{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","title":"Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy The Intersection of Migrant Labour, Platform Capitalism, and Resistance","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9783031912610","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","id":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","uuid":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","title":"Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy The Intersection of Migrant Labour, Platform Capitalism, and Resistance","normalized_title":"migrantlabourinthegigeconomytheintersectionofmigrantlabourplatformcapitalismandresistance","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9783031912610","isbns":["9783031912610","9783031912627"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":270,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/Migrant%20Labour%20in%20the%20Gig%20Economy%20The%20Intersection%20of%20Migrant%20Labour%2C%20Platform%20Capitalism%2C%20and%20Resistance","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/search"},"page":{"printed_page":241,"pdf_page":249,"physical_index":249,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"7299d1663d64d885eb74392047de2d13e26845aced937fe5e50580417b19ac4b"},"chapter":"Dynamics ofVirtual Work","content":"The opportunities for civic, social, and political engagement that they had in their home state were absent in Bengaluru, where they felt reduced to migrant labour within multinational corporations. In an effort to reclaim a sense of social citizenship, they identified the lower-class Bengali migrant workers community in Bengaluru as a critical site for community action, enabling them to reconnect with their ethnic identity and language while engaging in meaningful social work. These workers’ recognized an opportunity when they discovered that, despite the affordability of nearby government schools, the mandatory use of Kannada as the medium of instruction posed significant challenges for lower-class migrant children, leading many to become early school dropouts. Even children who had received preliminary education in West Bengal were unable to continue their education in Bengaluru due to the language barrier. As a result, during the weekends, the tech workers and other educated Bengali youth began holding regular educational classes for lower-class migrant children in subjects such as Maths, Science, English, and Bengali, with the aim of empowering them and providing opportunities for learning.\n\nInitially focused on weekend teaching, their initiative gradually expanded to include organising blood donation camps, lake cleaning drives, and cultural programs for lower-class migrant workers, all aimed at improving their social habitat and making it more livable. As our participant Dipak stated, “Many of our friends, who were never part of any union or organisation, started joining us for the school. There was a sense of community.” Therefore, the Pother Dabi initiative also provided an avenue for tech workers and the educated Bengali class to find a community for social action. On Saturdays and Sunday evenings, from 3:30 to 5:30 pm, they found fulfilment in volunteering for marginalized Bengali children, taking on the roles of dada (elder brother) and didi (elder sister).\n\nFurthermore, in addition to the vulnerabilities, insecurities and exploitation within the corporate tech world, many Bengali tech workers became involved in tech-worker organising. On January 6, 2018, the All India IT and ITeS Employees’ Union (AIITEU) was founded, offering membership to any employee working in the Information Technology (IT), Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS), or computer/ software-aided industries in the state of Karnataka. This included workers employed directly, through contractors, or on work-based contracts, among other forms of employment. The intent behind the unionization was to fight for better and fairer working conditions for all employees in the IT and ITeS industry, regardless of their background or area of service. As one of our participant Sumit explained, around 40 million personnel work in the IT sector, it remains largely unmonitored. Some states exempt the IT sector from the Shop and Establishment Act, resulting in no specified working hours, no provision for overtime pay, and the ability for employers to hire and fire at will.\n\n9 TRANSVERSAL UNIONISM: RESISTING AND NAVIGATING\n\n241","previous_page":240,"next_page":242}