Trade Union

Movement in
India
Labour movement and Trade Union movement are often used synonymously.
But labour movement, which includes trade unionism, is a wider term. Labour
movement began in 1875 in India while the trade unionism started in 1918

 According to the Indian Trade Union Act, 1926 a trade

union is any combination, whether temporary or
permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of
regulating the relations between workmen and
employers, or between workmen and workmen, between
employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive
conditions on the conduct of any trade or business, and
includes any federations of two or more trade unions
A trade union is not for workers but by workers

A trade union is a continuous association of

wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining
or improving the conditions of their working
lives Dale Yoder (1972)

 Dufty (1961) has given four eras:1. Pre-1920 (before the

formation of AITUC);2. the inter-war period from 1920
to 1939;3. the Second World War period from 1937 to
1946; and 4. Post-Independence period from 1947- to
date
Kumar (1961) has divided the development into four
periods: 1. Early beginning (1875-1918); the inter-war
period(1918-1938); Second World War period (19391945); and the post-World War period (1946 onwards)

Growth and Development of the Trade

Union Movement

 Mamoria, Mamoria and Gankar (1997) has divided this

period in terms of the tendencies that mark the growth
and development of trade union movement in India:
1. The Social Welfare Period from 1875 to1918
2. Early Trade Union Period from 1918 to 1924
3. Left-Wing Trade Union Period from 1924-1934
4. Trade Unions Unity Period from 1935 to 1938
5. Second World War Period from 1939 to 1945
6. Post- Independence Period from 1947 to-date
Monappa (1985) has given three phases. The first
phase falls between 1850 to 1900; the second
between 1900 to 1947; and the third from 1947
onwards

 Development of industries resumed in several social

evils such as employment and exploitation of
women and child labour.
Deplorable working conditions and the
Governments total indifference in respect of
protection of labours from such evils were visible
In certain respects, conditions of Indian factories
labour were worse than in the early factories in
England

1. The Social Welfare Period (18751918)

 At this juncture Indian humanitarians, like Shorabjee Shapurji

Bengali (1875) and N.M. Lokhanday (1884), who were
themselves factory workers drew attention of the Government
towards deplorable conditions in the factories and demanded
an early legislation to protect the interest of the labours
At the same time, the Lancashire interests too forced the
British Govt. to restrict the employment of women and child
labour in Indian industries, not on any humanitarian basis, but
on the ground of their own protection from cheap Indian
goods

The workers, who were for the most part the

villagers, endeavoured to improve their lot
by working in the factories. They were
submissive and unorganized

 The Factory Commission in 1875, the Factories Act 1881,

the investigation of Meade Moore (1874), the Second
Bombay Factory Commission (1884), the workers
meeting organized in Bombay in 1884, and the mass
meeting in Bombay on April 21, 1890 which was
attended by about 10,000 workers and the submission to
the Govt of a memorial signed by about 17,000 workers
were the important events
The memorial demanded: (i) a complete day of rest every
Saturday; (ii) half an hours rest at noon;

Accordingly the Indian Factories Act was passed

in 1881, and then amended in 1891 and 1911, which
suggested shorter working hours and conditions
of work for children and women

 The mill owners agreed to grant a weekly holiday to

workers
Encouraged by this success Lokhanday formed Bombay
Millhands Association in 1890 with the purpose to
provide a clearing house for the grievances of mill
workers and to draw public attention to the cause of
labour
This was the first union in India and Lokhanday , who
also published the Dinbandhu, a working class newspaper,
earned the title of being the first trade unionist of India
(iii) working hours no longer than 6:30 pm at sunset; (iv) the
payment of wages not later than the 15th of every month; and (v)
payment to injured workers and compensation until they
recovered

 The objective of these associations were to promote

welfare activities, spread literacy among the factory
workers and redress grievances through peaceful and
constitutional methods. As such they were not trade
unions but associations
Between 1904 and 1911, there was a remarkable
advance in the organization of the labour movement.
A strike in Bombay Mills, a series of strikes in the
railways (especially in the Eastern Bengal Railways),
in the railway workshop, and in the Govt press in
Calcutta occurred prominently
Several other unions such as the Amalgamated
Society of Railway Servants of India and Burma, the
Printers Union of Calcutta, the Bombay Postal
Union, etc were started later

