52 SOCIAL SCIENTIST TABLE : 1 UNION CONSULTATION IN INTRODUCTION OF COMPUTERS Industry Computer Introduced Without prior consultation With prior consultation Public Private Public Private Sector Sector Sector Sector** Textiles , 4 ,, ., Engineering Chemical and 7 3 — 1 Chemical Products Cement — 1+(1)* 1 — — Petroleum Electric Supply Air Transport Railways Banking Insurance 2 111 2+(1)* — 1 — 2i Others 1 — — 2 Total 22 11+(2)* 1 6 * Indicates cases in which agreement was reached subsequent to introduction of computers. ** According to the committee, in three cases (one in the public sector and two in the private sector) tacit consent of the unions is reported to have been obtained and written consent in four others before computerisation. looked into this question have conveniently skirted the adverse effects on employment resulting therefrom. However, based on the information available, it is clear that electronic equipment can displace labour at each stage of its introduction. According to the evidence given before the Committee on Automation, of the three organisations engaged in marketing and distribution, which they studied, 108 employees had been displaced. In transport, in the lone organisation studied, labour displacement was 150. In the Banking and Insurance sector, in the two units which reported to the Committee, 483 persons were found to have been displaced by computers (Table 2). But since the Committee has relied mostly on the data supplied by individual managers and proprietors without entertaining the data and figures supplied by trade unions, we have every reason to believe that there has been a gross underestimation of the real situation. Therefore, we give in Table 3 the data supplied by trade unions which will help our assessment of the situation.