NDLF Condemns Illegal Termination of FITE General Secretary Elavarasan Raja by CTS

Cognizant Technologies yesterday terminated Elavarasan Raja who is the General Secretary of Forum of IT Employees illegally from his services. Cognizant as per the latest press release plan to terminate 7000 employees and as per internal news the numbers may go up.

Elavarasan Raja is part of FITE for the past several years and instrumental in registering union for FITE in Maharashtra location. Hailing from a town called Harur in Dharmapuri district, Raja was an active participant in several social movements including Jallikattu protest that shook the country. He helped various affected employees in Pune and helped them to take legal fight seeking justice against illegal termination. He then transferred from Pune and moved back to Chennai last year.

As Cognizant started illegal layoffs recently, he oppose the company decision and started giving interviews against this illegal layoffs. The wide set of people started joining Elavarasan and started complaining against Cognizant in labour officers. His interviews are published in various Medias like Vikatan a popular Tamil website, Behindwoods and in various other social media instruments.

Management realize Elavarasan is an obstacle in implementing their illegal layoffs and to threaten FITE members and other IT employees, decided to terminate Elavarasan from his services. He was called for HR meeting and given termination letter and forced to leave the company on the same day.

FITE handover the complaint of terminating Elavarasan who played vital role in helping employees and oppose the CTS management for illegal termination today against the joint commissioner today in Chennai.

Our NDLF along with FITE strongly condemn the illegal action of terminating office bearers of FITE who helped fellow employees and raised concerns against management. Cognizant in the recent past has done various illegal activities including giving bribe to Tamilnadu government in constructing their office premises and punished by stock exchange in America. There are conflicts last year with tax returns to be paid by Cognizant and Income tax department has blocked some of the accounts of Cognizant for this act.  Rajiv Mehta last year mentioned that their employees who are waste like dead woods will be terminated who are in the senior category. Our NDLF raised 2K petition against Cognizant based on the speech of Rajiv Mehta.

Chief Minister of Tamilnadu last week in conference meeting requested IT companies to stop terminating employees. We see within a week, CTS is terminating general secretary of FITE and it is very clear that their intention is to create panic among fellow Cognizant employees and to terminate more and more employees. They foresee Elavarasan as an obstacle for their illegal action and terminated them backdoor without following any labour laws on single day.

NDLF in this difficult juncture stand as part of Elavarasan Raja and fight against the illegal layoffs. This is not just termination of Elavarasan Raja but it is beginning of termination of several thousand of IT employees by these companies for their profit thrust.

NDLF request Cognizant management immediately to withdraw its decision of terminating Elavarasan Raja and reinstate him with immediate effect. If they deny, NDLF will stand with FITE on the fight against illegal layoff until management reinstate his termination

NDLF IT Employees wing