Trade Unionism were taken by the Government, social reformers and enlightened employers.

However,
trade union movement can be said to have begun in 1918 when workers started to
form their own association to strengthen their existing conditions.
In many of the developed nations the trade union movement resulted with the process
of industrialisation. Similarly, development of trade union movement in India can also
be linked with the emergence and expansion of the large scale industries. With the
development of large scale industries many changes occurred in the working and living
environment of workers and created a number of new and complex problems. Many
of the factors like Introduction of machinery, new lines of production, concentration of
industries in certain big cities gave birth to a new class of wage earners and divided the
industrial society into capitalist and labourers or haves and have-nots
In the absence of any organization of workers and any form of protection from the
government, they were ruthlessly exploited and had to work and live in unbelievably
miserable conditions. Individual protests could have no effect on employers. As a
result of which, they realised the necessity to consolidate and unite themselves to protect
from the inhuman acts of the employers. They join hands to form trade unions and
started making protests on an organised scale. Thus, modern industrialization which
separated capital and labour, and resulted the loss of bargaining power on the part of
individual workers; prevalence of laissez-faire; and realization on the part of workers
of their collective indispensability inter alia were the factors which resulted the trade
union movement.

6.2 DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE UNIONS IN INDIA

In comparison to Great Britain and USA trade union movement is relatively recent in
its origin. It started hardly around hundred years back. By 1850s when trade unions
were emerging in Great Britain, industrialization was just beginning in India. However,
the industrial growth was slow and so also the trade union movement. Irrespective of
the number of modern industrial organizations in existence, one thing that was common
was the existence of deplorable and pathetic working and living conditions for the
workers during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
There were some sporadic protests by the industrial workers mostly in the textile mills
against the inhuman working and living conditions even in the absence of any formal
workers organization. There were some associations which emerged during the period
of 1890 to 1910. But these were mostly philanthropic or humanitarian organizations
working for welfare work for the industrial workers. However, with the growth of the
number of industries and so also the number of workers, gradually the awareness
among the workers started growing against the exploitation of the workers. This was
further strengthened by the spirit of nationalism. Thus, by the time of the First World
War, the stage in India was ready for the emergence of the trade union movement.
Subsequently the prevailing conditions during the war period, formation of the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) etc. paved the path for the formation of the
trade unions.
The Development of Trade Unions in India can be studied under the following stages:
I. Period up to First World War (from 1875 to 1918)
II. Between the Two Great Wars (1918-1938)
80
 III. During and After the Second World War (1939-1947) Development and Functions
of Trade Unions
IV. Post Independence Period (1947 to date)
I. Period up to First World War (from 1875 to 1918):
Consequent to the development of large scale industries, many social evils like
exploitation of labour including woman and child labour erupted in India. At the initial
stage the workers were not organised themselves. Hence, in general they had left
themselves at the mercy of the employers. The first concerted action was taken in
1875 under the leadership of Sorabji Shaparji who along with some social workers
started an agitation to draw the attention of the Government to the deplorable conditions
of woman and child labour in Indian industries. Though there were no trade unions,
one can find instances of strikes even in the last quarter of the 19th century. For example
in 1877, workers of The Empress Mills at Nagpur observed a strike over wage rates.
Organising the Labour Conference in 1884 in Bombay under the leadership of N.M.
Lokhande was an important incident during 1880s. A Memorandum was prepared
and submitted to the Second Factory Commission highlighting the poor conditions of
the workers. However, there was no improvement on the prevailing condition of labour.
As a result, a mass meeting was organised in Bombay in April, 1890 which was
estimated to have been attended by about 10,000 workers. A resolution was passed
in the meeting raising the following demands.
(i) Weekly off
(ii) Half an hour rest at noon
(iii) Reducing working hours
(iv) Payment of wages not later than 15th day of each month and
(v) Compensation to injuries sustained by a worker on duty.
The owners of the Textile Mills agreed to grant weekly holiday to the workers. Being
encouraged this achievement the Bombay Mill Hands Association was formed in 1890
by N.M. Lokhande. This was in no sense a trade union, but this can be considered to
be the starting point of the Indian labour movement. A newspaper under the name
“Dinabandhu” was started by N.M. Lokhande. The very purpose of starting the
newspaper was to place the legitimate grievances of the workers before the authorities
and to educate the workers about their rights and privileges. It was a memorable
achievement in the late 19th century having an impact throughout the country. During
the period from 1882 to 1890, two provinces namely, Bombay and Madras had
witnessed 24 strikes. Following the formation of the Bombay Mill Hands Association,
a number of unions were formed in different parts of the country as given below.
(a) The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India and Burma (for
European and Anglo-Indian railway employees);
