permanent workers) carried out violence with 2000 unknown persons, what was the police intelligence doing? It is unbelievable that 2000 persons who are outsiders come in but the police are unaware of the plan. In other words, this allegation which suggests pre-meditated attack, is obviously baseless.
Violence of this nature erupts like a volcano. The analogy also tells us of the pent-up feelings and grievances simmering inside. And you don’t have to be an expert in criminology to understand why mob suddenly turns violent.
While ‘Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Aswathnarayan said the state government has sent out a very strong message that there is no place for violence in industrial disputes’, does he understand that ordinary men do not resort to violence without persistent gross provocations?
The Factories: Behaviorists’ Paradise
It is a matter of coincidence that before I picked up newspaper which carried the Wistron story, I was reading an excellent book –‘Hired – Undercover in Low Wage Britain.’ James Bloodworth, a journalist, decided that ‘the best way to find out about low-paid work in Britain today would be to become a part of that world myself’. So, he applied to Amazon, got the job and has narrated his experience as well as observations in the book. (I hope that the book will inspire an Indian journalist to try such an approach.)
The jobs are repetitive, very closely supervised and allow too little time for workers to rest or have lunch. Such is the pressure to conform to the performance standards that workers often find it impossible to take a toilet break. There are stories of how Coca-Cola bottles were found containing urine, on the shelves. Wages also have a high portion of incentive payment – and the rules of such payment are harsh. That in turn raises stakes for workers and forces them to ‘run’ faster.
Excerpts from the book ‘Hired’ and Volvo Experiment
“According to a recent survey of Amazon’s staff by the GMB Union: 91% would not recommend working for Amazon, 70% of staff felt that they were given disciplinary points unfairly, 89% felt exploited, 78% felt that their breaks were too short, 71% reported that they walked more than 10 miles a day at work” (they had pedometer attached).
The situation is not very different in India in factories like Wistron. And similar factories in China. The oppressive situation takes the toll.
James Bloodworth writes: “There is something unusually oppressive about an environment like that (at Amazon). I suspect it makes a person more than less likely to misbehave. The entire time I was working at Amazon I felt as though I was under a dark cloud of suspicion. I would find myself cringing under the accusatory questions of a supervisor or security guard when I had done nothing wrong. The sheer oppressiveness of the place built up over time to become a self-fulfilling prophecy; you soon began to fantasise about scheming against the company and its petty rules.”
Remember, this was the first-hand experience of the author, and not the result of interviews. Contrast this with experiments which helped workers find meaning in their work. Do you remember the Volvo Experiment? This is what Wikipedia tells us about it: ‘The teams organized themselves any way they wished and at the speed they choose. While a worker on a conventional assembly line might spend his entire shift mounting one license-plate lamp after another, every member of a Kalmar work team may work at one time or another on all parts of the electrical system—from taillights to turn signals, head lamps, horn, fuse box and part of the electronically controlled fuel-injection system. The only requirement is that every team meet its production goal for a shift. As long as cars roll out on schedule, workers are free to take coffee breaks when they please or to refresh themselves in comfortable lounges equipped with kitchens and saunas. The group assembly system operated in two ways, docked or in-line.’
Work can be organised in countless ways to give high productivity and yet enjoyable. But work is getting organised, in factories such as Wistron in a way which yields high productivity at the cost of becoming meaningless and a drudgery, reducing the workers to a ‘pair of hands.’ Chinese factories like Foxconn are notorious for the workers’ suicides, and not without a reason.
We know that the contractors who supply labour do not pay workers in time and often not in keeping with the contract terms. The living conditions of contract labour are to be seen to be believed. Inhuman is the word.
The workers’ ire turns inward when they commit suicides in a totalitarian state. In Wistron it comes out as a violence. Violence is certainly not an acceptable way to resolve disputes. Can we ignore the deep frustrations that spark violence?
The statement of the Deputy Chief Minister only discloses that he has not grasped complete picture while taking side of Wistron for the sake of guarding and getting foreign investments. The Minister makes no statement on non-payment of wages to Wistron employees (The Economic Times reports that Wistron did not pay overtime wages) and unilateral reduction of wages. Not just employer but even the Government is being perceived by workers as anti-labour. And that suggests that the balance, which should be the hallmark of Government policies, is lost.
Violence Begets Violence
Destroying property is violence. And non-payment of wages and intolerable treatment of people is also violence! Both forms of violence must be abjured.
It will take a long time to normalize the situation at Wistron. And yet the genesis of the problem will be forgotten or willfully ignored for political gains.
Vivek S Patwardhan
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
Aroehan: Creating Dream Villages in Mokhada by 2025: “No Malnutrition Deaths, No Child ‘Out of School’, Reduction in migration by 50%.”
Actually I was waiting for your article / critical evaluation on this issue.
As always ?
Need to speak to you and understand better.
So well argued Vivek. It is relentless ignoring of the workmen and their requirements and abject exploitation of their conditions that results in this. Violence, like someone said is the last cry of the unheard. I am also wondering what role the managers of the workmen and the HR leaders play in advocating the rights of the workmen and in ensuring some kind of fair treatment. Do they not sense the frustration and the anger? Does this not become part of their own anger? I am sure that something must have triggered this highly undesirable reaction but this is a sad reflection and as I have been stating for a long time now, the government labour machinery has abandoned its role post liberalization.
