The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Court verdicts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 10, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Court verdicts

Sir, — The Supreme Court ruling upholding the dismissal of an employee who assaulted his superior at the workplace is a step in the right direction. The same, however, cannot be said of its verdicts upholding dismissals for sleeping at the workplace and using abusive language against superiors. In many organisations, cost cutting wields its axe on human resources, stretching them beyond limits and enervating them. Workers are made to slog for long hours. In such circumstances, punishment for sleeping can be, at the most, a cut in the wages. As for abusing, the verdict can be used as a tool to get rid of inconvenient subordinates. The managements are always mightier and not all employees have the time, energy and money to fight big companies.

N. Ramakrishnan,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — Thanks to trade unionism workers have hitherto misunderstood their rights, taking them to mean the liberty to break rules. Labour laws are also weighed heavily in favour of the employee. The time has come to discard old notions about traditional exploitation patterns because the experience in the government sector has often been the opposite.

J.S. Acharya,
Hyderabad

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

CLOISTERED JUSTICE

FRANCE'S COMING REFERENDUM

Dismembering truth

Future of books in the age of the Web

A shift across the social divide

Methodology

Main findings of the post-poll survey