 This strike highlighted the beginning of political consciousness

of workers, which was affected by the political scenario of that
time, e.g. the partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi movement of
1905
The most noticeable features of 1875 to 1918 were:
1. Complete absence of radicalism in the labour movement. The
methods used were of petition, memorials and seeking redress of
grievances
2. The movement depended greatly on external philanthropy
with the motto of sympathy rather than justice; it became a
movement for the worker and not by the worker

A remarkable event of 6-day political strike in

Bombay in 1908 against the sentence of 6-years
imprisonment of Lokmanya B.G. Tilak for offence
of sedition

 4. There was little conception of permanent trade union

membership or organized collective bargaining

5. The movement developed mostly among the educated class
of workers such as the postal clerks and the railway employees
6. The early leadership was provided by three types of persons:
first, intellectuals such as lawyers, reformers, editors, teachers
and preachers; second, the careerists, who used the movement
to serve their own ends; and third, the politicians and
nationalists like B. P. Wadia, M. Vararadarajulu Naidu, B. Shiv
Tao, Annie Besant, and B.G. Tilak

3. Most of the organizations were unstable and of

loose type, as they lacked definite aims and
objectives; once the grievance was settled the
organization would disband itself

 The year 1918 was an important one for the Indian trade
union movement. It was due to:
(i) The industrial unrest that grew up as a result of grave
economic difficulties created by the World War I. The
rising cost of living prompted the workers to demand
reasonable wages by resorting to collective action
(ii) The Swaraj movement intensified the demand for
racial equality with the Britishers

2. Early Trade Union Period (19181924)

 (iv)The establishment of the I. L. O. in 1919, gave

dignity to the working class and also to send a delegation
in its annual conference
(v) Immediately after the war many Indian soldiers (who
previously belonged to the working class) in the British
army were demobilized and forced into labour market.
They saw the stark difference with the British workers.
By 1920 a genuine proletariat thus emerged in India

(iii) The success of the Russian

Revolution of 1917 created a revolutionary
wave and class-consciousness

 During this time many unions were formed but the

Madras Textile Union was the first union in the
modern sense. It was formed in 1918 by B. P. Wadia.
Three factors were responsible for its formation:
(i) Extremely short interval for mid-day meal
(ii) Frequent assaults on workers by the European
assistants, and
(iii) Inadequate wages in the face of rapidly rising
prices

(vi)The non-cooperation movement by

M. K. Gandhi during 1920-1921
influenced the trade unionism

 The union was successful in getting the mid-day interval

extended to an hour
A co-operative and a library were opened for the general
upliftment of the workers. Altogether 17 new unions were
formed during 1917-1919.
In 1920, a Spinners Union as well as a Weavers Union were
formed at Ahmedabad at the initiative of Mahatma Gandhi. In
the same year the Textile Labour Association was also
formed by Gandhiji, which adopted the ideology of Truth and
Non-violence as its means to get the demands fulfilled

This union adopted collective bargaining and

used trade unionism as a weapon for classstruggle

 This Meeting resulted in the formation of All India Trade

Union Congress (AITUC) under the chairmanship of Lala
Lajpat Rai. It had the support of all National leaders
Within a short-time the total number of unions affiliated
to AITUC rose to 125 with a membership of 2.5 lakhs
It is estimated that between 2.5 and 5 lakh workers were
organized into trade union at this time. After 1919 trade
unionism spread to centers other than Madras,
Ahmedabad and Bombay

On October 30, 1920 representatives of 64

trade unions with a membership of 140,854
met in Bombay

3. Left-Wing Unionism Period (1924-1934)

In 1924 a violent and long-drawn-out strike by unions
led to the arrest, prosecution, conviction and
imprisonment of many communist leaders
This led to the emergence of left-wing trade unions
By 1927 the left united 57 unions with a membership of
155,555. The factors that helped left-wing unions:
(i) The growth of anti-imperialist national movement
(ii) The brutal violence such as Jalianwala Bagh firing

