Skip to main content

'Stiff opposition to unionising': 55% of India's workforce face bullying at workplace

By Bharat Dogra* 

High levels of workplace violence are becoming a cause for serious concern in many countries. According to the European Working Conditions Survey, 6 million workers in the European Union are exposed in one year to workplace violence. If verbal violence is included, then the number exposed to violence is likely to exceed 30 million. France, Denmark and Belgium are among those countries which are on the higher than average side of this violence.
In the USA during 2015- 2019 as many as 5,29,000 workers had to be taken for hospital emergency injury treatment due to workplace violence ( this figure excludes the likely higher number that could be treated with first aid). 
During 1992-2019 as many as 17,865 cases of death caused by workplace violence were reported in the USA, or 670 per year on average, peaking in 1994, when as many as 1080 workplace violence deaths were recorded in the country. There have been several cases of highly tragic shooting incidents at workplace in the USA, each claiming several human lives.
If only officially reported cases are counted, around 1.3 million non-fatal cases of workplace violence are reported in a typical year in the USA, but many cases are not reported officially.
If all available studies are used, then a more frightening picture emerges. According to the Human Development Report, in 1992 more than 2 million US workers were physically attacked at their workplace, nearly 6.5 million workers were threatened with violence and 16 million were harassed in some other way. The cost of all this in lost work and legal expenses came to more than $4 billion. About a sixth of the deaths on jobs in 1992 were homicides.
Sexual harassment at workplace has been found to be very high in the European Union as well as the USA. A report in the Parliament Magazine, European Union (October 2019) is headlined -- 6 in 10 women in EU hit by workplace sexual harassment or violence. 
Citing a survey conducted by the French Institute for Public Opinion, it is stated here that 9 per cent of women in the European Union claimed to have been pressed at least once for an act of sexual nature in return for job or promotion. 14% reported repeated sexual contact or assault.
Recent studies for the USA have stated that 54% women have reported sexual harassment in the course of their career, with higher levels in specific areas, while nearly two thirds of these cases were not reported or pursued. Earlier studies from the USA stated that 40-75% of women and 13-31% of men have been exposed to sexual harassment in the workplace (Aggarwal and Gupta, 2000) while a large study for the European Union stated that 50% of all women had experienced sexual harassment in their working life (Latcheva, 2017). 
There have been many cases of violence against industrial workers, domestic workers, mining and brick-kiln workers
Prevalence of sexual harassment experiences to the extent of 50% to 60% of women, and prevalence of sexual violence experience for lesser but still significantly high levels of women employees is clearly indicative of unacceptably high levels of workplace violence.
Workers in India and several other countries are known to experience high levels of pressures, at times escalating in violence and assaults, when efforts to unionize workers and to increase their resistance to exploitative practices are made. 
This writer had documented several such cases at the time of struggles led by the legendary labor leader Shankar Guha Niyogi in Chattisgarh region of India. Ultimately these assaults and violence instigated by some leading industrialists of the region culminated in the assassination of Niyogi in 1991.
According to a report in 2020, a study conducted by Careerbuilder.in had revealed that as many as 55% of workers in India face bullying at workplace. Several news reports have been drawing attention to cases of violence being used against workers including industrial workers, domestic workers, mining and brick-kiln workers. Migrant workers, far away from their homes and friends, and child workers are in particular trapped sometimes in very vulnerable and difficult situations.
At the same time cases of violence as well as threats of violence have also been reported from hospitals and educational institutions and what are normally highly respected professions like teachers, doctors, nurses and other medical personnel have also been at the receiving end of violence. 
Surprisingly in a country like Italy, threat of violence for teachers has been reported to be quite high. Elsewhere retail workers, taxi drivers and hotel/restaurant workers have experienced higher threat from violence and assault.
Violence at workplace can be internal violence, involving workplace personnel, or can be related to clients, customers and security agencies. It is extending to new areas, and concern over workplace violence is steadily increasing. 
Workplace violence adds much to the already high levels of stress and worry experienced increasingly by workers and employees. Efforts to reduce workplace violence and to check its many-sided causes need to be stepped up and this task should involve the close cooperation and involvement of workers.
---
*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now; his recent books include ‘Man over Machine', ‘Planet in Peril' and ‘A Day in 2071’

Comments

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

Poor private sector engagement 'impacting' carbon pricing policy in Global South

Counterview Desk  The joint report by Environmental Defense Fund and Observer Research Fund, "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects", delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.  The report claims to provide insights and recommendations for effective carbon pricing strategies in diverse economies.  A note: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have launched the Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable i