092_trade unionism and industrial disputes-dr

8/8/2019 092_trade Unionism and Industrial Disputes-dr

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TRADE UNIONISM AND INDUSTRIALDISPUTES:INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

Dr. Pardeep Singh Walia

Associate Professor in CommerceGovernment College for Girls

Sector-11, Chandigarh (India)


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Trade unions Trade unions are important players in todays

industrialized world. The industrial relations atmosphere of any

industry depends heavily on trade union activism. Now-a-days the trade union movement is no

longer solely a movement for advancing claims

as a movement seeking to increase the materialwell being of its members but has grown into aforce which not only defends the political, socialand cultural interests of its members but alsocarries out special tasks affecting enterprisingand intellectual workers especially with regard totheir career, jobs, salaries, paid holidays,vocational training, recreational and healthimprovement programmes etc.


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It is observed that the concept of trade

unionism has been influencing a largesection of categories of workers.

Not only workers in large and medium-

scale industrial establishment but evenwhite collar workers, supervisory andmanagement personnel have also beenacting in a concerted way through theirtrade unions or associations.


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Employees and supervisory and managementpersonnel are extremely well-organized in theirrespective trade unions in public sector industrial,banking and financial institutions.

In fact, trade unions in public sector undertakingsappear to be very powerful and with enormousbargaining power happen to enjoy a dominating

position. Role of trade unions in making policies at the

plant, industry and even at the national level isgrowing in recent years and powerful trade unions

as in the case of textile, railways, banking, postand telegraphs, insurance etc., have been exertinggreat pressure not only at the lower levels but alsoat the national level, in formulating policies thataffect them.


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Trade unions in its modern sense, in India,can be discussed in two phases :

PRE-INDEPENDENCE (Before 1947)

POST-INDEPENDENCE (After 1947)


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PRE-INDEPENDENCE PHASE In ancient India, there were well-developed, efficiently organized

and very active craftsmens guilds, which persisted well into the 18thcentury or even later.

Each important craft textiles, black-smithy, gold-smithy, pottery,carving etc. had its own guild and that guild regulated the hours ofwork of craftsmen, apprenticeship system, quality and quantity ofgoods to be produced prices at which they were to be sold andmarkets to sell them.

Trade unions are essentially the product of modern large scaleindustry which was taking root in the later half of nineteenth century.It was an era of society, which did not have the latter, did not havethe former, neither was there any need for them.

But before the unions were actually formed there were some earlierattempts, no doubt isolated and ephemeral, at articulating theprotest of workers and giving expression to their demand forlessening the rigors of industrial life.

However till late 19th century the workers had no trade unions.


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From 1875 to 1884, the two philanthropists namelySorbji Shapurji Bengali and N.M. Lokhande, played amagnificent role in laying the foundation of organizedlabour movement in India.

The first workers meeting was convened in 1884. Many other friendly societies cropped up, such as the

Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India andBurma (1897), the Printers Union of Calcutta (1905), theBombay Postal Union (1907) the Kamgar Hit WardhakSabha (1909) and the Social Service League (1910) etc.

These organizations were largely sectarian in characterand could not raise their voice against the employers.

Strikes and lockout were not so widespread in Indiabefore the First World War (1914-18).

The first strike was reported to have taken place in 1914in Bombay mill on account of the arrest of Lok ManyaTilak a well known leader of those days.


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The Russian Revolution in 1917 had a greatimpact on the workers movement world widebecause it was a revolution against thecapitalism.

International Labor Organization (ILO) wasestablished in 1919. It was a tripartite body and

for the first time there was a representative ofworkers in this organization. India is a foundermember of ILO.

The real mile stone in the history of Indian trade

union movement is the formation of first union bythe workers of Madras Textile Factory in 1918,under the presidentship of the Sh. B.P. Wadia.


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The period between 1919 and 1923 saw thebeginning of trade union movement in India. TheFirst World War was over and there was a

depression in the socio-economic life of thepeople. It marked the start of a new era, an era of growth

and one in which the leadership of the trade

unions was to pass from the hands of socialworkers into the hands of politicians. Thereafter, the workers organizations sprang up

all over India, particularly in the jute and cottontextiles, railways, sea ports and transport

workers in general. During the period ending 1925, the number of

unions increased nearly four-fold


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The period between 1926-1939 is refereed toas a period of disunity among labour unions bymany researchers and during this period some

violent and strong strikes occurred.

The period from 1936 to 1939 witnessed aphenomenal increase in the number of

registered trade unions and their membership.

In 1936-1937 there were 272 unions which rose

to 562 in 1938-39.

POST INDEPENDENCE PERIOD


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POST INDEPENDENCE PERIOD The period immediately preceding independence and

succeeding independence of India (1947) saw thepolitical leaders of different political ideologies vying for

having a separate and their own labor wing. The Indian National Congress which was the strongestpolitical party formed the Indian National Trade UnionCongress (INTUC) in May 1947.

The year 1964 saw division of communists movement

into two political parties the Communist Party of Indian(CPI) and Communist Party of India Marxists (CPM). This 70s saw an upsurge in the unionism of white-collar

workers. With the rapid growth of tertiary sector and

Governments commitment to give employment toeducated unemployed, there was a phenomenalincrease in the white collar workers In industrialenterprises, the white collar workers, mostly joined thealready existing unions of the blue-collar workers.


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Whereas in the institutions, insurancecompanies, educational institutions,

hospitals, etc. new unions were formed. The various five year plans of Government

of India further boosted the growth of trade

unions.


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Presently, there are 68,544 registered TradeUnions in India with 6.9 Millions active membersand average membership of 893

The five major trade unions which account forabout 75 per cent of total membership of allthe trade union membership in India are asfollows:

1. Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) isaffiliated to the Indian National Congress (I)

2. HMS (Hind Mazdoor Sabha) at one time affiliated tothe Socialist Party of India

3. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha (BMS) is affiliated to theBharatiya Janta Party

4. All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)5. Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU)


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Industrial Disputes:The causes of industrial disputes are many: psychological, political and

economic. Three widely recognized classifications are:1. income

2. employment; and3. technical changes.

The labor Bureau, India, has classified the causes as:1. Wage and allowance2. Bonus3. Personnel and retrenchment4. Leave and hours of work5. Indiscipline and violence and others.

It is not possible to find out one single important cause of an

industrial dispute because a dispute is the culmination of manycauses some visible and others not so visible. An analysis of the causes of industrial disputes reveals that

wages, allowances and bonus have been the most importantcauses of industrial disputes in India


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Industrial Disputes The industrial relations in India have been far

from cordial. There has been increasing

discontent among workers culminating in strikes,lockouts, work stoppages, mass absenteeism,violence and other forms of industrial unrest. Asa result, millions of mandays are lost every year.

The number of industrial disputes (strike +lockouts), number of workers involved in thesedisputes and the loss of time in the form ofmandays lost from 1921 to 2002 is on theincreasing trend.

The mandays lost due to lockouts were 1.95millions in 1961, 4.74 million in 1971 and 15.38millions in 1981. It rose to 22.50 millions in 1982and 26.58 million in 2002.


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In the new industrial system, the employers wanted tomaximize their profits and lost sight of all otherconsiderations. They started treating their employees as acommodity for price. On the other hand, the employeeswanted to get the maximum share in profit earned by theemployer by using their labour and skills.

That gave rise to the conflict of interests betweenemployers who wishes to buy labour cheap and workers

who wish to sell their services dear. Both the parties organized themselves into trade unions

and trade associations with a view to protect and promotetheir interests.

Thus came into existence the problem of industrialrelations which is concerned with the finding of ways andmeans of reconciling the conflicting interests in industry.

As a result, a number of formal institutions for theprevention and settlement of industrial disputes have been

established in all the industrialized societies.


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FIGURE 1.1

NUMBER OF WORKERS INVOLVED IN STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS (in Thousands)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Number

WORKERS INVOLVED IN STRIKES WORKERS INVOLVED IN LOCKOUTS

1993 1994 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2003 2005 2007


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FIGURE 1.2

MANDAYS LOST DUE TO STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS (in Millions)

0

5

10

15

20

25

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Number

MANDAYS LOST DUE TO STRIKES MANDAYS LOST DUE TO LOCKOUTS

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2003 2005 2007


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SOME RECENT TRENDS IN TRADEUNION MOVEMENT IN INDIA

White-collar workers have formed very powerfultrade union organizations in recent years.

Trade unions in public sector undertakingsappear to be very powerful and with an

enormous bargaining power. in large industrial establishments, there is not

just one trade union but two or some timesthree, owing allegiance to the different political

parties in the country. Politicizing of trade unions have resulted in inter-

union and intra-union rivalries in the trade unionmovement in India.


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It is observed that functions of many tradeunions are becoming diversified.

Trade union bodies today are undertakingeducational, recreational and healthimprovement programmes

Role of trade unions in making policies atthe plant, industry and even at the nationallevel is growing.


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092_trade unionism and industrial disputes-dr

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