Once a consequence of colonial industrialisation and a mainstay in post-independence labour struggles, it can be argued that unions have largely faded from the public imagination.
For many young professionals entering the workforce — especially in IT/ITES, start-ups, and white-collar companies — labour unions can feel like a relic of another era, associated more with fields and factory floors than corporate offices or tech parks. They are often seen as outdated, peripheral, or irrelevant to the realities of India’s modern, post-liberalisation economy.
Shifting perceptions
However, this perception is beginning to change. Workers are recognising that issues such as working hours and work-life balance, fair wages, job security, and employee dignity are not things they can safeguard through individual actions alone, say leaders of labour unions.
“The notion of unions being useless, against development or law-and-order is a result of decades of propaganda and the hegemony of capitalist thought,” says Rahul Das, Secretariat Member of the All India IT & ITeS Employees Union. He alleges that companies and employers helped spread this narrative to prevent workers from unionising. “Companies know that they can’t exploit employees for their labour if they unionise and have a collective voice,” he said.
Attesting this, Suhas Adiga, General Secretary of the Karnataka State IT Employees Union, points to recent developments. “Recently, several states in India, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra, introduced laws that mandated 12-hour shifts for IT employees. Due to strong pushback by our union, the Karnataka government withdrew the guidelines. However, these laws continue to exist in other states where the backlash wasn’t as strong.”
Rights under pressure?
Both leaders agree that unions are necessary even for white collar workers, as India Inc continues to grapple with systemic issues such as long working hours, lack of standardised labour policy, opaque appraisals, and sudden layoffs. They also argue that India’s four new labour codes, introduced to streamline 29 central labour laws and extend certain benefits, may weaken existing protections.
“For instance, under the new codes, if a strike is deemed illegal, workers may face wage deductions, disciplinary action, or even legal proceedings, creating a deterrent effect. At the same time, in the name of flexible hiring and shorter gratuity periods, companies can hire employees on a short-term basis and force them to resign within a year. These codes are a blow to collective bargaining and employee security,” Rahul says.
Further critiquing the changes, Suhas notes that companies now have more freedom to set working hours, which could institutionalise longer working days. “Several hard-earned rights and protections for workers are being undone,” he says.
With this growing sense of fragility, worker activists argue that unionising remains one of the most effective ways for white collar employees to protect themselves.
The case for collective action
According to Rahul, unions fundamentally exist to provide workers with a collective voice. “Through unions, workers can negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions as a collective. They also function as channels for grievance redressals, such as misbehaviour and POSH cases,” he explains.
Reinforcing this, Suhas recalls a time before unions began emerging in white collar sectors, particularly in IT companies. “Companies were able to force their employees to work for long hours without overtime pay, and could lay off thousands of workers overnight,” he says. He adds that stagnant salaries, mass layoffs, and lack of work-life balance eventually led to the rise of unions among white collar employees, especially in the IT/ITeS sector. “Both existing employees and freshers are conscious of these practices, so they realise that collective action is inevitable,” he points out.
He also highlights how worker solidarity has evolved. “We rally support for workers’ causes, and express our solidarity for other workers’ movements across India and the world in online and social media spaces. We’ve also received support from national and international labour unions in similar fashion,” he recounts, noting that organising is now possible even in hybrid and remote work environments.
While some employees actively seek out unions, others are introduced to them through outreach efforts: campaigns on social media and the streets, seminars, rallies, and online forums.
Beyond membership
However, joining a union is not a guarantee of protection. “A labour union gives you a platform to stay united, demand better working conditions, and act as a bulwark against exploitative practices. They can only ensure this if companies and governments listen to us, and work with us,” Rahul notes.
He adds that stronger protections and better rights for workers are ultimately in the economic interest of both companies and the government.