The workers organizations sprang mainly

in jute and cotton textiles, in the railways
and in transport sector

 By 1926-1927 workers and peasants parties sprang up and in

1928 an All India Workers and Peasants Party was formed
Many trade unions opted for left-wing membership, which
resulted in a large number of strikes. In 1928, the total number
of lost man-days rose to 316 lakhs
The Communists organized the cotton mill workers of
Bombay into Girni Kamgar Union (Left flag) and the workers
of the G.I.P. Railways into GIP Railwaymens Union. These
two unions had the membership of 54,000 and 45,000
workers respectively

(iii) Phenomenal profits earned by the

capitalists

 The Rightists preferred its affiliation to the

International Federation of Trade Unions, Amsterdam
Moderates under the leadership of N. M. Joshi and
the representatives of 24 unions seceded from the
AITUC saying that the control and direction of the
new majority in the Executive Council will be
fundamentally opposed to the genuine interests of the
working class. They formed a separate union- the All
India Trade Union Federation (AITUF)

The Leftists demanded that the AITUC be

affiliated to the Third International (the
League Against Imperialism-Moscow)

 In 1931 another rift occurred in AITUC at the Calcutta

session due to fundamental differences between the
communists and the left wing unionists.
The Communists led by B. T. Randive and S. V.
Deshpande formed the Red Trade Union Congress
Thus at the beginning of the thirties, there were three
unions (i) the AITUC, led by the militant nationalists; (ii)
the AITUF, led by the Congress nationalists and
moderates; and (iii) the RUTC, consisting of orthodox
communists which wanted a dictatorship of the proletariat

This split reduced the strength of AITUC from 51

affiliated unions with a membership of 9 lakhs to
21 unions with a membership of 94,000

 The initiative for unity of trade unions was taken by the

All-India Railwaymens Federation by forming a Trade
Union Unity Committee in 1932, which adopted the
following platform of unity:
A trade union is an organ of class-struggle; its basic
task is to organise the workers for advancing and
defending their rights and interests. Negotiations,
representations and other methods of collective
bargaining must remain an integral part of the trade
union activities

4. Trade Unions Unity Period (19351938)

 The AITUF and the railway unions amalgamated

themselves with the NFL under the name of the National
Trade Union Federation (NTUF)
The AITUC and the RTUC were however aloof
The division in the Indian labour was proving very costly
for the Indian working class. In 1933, more than 50,000
workers in Bombay were thrown out of job. By 1934
almost every mill in Bombay reduced wages substantially
The total man-days lost in 1934 were 47.7 lakhs as against
21.7 lakhs in 1933

The final decision was taken in Delhi in

1933, when National Federation of Labour
(NFL) was formed to facilitate unity

 The unity efforts of trade unions were synchronised by a

popular upheaval of 1937 general elections
The Indian National Congress approached the workers
with the pledge that it would endeavour: To secure to the
industrial workers a decent standard of living, hours of
work and conditions of labour in conformity, as far as
economic conditions of the country permit, with the
international standards, suitable machinery for the
settlement of the disputes between employers and
workmen

In 1935, the RTUC was merged into the

AITUC

 There was a new upsurge of industrial unrest. In the year 1937,

there occurred 379 strikes which involved 6.47 lakh workers, with
a loss of 89.82 lakh man-days
The number of trade unions increased from 271 in 1936-1937 to
562 in 1938-1939 and membership rose from 2.61 lakhs to 3.99
lakhs
Through the efforts of V. V. Giri the path of unity was paved in
1938 in Nagpur when the AITUC accepted the conditions of
merger as laid down by the NTUF
Thus, after 9 years of split trade unions unity emerged and AITUC
again became the sole representative of the organised labour class

As a result of this alluring manifesto, the

Congress won the elections in 7 states and
a big change occurred

 In September 1939, the Second World War broke out As a result

a large number of trade unionists led by the members of the
Radical Democratic Party (M.N. Roy, J. Mehra, Miss Maniben
Kara, and V. B. Karnik) were of the opinion that AITUC should
support and participate in the anti-fascist war led by Britishers
An equally large number supported by S. C. Bose and others
were opposed to that view
Hence a rift took place in 1941 and the radicals left the AITUC
with nearly 200 unions with a membership of 300,000 and
formed the Indian Federation of Labour