As always article is really nice
I remember Me. E A Ramaswamy stayed for nearly one and half years in the workers colonies at Coimbatore and wrote his book.
I am in synch with you regarding the exploitation of workmen. 1200 permanent against 8900 contract, this ratio is itself revealing.
As always, well written and a call for proper Management
I think the state of BPO employees is probably even worse in some companies. Employees need to take permission of supervisors even for bathroom breaks,constant calls creating anxiety issues and hearing problems and the list goes on!
Corporate India has failed its employees in many ways. This is just one such manifestation of a revolt. In no way can violence justify this but surely there is a more balanced way out.
You have not only asked the questions Vivek ji, which nobody has asked so far but also answered that if damaging the property is an offence/ crime then not paying wages to workers as agreed in time is also no less than a crime.
This must be understood at least by HR. Workers resorting to violence is not an over night sudden thought “Ki chalo aaj kuch toda fodi karke khelte hain”. It is an out come of long drawn dissatisfaction brewing inside and not resolved.
very much to the point article.Time to take a call.
Mr Satish Pradhan writes:
Dear Vivek,
Hard questions that leap at us while reading the reports in news papers. None have asked or commented on or enumerated the actual reasons , grievances that made such a large number of contract workers resort to hitting out or hitting back ?
It also is worth understanding , before pontificating like the honourable Minister did, oppression is violence as you rightly assert, and violence is more likely to beget violence.
Thanks Vivek for another excellent article Yes this incident is reported widely in the Press It is very sad to read that events take an ugly turn
I agree with your point that no one resorts to violence just like that -provocation or instigation perhaps is the proverbial match stick lighting it up Definitely, the simmering tension has been missed out by the Management . Having more contract workers is convenient – cost arbitrage is just one minor reason The major reasons is that Managers loathe a large regular workforce since they have to supervise n get work done The accelerator works easier with Contract Labour and there is the much desired flexibility The engagement surveys n awards of Best Employers often miss out on many of these practices adopted by Managers Frankly, working with people and following basic requirements is not rocket science ..nonetheless it comes as a big challenge !!
The Government has never had a pro active role in such events and will douse fire and move on Today having more investments is high focus in all states The full page advt in newspapers bear testimony to it
Often, Unions would primarily be concerned on their constituency / permanent workers
The Press will soon look to the next event which eager journalists n news anchors can cover
i do hope that all of us draw learnings to improve on employment practices and practice fairness at the workplace
Thanks once again for sharing your expert insights to all
Regards
Hello Vivek, Your thought provoking aricle ,as always, reminds me of our old adage “What you sow that you reap “.
It starts with ratio of permanent to contract workers.That ratio is a violence in itself.James is a unique person to pen it down after experiencing it himself.There is nothing to beat that approach.Every HR person should act as a crusador against such”violence” at any cost.
Lovely peace from your quarters as usual.
Wonderful.
What you sow that you reap.
The ratio is a violence by itself.
You bring a storm on table.
Great sir.
Well said Vivek. You have been writing about violence at the workplace over several yearS. But things don’t seem to change. Very Very Unfortunate. I would urge you to continue the good work. Hopefully some day things would change for the better.
Well written article. Oppression of workers by contractors would be met by rebel /violence from workers. After liberalisation, militancy by workers have reduced substantially. Workers understand that liberalisation demands increased productivity and cost reduction.There must be pressing reason for workers to revolt. I hope agitation was not instigated by politicians to serve their vested interests.
Your commentary is excellent as usual.
The paradigm of governance is such today. The more glaring news for me today was the abject negation of the Indian Constitution in framing the PM Cares Relief fund. The comment I made on twitter is what I repeat here ‘No more surprising or shocking at this rate. It’s only predictable. Despicably so. There’s no more laughing at our follies. This is pitiable mass delusion at a scale with no match.’
Contract workers are on minimum wages implying they are leading hands to mouth existence. Second contractor’s workmen typically would be from a different state / location. So you are in a city which is not your home base, you have not got your wages for quite some time and don’t know whats going to happen. Hunger definitely leads to anger. for such a large group of people to assemble means there is someone taking advantage of the situation !
The article raises the question of violence which begets violence. Inhumane conditions of work, paying less than minimum wages, and uncertainty in wage payment are such severe forms of violence… And yet often not identified as such in the eyes of management. There are indeed many forms of workplace violence and as HR professionals we have to constantly guard against perpetrating some of it – consciously or unconsciously.
I guess the organizational leaders who were designated to design the strategies for their organization got failed to grasp the pulse of the employees which resulted in said unrest. If issues were properly addressed then it could have been easily avoided by all mean!!!
Earlier probably it was Unions and employers responsible for violence . Now it is Employers and Labour contractors who should share the blame. If you hit someone below the belly, this will be the outcome. Both parties have to be first fair and then firm.
Mr. JN Amrolia writes:
Vivek,
Agree with you. Mass violence in cases like this happens normally only when people are pushed beyond a point and left with no option.
Also while Apple may shed crocodile tears and investigate, in reality a major contributory factor is its own greed in protecting its exorbitant margins.
When screws keep on getting tightened beyond a point at each level this is what happens.
And of course most government turn a deliberate blind eye to exploitation as long as they can boast of investments coming in.
JNA
Karnataka Minister admits many wrong doings.
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/karnataka-assures-to-help-reopen-wistron-plant-centre-steps-in-11608133414198.html
Must Read:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract