Trade Union Movementin India
TRADE UNION MOVEMENTIN INDIA
Labour Movement or Trade Union Movement "
The labour movement and trade unions are used synonymously. But that is not so, as labour movement is conceived as "All of the organised activity of wage-earners to better their own conditions either immediately or in the more, or less distant future.”. Accordingto, Prof. Cole, Labour movement implies in some degree, a community of outlook,it is an organisation, or rather many forms of organisations based upon the sense of a common status and a common need for mutual help. It emerges from a common need to serve a common interest, "It seeksto develop among workers a spirit of combination, class-consciousness and solidarity of interestand arouses a consciousness, for self-respect, rights and duties. It creates organization or organizations for their self-protection, safeguarding of their common interest and betterment of their social and economic position. A trade union is an essential basis of a labour movement for without it thelabour movement cannot exist, because trade unions are the principal schools in which the workers learn the lesson of self-reliance and solidarity."
Often there is to be found a lot of confusion on the use of the word labour movement and'trade union movement'. However, there is a slight distinction between the two. The labourmovement is "for the worker", whereas the trade union movement is "by the worker". Thisdistinction needs to'benoted all the more because tillthe workers organised themselves into trade unions, efforts were made, mainly by the social reformers, to improve the working and living conditions of labour. These efforts should be taken as forming a part of the 'labour movement'and not that of the trade union movement. In India, the labour movement started from 1875,when a number of measures through legislation, administration and welfare work, were taken bythe government, the social workersand the enlightened employers. The trade union movementon the other hand, started after 1918, when the workers formed their associations to improve theirconditions. It is, thus, a part of the 'labour movement'. which is a much wider term.
Why the Trade Union Movement?
The main elements in the development of trade unions of workers in every country havebeen more or less the same. The setting up of large-scale industrial units, create conditions ofwidespread use of machinery, new lines of production and brought about changes in workingand living environment of workers, and concentration of industries in large towns. All of thesedevelopments introduced a new class of workers (that is, wage-earners) who were dependent onwages for their livelihood. They were at a disadvantage in an 'age when the doctrine of laisse faireheld the field.In the absence of collective action, they were ruthlessly exploited, and had to work hard for unbelievably long hours, from sunrise to sunset, in dark and dingy factories and under very tiring conditions and the protest by indiv1dualworkers could have no effect on the employers because of the plentiful supply of labour. The workers had, therefore, to join together, at least to maintain, if not to improve, their bargaining power against the employers. Where joint action was inadequate, the practice which workers evolved was joint withdrawal fromwork. It was this labour protest on an organised scale, through the support of some philanthropic personalities. That organised labour unions came to be formed.
Growth and Development of the Trade Union Movement
The growth and development of. the labour - movement , and for that part of the trade
unions, in India, can be divided into following periods, each of them revealing different tendencies that mark it from others.
1. Social Welfare period( From 1875 to 1918)-
2. Early Trade Union period ( From 1918 to 1924) -
3. Left- Wing Trade Unionism period ( From 1924 to 1934)-
4. Trade Union Unity Period ( From 1935 to 1938)
5. Second World War ( From 1939 to 1945)
6. Post Independence period ( From 1947 to date)
7. Present scenario-
SOCIAL WELFARE PERIOD (1875 TO 1918)
The development' of 'industries led, to large-scale production on the one hand and social evilslike 'employment and exploitation of women and child labour and the deplorable. workingconditions, the government attitude of complete indifference in respect of protection of labourfrom such evils; on the others Some of the worst features of industrialism marked the history ofearly factory system in India. In certain respects, conditions of labour in Indian factories wereworse than in the early factories in England. Unfortunately there was no effective public opinionwhich could represent the sufferings of the working class. "The workers who were for the mostpart villagers endeavoring to improve their position by a temporary alliance to industry' weresubmissive and unorganised; and if conditions became too distasteful, the natural remedy was nota strike but abandonment by individuals of the mill or of industry generally or "they migratedto other industrial centres or went back to their villages. There was no attempt at collectivebargaining or at obtaining 'redress through concerted action." It was at this juncture that theIndian humanitarians, like Sorabjee Shapurji Bengali (1875) and N.M. Lokhanday (in 1884) whothemselves were factory workers, drew attention of the government towards the unhappy working. conditions of the labourers and demanded an early legislation to protect their interests. At the same time, the Lancashire interests also forced the British government to restrict the employmentof women and child labour in Indian industries, not on any humanitarian ground, but on theground of their own protection from cheap Indian goods. Accordingly the Indian Factories Actwas passed in 1881, and then am2nded in 1891 and 1911, respectively. These Acts introducedsome improvements in regard to shorter hours, and conditions of work for children and womenlabour.
The labour movement in India, rather, started very late, though the history of modemindustrialism in India began as early as 1850. The Factory Commission in (1875), the FactoriesAct (1881), the investigation of Meade Moor (in 1874), the second Bombay Factory Commissionin (1884), the workers' meeting organised in Bombay (in 1884) and the submission by them ofa memorial to the Second Bombay Factory Commission, and investigationof Jones (a Lancashirefactory inspector and the holding of a mass meeting in Bombay (on April 21, 1890) which wasattended by about 10,000workersand the submission to the government of another memorialsigned by about 17,000 workers were the important events which nursed the infant labourmovement.
The memorial demanded:
(i)a complete day of rest every Saturday;
(ii)half an hour's rest at noon;
(iii)working hours no longer than 6.30 p.m., which should cease at sunset;
(iv)the payment of wages not later than the 15th of the month in which they were earned;
(v)payment to injured workers until they recovered together with suitable compensation, if they are permanently disabled. The year 1884 can legitimately be regarded as the beginning of the labour .movement.
The mill owners agreed to grant a weekly holiday to workers. Encouraged by this success,Bombay Mill hands Association was formed in 1890 by N.M. Lokhanday. The purpose was to provide a clearing house for the grievances of mill workers and to help in drawing public attention to the cause of labour. This was the first union in India which earned for its founder the title of being the "first trade unionist" of the country. He also published Dinbhandhu, a working newspaper, to place before the authorities and the employers, the legitimate grievances ofworkers. In subsequent years a number of unions were formed, such as: (a) The AmalgamatedSociety of Railway .servants of India and Burma for European and Anglo-Indian railwayemployees) to cater to their economic needs, through mutual insurance schemes .The Printers'Union of Calcutta, 1905; the Bombay Postal Union, as also at Calcutta and Madras 1907;theKamgar Hitwardha Sabha, 1909; and the Social Service League, 1910. These associations,wereloose organizations, more than for workers. The leaders were primarily social reformers belongingto the moderate schools of politics. The Sathyashodhak Samaj in Maharashtra; the non-Brahminmovement in Madras, ,the Theosophical Society in Madras, and Brahmo Samaj in.Calcutta wereother early associations of workers which took philanthropic interest in the general masses.The objectives, of these associations were to promote welfare activities, spread literacyamong the factory workers and redressed grievances through constitutional methods. Theseassociations were not trade unions. They attempted to ameliorate the working conditions of thefactory workers in their own limited sphere of activities. These different associations were notaffiliatedto any central organization or federation. They only focused public attention to thenecessity of improving the working conditions in the factories and laid foundations for the establishment of trade unions, which came into existence after the First World War. During thistime, a number of employers organisations were also formed to safeguard their common interestswhich needed common action in respect of wages and conditions of work. The organizations thatwere formed during 1879-1881, were the Bombay and Bengal Chambers of Commerce; theBombay MillOwners' Association; the Calcutta TradersAssociation; the British Indian Association. The Indian Jute Manufacturers Association and the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Theassociations of employers had one common objective in view, namely, to run factories in such amanner as to ensure a maximum return on their investment. Hence, they did not favour anyaction which could lead to reduction in profit. They, therefore, adopted strong attitude towardsthe recurrence of strikes. In many factories in Bombay, the usual practice of the employers wasto dismiss the persons striking and to forfeit the wages of such workers. Being short lived, these associationdid not enjoy any continuity and were disbanded as their immediate demands were met.
The movement received a setback on the death of the twopioneers and nothing remarkablehappened during the succeeding years. However, during the first decade of the 20thcentury there was some spurt iil the movement. Giri observes that "between 1904 and 1911,there was a remarkable advance in the organisation of the labour movement. A.strike inBombay mills, a series of strikes in railways (specially in the Eastern Bengal Railways), in therailways workshop, and in the government press in Calcutta occurred prominently Theclimaxin the labour movement was reached with the 6-day political mass strike in Bombay in 1908against the sentence of 6 years imprisonment of Lokmanya Bal .Gangadhar Tilak for offence of sedition. Thisstrike highlighted the beginnings of the political consciousness ofthe Indianworking class. But trade unions in India had yet confined, by and large, to the upper ranks of theworkingclass, i.e European and Anglo Indian railwaymen and government employees trade unionism in the organised industrywas anything but local, loose and sporadic in character.
The political factors associated with the partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi Movement of1905 also helped the movement. However, two factors were responsible for the slow steady growth of the 'movement, namely, the slow and gradual proletarisation and the weakness anddisability of the Indian working class.
The labour movement till 1918" was strictly constitutional and relied mainly on moderate
methods such as investigations, memoranda, petitions; legal enactments, committees and commissions.
The most noticeable features' of the period, 1875-1918 - were:
(1) Complete absence of radicalism in the labour movement. The methods used by the
workers were characterised by a tendency to petition, memorials and seek redress of grievances by mild pressure.
These methods reflect the influence of leaders likeNaryan Meghajee Lokhanday, ShapurjeeBengali, S.N. Baneijee, and others who were all political moderates and law abiding persons.They were rather social workers desirous to serve the society through amelioration. "With thesecharacteristics," writes Punekar, "the labour movement could hardly tackle such problems asexcessive hours of work, few holidays, irregular payment of wages, incompetency of millmanagers, inadequate fencing of machinery and the ill-ventilated and filthy state of many workplaces.
(2) The movement depended greatly on external philanthropy. "Philanthropic agitation was the fore-runner of labour movement in India and having originated in philanthropy its motive force was sympathy rather than justice. Born of philanthropy. It was a movement for the workers rather than by the workers.
(3) Most of the organisations were unstable and of loose type, as they lacked definite aims and constitution. Once the particular grievance was settled the association would disband.
(4) There was little conception of permanent trade union membership, 'the payment –dues
or organised collective bargaining. About the Bombay Mills and Association, Dutt observed,"The Association has no existence as an organised body, having no roll or membership. no funds,no rule..."
(5) The movement developed mostly among the educated class of workers such as the postalclerks and railway employees. It, however. did not make much progress in organised industrieslike textiles, mining and plantations.
(6) The early leadership wasprovided by three types of persons. First, intellectuals suchas lawyers, reformers, editors, teachers and preachers, who readily came forward to organise andlead the workers. Second, the careerists, who saw in the needs of workers opportunities forfurthering their own ends, jumped in masquerading as labour leaders.The third group fromwhich labour leaders emerged consisted of politicians and nationalists like B.P. Wadia, V.V. Giri,M. Vardarajulu Naidu, B. Shiv Rao, Annie Besant and B.G. Tilak, N.M. Joshi.
According to Pandey. the importantfactors which have helped in the emergenceand growthof the industrial labour movement are:
(1) While the economic hardships of workers have been present as a latent force. Theimpetus for the growth of labour movement is provided by the major political currents,particularly movement for 'national independence.
(2) The failure of workers' initial attempts to organise led them to seek the help of.philanthropists and socialworkers togenerally came from classeshigher in economicand social status.
Thus. the main characteristics of these early efforts of forming labourassociations was theirlack of continuous organanisation. These associationsexisted but they were not an organic growth out of the working class. Workers supported their association when it suited them such as during, strikes or in order to get benefits from welfare activities. Otherwise they ignored the associations. Hence, they were usually weak.
The entire period" on the whole; has beendivided into -two: first, the Regulation Period
(1875-1891), when the child and women labour in factories was,regulated by legislation. such asthe Factories Acts of 1881, and 1891; second, the Abolition PeHod (1891-1917) when asuccessful protest was made against the indentured system under which Indian labourers weresent out to British colonies to work as plantation labour.
By some, this entire period has been termed as the period of temporary organisations and
a period of labour movement rather than that of the trade union movement because during thisperiod a number of loose organisations and social service agencies or welfare societies came tobe set up.
(2) EARLY TRADE UNION PERIOD (1918-1924)
The year 1918 was an important one for the Indian trade union movement. "It marked the
start of a new era, an era of growth and one in which the leadership of the trade unions was topass from the hands of the social wor!(ersinto the hands of the politicians. The movement couldtake permanent roots 'in the Indian soil only afte: the close of World War I.This situation wasdue to
i)The industrial unrest that grew up as a result of grave economic difficultiescreated by
war. The rising cost of living prompted the workers to demand reasonable wagesfor whichpurpose they united to take resort to collectiveaction.
(ii)The Swaraj movement intensified themovement, widened the gulf between the employers and the employees and brought about amass awakening among the workers demanding racial equality with their British employers. Thenew consciousness produced restlessness, discontent, a spirit of definance as well as a new idealand aspirations.
(iii) The success of the Russian Revolution of 1917 created a revolutionarywave of ideas and a new self-respect and enlightenment, and added momentum to the feeling ofclass-consciousness among labourers.
(iv)The establishment of the I.L.O., in 1919, gave dignityto the working class and also an opportunity to send a delegation to the annual conference of thisbody. It was from this body that labour movement in various countries derived their inspiration,help and guidance.
(v) Immediately after the war many Indian soldiers (who previously belongedto the working class) in the British army were demobilized and forced into the labour market.These ex-soldiers who had seen workers and the working conditions in Europe .found thatWestern workers enjoyed better conditions of livingbecause of their greater solidarity and of moreopportunities available tothem but Indian workers were denied these opportunities. By 1920,a large class of genuineproletariat developed. Hence, these were new' opportunities for thecreationof trade unions.
(vi)The non co-operative movement of Gandhiji during 1920-21andhis support to the demands of industrial labour also greatly influenced theworking class movement.
At ,about this time: many unions were formed, such as the Indian Seamen's Union both at
Calcutta and Mumbai, the Punjab Press Employees Association, the G.I.P. RailwayWorkersUnion, Bombay, M.S.M. Railwaymen's Union, Madras, the Madras Textile,Labour Onion, thePostmen and Port Trust Employees Union at Bombay and Calcutta, the Jamshedpur LabourAssociation, the Indian Colliery Employees' Association of Jharia, and the unions of employeesof various railways.
The MadrasTextileUnionwas the firstunion io the modern sense which wasformed in
1918 byB.P. Wadia. Three factors were responsible for its formation:
1.extremely short interval for mid-day meal,
2.frequent assaults on workers by the European assistants,
3.inadequate wages in the face of rapidly increasing prices.
This union adopted collective bargainingand used trade unionism as a weapon for class-struggle.The union was successful in getting themid-day interval extended to an hour. It also tried to bring about the upliftment of workers byopening a co-operative society and a library for its members. Altogether, 17 new unions wereformed between the end of 1917 and the end of 1919. 27In 1920, a Spinners' Union, as well asWeavers' Union, was formed at Ahmedabad at the initiative of Mahatma Gandhi.