5. Second World War Period (19391945)

 The IFL grew very rapidly and by 1944, it claimed 222

unions with a membership of 407,773 workers
The shifts in the national political situation affected the trade
union activities. Two developments of significance during
this period were the German invasion of Russia in June 1941
and intensification of Indian independence struggle in 1942
When Hitler invaded Russia, the communists abandoned
their policy of opposition of war and declared their support
for the Great Britain. As a result communist leaders were
released from jail

In 1942, The Government recognised this

Federation as an organ representing Indian
labour class

 This resulted in dwindling of non-communist strength in the AITUC

, which fell into the hands of the communists
During the war-time union activities got enhanced by:
(a) the launching of labour welfare measures by the Govt. as well as
employers with a view to increase the production of war materials;
(b) the recognition of trade unions by many employers;
(c) ban on strikes and lockouts during war under Defence of India
rules; and
(d) convening of a tripartite labour conference in 1942 for the first
time to provide a common platform for discussion between labour
and the employers

By August 1942, the political situation was

so charged that a large number of
Congressites and Socialists were arrested

 In 1944 the Chief Commissioner of Labour reported that

AITUC was becoming more representative of labour
class with 456,000 as against 407,773 of IFL
In 1947, 601 unions were affiliated to AITUC with a
membership of nearly 8 lakhs
The impact of the Second World War on the trade union
activity was tremendous. One great change was in the
ability of trade union leaders to engage in negotiations
with the employers and in the tripartite deliberations

During war-time, trade union strength grew

from 420 in 1937-38 to 865 in 1944-45; and the
membership from 3.90 lakhs to 8.89 lakhs

 In May, 1947 a new union-INTUC (Indian National Trade

Union Congress) was formed by the Hindustan Mazdoor
Sewak Sangh, with G. L. Nanda as its secretary. It was a
pro-Gandhi wing in the Congress
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, while addressing a labour rally
exhorted the workers to do away with the AITUC, which
was taken over by the Communists, and join the INTUC
The Textile Labour Association of Ahmedabad supported
INTUC with 55,000 workers. The membership of INTUC
was 575,000 at that time

6. The Post-Independence Period (1947

to-date)

 INTUC grew rapidly in strength and AITUC, which for the last
30 years had been the voice of labour, lost its premier position
When the Socialist group broke away from the Congress in
1948 and formed a new Praja Socialist Party, the socialist
leaders seceded from INTUC and formed a new union Hind
Mazdoor Panchayat (HMP), which later became Hind
Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) when Indian Federation of Labour
joined it
A group of left-wing unionists formed yet another
organization, United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) in 1949

The INTUC joined the International

Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
as an affiliate

 In 1958 a similar attempt to unite INTUC and HMS also failed.

However, in 1958 the HMS and UTUC reached an agreement to
create a joint front against the AITUC, which was making inroads
in their membership
In 1959 a few unions led by the members of the Socialist party,
seceded from the HMS and formed Hind Mazdoor Panchayat
At the time of the Chinese aggression, the INTUC and HMS
attacked the AITUC for its communist ideology
There was a rift in AITUC in 1970 when the communists divided
into CPI and CPM; AITUC went with CPI and CPM started a new
organization- Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU)

In 1953 a joint meeting of the AITUC and

UTUC for merger was held, but the
negotiations failed

 Unlike England, the trade unions in India have

been allied- the hand-maids- to one or the other
political party.
Trade union rivalries have become more sharp in
free India
Though the status the unions have gained, they
have been able to influence public policy, labour
and industrial legislation
Present Scenario of the Trade Union
Movement

 At present there are thirteen Central Trade Unions, 5 of which,

namely INTUC (20.8%), HMS (16.7%), BMS (15.7%),
AITUC (11.4%), and CITU (9.2%), account for nearly 75% of
total membership
Besides these, there are some registered federations of unions
in various industries, which are not affiliated to any central
body, such as the All India Bank Employees Association,
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen, All-India Port and
Dock Workers Federation, National Federation of Post and
Telegraph Workers, All-India Mine Workers Association,
Indian Federation of Working Journalists, etc.

The Central Trade Unions