TAMIL NADU NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL

B.A.LL.B., (HONS.),
LABOUR LAW

BY:A.K.S.VISHNU
BA0140077
SECTION-B

CONCEPT OF COMMUNISM:
Communism, the political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a
profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major
means of production and the natural resources of a society1. Communism is thus a form of
higher socialism and more advanced form, according to its advocates.
Communism is a New type of government also an economic system. In a Communist system,
individual people do not own land, factories, or machinery. Instead, the government or the
whole community owns these things. Everyone is equal and have equal share of the wealth
that they create. Communism is a political and economic system in which the major means of
production in a society such as mines, factories, and farms are owned by the public or the
state, and wealth is divided among citizens equally or according to individual need. In its
most common usage, the term communism refers to the type of ideal society envisioned by
the 19th-century German revolutionary Karl Marx or to forms of government based on
Marxs ideas that were established in Russia, China, and other countries in the 20th century.
Communism is one form of socialism, which is a system in which the productive resources of
a society are publicly rather than privately controlled.
However, Marxs concept is consisting of two phases of communism that overthrew existing
capitalism: the first would be a interim system in which the working class would control the
government and economy but still dependent to pay people according to how long, hard, or
well they worked; the second would be fully realized communism where a society without
class divisions or government, in which the production and distribution of goods would be
based upon the principle ALL FOR ALL.

Historical background
The term communism was used in 1840 the term and its concepts were widespread by the
works of Karl Marx. It is interesting to know that communism which says that there is no
religion had its inspiration from religion of Christianity. The Christians practiced a kind of
communism given in Acts 4:3237, guiding principles as a form of solidarity and as a way
of renouncing worldly possessions.2 Similar motives later inspired the formation of monastic
orders in which monks took vows of poverty and promised to share their few worldly goods
with each other and with the poor. The English statesman Sir Thomas More extended this
monastic communism in Utopia (1516), which describes an imaginary society in which
money is abolished and people share meals, houses, and other goods in common.3

1 Terrell Carver, Marxs Social Theory (1982)

2 The Holy Bible , NKJV

The son of the co-owner of a textile firm with factories in Germany and Britain, Engels was
himself a capitalist who helped to manage the firms factory in Manchester. Like Marx,
Engels was deeply disturbed by what he regarded as the injustices of a society divided by
class. Appalled by the poverty and squalor in which ordinary workers lived and worked, he
described their misery in grisly detail in The Condition of the English Working Class (1844).
Marx and Engels maintained that the poverty, disease, and early death that afflicted the
proletariat which is the working class were widespread by capitalism. They gave a solution to
complete and basic problems only by replacing exisiting capitalism with new communism.
Under this alternative system, the major means of industrial production such as mines, mills,
factories, and railroads would be publicly owned and operated for the benefit of all this is
based on the concept ALL FOR ALL. None should be left alone in this process and their
needs should be satisfied by the new alternative communism as a better economic system
than capitalism. Marx and Engels presented this critique of capitalism and a brief sketch of a
possible future communist society in Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848), which they
wrote at the commission of a small group of radicals called the Communist League.
Marx, meanwhile, had begun to lay the theories and idealogy of communism in his book
Das Kapital (1867). His theory has three main aspects: first, a materialist conception of
history; second, a critique of capitalism and its inner workings; and third, an account of the
revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and its eventual replacement by communism.

INTRODUCTION:
This project deals with the definition, nature, history of Communist Trade union Movement,
its growth, current trends. Trade unions are organizations which comprises of workers formed
by workers themselves to protect the rights and promote well-being of workers through
efforts of the workers. In India, the starting of the 20th century gave the birth of the trade
union movement after the end of First World War. All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)
was formed in 1920 on a National Basis, however the first organised trade union Madras
Labour Union in 1918. In 1926, the Trade Unions Act was passed which gave a legal status to
the registered trade unions. There are more than 84,642 registered trade unions in India now
along with an unaccounted number of unregistered trade unions.4 The sturdy rise of trade
unions in India is due to the political involvement and the active role of the labourers as well
3 The origins and development of Thomas Mores utopian communism are deftly traced in J.H.
HEXTER, Mores Utopia: The Biography of an Idea (1952)

as the governments measures to increase the number of trade unions.There are 12 Central
Trade Union Organisations recognised by Ministry of Labour.

DEFINITION:
Under section 2(h) of The Trade union Act, 1926.
"Trade unions mean any combination whether temporary or permanent formed primarily for
the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and employers are between
workmen and workmen or between employees and employers for imposing restrictive
conditions on the conduct of any trade or business and includes any federation of two or more
trade unions."5
The trade unions act 1926 is an enactment to provide for the registration of trade unions and
in certain respects to define the Law relating to registered trade unions. The right to form an
association or union is a fundamental right which is guaranteed under constitution of India.
The trade unions act 1926 deals with the registration of trade unions and not their recognition.
An amendment of 1947 dealing with recognition has not been brought into force. Certain
states have introduced legislation to deal with the matter of recognition of trade unions which
are not covered in the trade unions act 1926. 'Registered trade union' means a trade union
registered under trade unions act 1926.

NATURE:
These are the trade unions in India with communist idealogy:
All India Central Council of Trade Unions Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
Liberation
All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Communist Party of India
Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The AITUC has 3442239 verified membership of trade unions in India and it ranks third
among the powerful Central Trade Unions.6 As per the report of the Ministry of Labour,
Government of India.
4 http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/SYB2014/CH-4I-TRADE%20UNIONS/Trade
%20Unions.pdf
5 The Trade Unions Act,1926 s2(h).

All the trade unions in India are affiliated to four central trade union federations,
INTUC,AITUC, HMS, UTUC.The communist trade union where research was conducted is
affiliated to AITUC.

SCOPE:
Generally The employers association or professional bodies were not included in trade
unions the reason is that the employees unions are different from that of the employers or
professional bodies. The employees unions are related to the terms and conditions of
employment of their members. The employers associations on the other hand are concerned
among other things with influencing the terms of purchase of services in favour of their
members. Hence, the two cant be taken as the same. The associations of professional
members also differ fundamentally from employees unions. Professional associations include
self employed as well as the employees where as trade unions consist only of the people who
are employed by others. But In India the term Trade Union refers to employers association
also.
A trade union of workers is an organization formed by workers to protect their interests. i.e.
improve their working conditions etc. All trade unions have objectives or goals to achieve,
which are contained in their constitution and each has its own strategy to reach those goals.

Issues:
1. What is the role of trade unions in industrial disputes? What are the rights of unregistered
and unrecognised unions?
ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS IN INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES:

Collective bargaining has been defined by the Supreme Court as the technique by which
dispute as to conditions of employment is resolved peacefully by agreement rather than
coercion.7Collective bargaining is the negotiations about working conditions and terms of
employment between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers
organisation on one hand and one or more representative workers organisations on the other,
with a view to reaching solution for their dispute. Collective bargaining process includes
negotiation, strikes, conciliation
6 Govt of India;Ministry of Labour and Employment, Order No L-52025/20/20031R(IMP-1) Dated 11.1.2008
7 Karnal Leather Karamchari Sangathan v. Liberty Footwear Company, (1989) 4 SCC 448

Negotiation:
As negotiations begin after the submission of the charter of demands by the representatives of
the trade union. Before the talks of negotiations, both the employer and the trade unions make
for such negotiations by making sure in collection of data, policy making in the
negotiations.8
After such preparation, the negotiations take place wherein the trade unions and the employer
involve in debates and discussions relating to the demands made by the trade unions. If the
negotiations are not fruitful , the trade union may decide to engage in strikes as next step.9

Strikes:
If both parties fail to reach a collective agreement, the union may go on strike. As per the
IDA, public utility sector employees must provide six weeks notice of a strike, and may
strike fourteen days after providing such notice.The strikes are considered to be legal if the
notice is given prior giving notice before 6 weeks of strike and before 14 days of strike.

Conciliation:
A conciliation proceeding starts when the conciliation officer receives a notice of strike or
lockout. In the course of the cooling off period, the state government may appoint a
conciliation officer to investigate the disputes, mediate and promote settlement. 10 On the
other hand, it may also appoint a Board of Conciliation which shall be appointed in equal
numbers on the recommendation of both parties, and shall be composed of a chairman and
either two or four members.11 No strikes may be conducted during the course of the
conciliation proceeding.12
Conciliation proceedings has three possibilities: (i) a settlement, (ii) no settlement or (iii)
reference to a labour court or an industrial tribunal.13

8 . R. Sivarethinamohan, Industrial Relations and Labour Welfare: Text and Cases, page 286,

Available at https://books.google.co.in/books?id=OBuLapJUAcC&printsec=frontcover
9 Ibid
10 Section 4 of IDA, 1946.
11 Section 5 of IDA, 1946.
12 Section 22 and 23 of IDA, 1946
13 Section 20 of IDA, 1946

When it goes to labour court it comes under section7A of IDA for a labour court or industrial
tribunal within each state government consisting of one person appointed to adjudicate
industrial disputes which could not be settled , such as strikes and lockouts

Rights of unregistered and unrecognised unions:

Registration is, however, beneficial as it leads to certain privileges. A registered labor union
is deemed to be a body corporate, thus giving it the status of a legal entity. As a result, a
registered trade union has perpetual succession and a common seal with the power to acquire
and hold property and to enter into contracts. It also has the power to sue and, consequently,
be sued as well. An unregistered trade union, on the other hand, would not be considered a
juristic entity National Organization of Bank Workers Federation of Trade Unions v. Union
of India 14.
Representative trade unions may have the preferential right to hold discussions with
employers to resolve disputes, while an unrecognized trade union may not.
To improve the terms and conditions of employment, trade unions now play a critical role in
employee welfare activities, such as through organization of cooperative credit societies,
cultural programs, and banking and medical facilities and by creating awareness through
education of members and publication of periodicals and newsletters.
Trade unions provide a forum to help facilitate better industrial relations and improve
productivity. Certain trade unions also have political affiliation. For instance, the INTUC is
affiliated with the Congress Party, whereas the AITUC is affiliated with the Communist Party
of India. In addition to the interference of political leaders, such affiliation has, at times, led
to multi-unionism which creates complexities for the employer especially during the
collective bargaining process.

2. Who are authorised to form trade unions?

A trade union is required to have a minimum of seven members subscribing their names to
the rules of the trade union. Furthermore, a minimum of 10 percent of the workforce or 100
workers, whichever is less, engaged or employed in the establishment are required to be
members of the trade union, connected with such establishment, at the time of application.
The registration would, however, be subject to the registrar being satisfied with the
compliance of all the primary requirements of the TU Act by the trade union.
The formation of a trade union, being a fundamental right of workers, cannot be prevented by
an employer. Neither can an employer prevent the registration of such a trade union under the
TU Act.
14 (1993) 2 LLJ 537

INTERVIEW CONTENT:
As my project is based on communist trade union in India it is necessary to first know about
the Communist trade union in Madurai. Communist trade union in India is a central trade
union organisation recognised by the ministry of labour I had to research on the communist
trade union in Madurai. My first interview was done with Com.Solomon who is the general
secretary of the AITUC Madurai where he has been in the trade union for past 55 years in
Madurai and is fully rich of communist ideas and is full of enthusiasm till now. He has the
clear concept of communism and socialism also he is a leader with good leadership skills. He
is not only the leader in AITUC as General Secretary but also he is in many other communist
related organisations like Employers organisation and he is simple with many positions. As
he is of communist idealogy where everyone is equal he treats everyone equally invarious of
their age,work nature,caste etc. He also accepted to answer the interview and gave his
answers in simple but clear manner. I asked him about his personal details like name ,age
,length of service., etc.. first and then proceeded to the questions relating to his trade union.
When I asked which idealogy of Communist party does his trade union belong he said there
are three ideologies in CPI and he belongs to AITUC. Next the working hours per day was
asked Comrade told they worked for 8 hours per day and in absence in his office the office
boy must be present to take care of the work if any. When asked about the time interval to
hold general body meetings he replied the general body meeting was held once in a year very
less frequently. But the executive meetings were held once in a month. When asked whether
they went for strikes he said communist party was called for political reasons and other
parties can also join if the cause is for the welfare of the workers.Next question was about
their main object of union he said that to protect the working class and welfare of the
workers. Last question was about recommendation to meet the crisis relating to economic
reforms in Trade Union. His answer was that the minimum wages to workers must be
increased where the minimum wage is 3,000 to 4,000 Rs. But the expenditure of worker is
15,000 Rs. The recommendation given after was that the by laws of their Trade Union must
be followed by the workers.

Next interview was with Com.C M Moorthy, the State Secretary of AITUC,
When asked of the same questions to comrade, his answers and perspectives were in a bigger
sphere. He is aged about 59 and his length of service was 35 years. He gave many new facts
regarding the AITUC that there were 324 Trade unions and each has its own bye-laws for
them. When asked about the working hours he said he works round the clock, periodical
meetings are held once in a year by his guidance. Main object of the union is to do the works
of trade unions in a proper manner where the workers must be given security and to safeguard
interest of the workers, there should be amicable Industrial relations. When I asked whether
there are politicians in the trade union he laughed and said you ask this question the other
way that whether there are members free from politics ? as it is a political affiliation of Trade
union most of them are politicians. Last question which was about recommendations was
very heart touching as he said first to change the mindset of the society that Trade Unions is
poor and theyre dependent on allowances. Also he said that there should be 1 unit for 1

union for better striking power and results in shorter time than multi unionism.He also
suggested the role of leader should suggest workers and create many leaders. Communism is
a bulding which was once strong but now with weak foundation as the members are not
devoted.
Current Trends:
For much of the 20th century, in fact, about one-third of the worlds population lived under
communist regimes. These regimes were characterized by the rule of a single party that
tolerated no opposition and little dissent. In place of a capitalist economy, in which
individuals compete for profits, moreover, party leaders established a command economy in
which the state controlled property and its bureaucrats determined wages, prices, and
production goals. The inefficiency of these economies played a large part in the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991, and the remaining communist countries excepting North Korea are
now allowing greater economic competition while holding fast to one-party rule. Whether
they will succeed in this endeavour remains to be seen. Succeed or fail, however, communism
is clearly not the world-shaking force it was in the 20th century. Communism was a major
force in world politics for most of the 20th century: at one time, about one-third of the
worlds population lived under communist governments. Today communism is the official
form of government in only a handful of countries

Primary Source:
1.Industrial Jurisprudence by Dr E M Rao.
2.Industrial law by P.L.Malik.
2.The Trade Unions Act,1926
4.Employees State Insurance Act,1948
5.Workmens Compensation Act,1923

SECONDARY SOURCE:
1. http://www.importantindia.com/8419/brief-history-of-trade-union-movement-inindia/
2. http://www.cpim.org/content/marx-and-trade-unions