(b) The Printers’ Union of Calcutta, 1905;
(c) The Bombay Postal Union at Calcutta and Madras, 1907;
(d) The Kamgar Hitbardhak Sabha, 1909; and
(e) The Social Service League, 1910.
81
Trade Unionism However, these were sporadic organisations and could not make any visible impact
on the trade union movement. The leaders of such organisations were primarily social
reformers and law abiding persons and belonged to moderate school of politics. The
objectives of these associations were primarily to promote welfare activities for the
workers. Hence, much similar to the Bombay Mill Hands Association these
associations in a true sense were not trade unions. Their efforts mostly were to bring
to the notice of the public the necessity of improving the working conditions in the
factories. These organizations though in true sense were trade unions, but they laid
the foundations for the establishment of trade unions, which came into existence
after the First World War.
II. Between the Two Great Wars (1918-1938):
After the First World War trade union movement got intensified. Trade unions in the
form of associations by the workers started emerging also witnessing a change in
leadership passing from the hands of social workers into the hands of the national
leaders some of whom were active in the freedom movement. This was also the period
which witnessed wide scale labour unrest all over the country. The factors responsible
for this situation were as follows:
(i) The grave economic difficulties created by the war resulted in an increased
trend of industrial unrest. The rising cost of living made the workers to take
collective action for the increase in their wages.
(ii) The Swaraj Movement, widening gulf between employers and employees
and mass awakening among the workers demanding racial equality with their
British employers further intensified the movement.
(iii) Emergence of a revolutionary wave of ideas, class consciousness and self-
respect among workers from the Russian Revolution 1917.
(iv) Establishment of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1919 giving
dignity to the workers all over the world..
(v) The non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi during 1920-21
and his support to the demands of working class also greatly influenced the
labour movement.
A Number of trade unions were formed around in 1920. Notable of them was Madras
Textile Labour Union formed under the leadership of B.P. Wadia in 1918. This was
followed by formation another 14 unions in different parts of the country during 1818-
19. Further, the active association of Mahatma Gandhi with the Ahmadabad Textile
Labour Association gave a new turn to the labour movement by applying the principle
of non-violence.
After the formation of the ILO, the government nominated delegates including the
workers representatives to the first Conference of ILO held in Washington in1919.
The workers’ nominations, however, were made by the government unilaterally without
consulting the then existing unions in the country. As a result, all the 64 the then existent
employees association with a membership of 1,40,854 met in Bombay and established
the All India trade Union Congress (AITUC) on 30th October, 1920 as a central
organisation of trade unions. Such a move got the support from a number of leaders
like, Sri Jawaharlal Nehru, Motilal Nehru, Guljari Lai Nanda, Sardar Vallabh Bhai
82 Patel, C.R. Das etc. of the All India Congress. The primary aim of forming the association
was to facilitate the selection of workers’ delegates to the ILO and also coordinating Development and Functions
of Trade Unions
the functions of individual trade unions.
In 1921 the ILO adopted a resolution which urged that the labour should be given full
freedom to form a union. This provided a great momentum to the trade unions in the
country. There was an increase in number of trade unions formed with enlarged
membership. As per the records of the AITUC published in 1925 there were 167
unions with a membership of around 2, 23 lakh in 1924. The enactment of the Trade
Union Act in 1926 paved the path for regulated trade unionism. It was a central law
which provided a legal status to the registered trade unions and conferred a measure of
immunity from civil suits and criminal prosecutions both on the unions and their members.
This also improved the image of trade unions in the public. The Act proved to be a
boon to trade unionism in India as a number of trade unions came into being following
the enactment of the Act.
Till 1929 AITUC was the only central Trade Union functioning in India. However,
because of some ideological differences in its Nagpur session held in 1929 there was
a split in the AITUC which resulted in the formation of All India Trade Union Federation
(AITUF) under the leadership of N.M. Joshi. With the formation of AITUF, the strength
of AITUC in terms of number of trade unions came down to 21 and total membership
around 94,000. Subsequently, in 1933 it was renamed as Nation Trade Union Federation
(NTUF). In the Calcutta session of the AITUC held in 1931, there was another rift
whereby the communist and the left wing unionists got themselves separated from the
main body to form separate union named as Red Trade Union Congress (RTUC) was
formed under the leadership of B.T. Ranadive and S.V. Deshpande.
Thus, by the early 1930s there were three central labour organisations i.e. AITUC,
AITUF and RTUC. There were some other independent organisations like the All
India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) and the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association
(ATLA). After the first split of AITUC, efforts were initiated by the Roy group to
restore unity among the trade unions. In this regard lead was taken by the AIRF which
was a neutral association. With its initiative a Trade Union Unity Committee was formed
in 1932 at its Bombay conference. Also with the efforts of AIRF, certain broad
conclusions were drawn which were agreeable to both AITUF and the AITUC.
The final decision was taken in 1933, when a new body was formed in the name of
the National Federation of Labour (NFL). The AITUF and the railway unions
amalgamated with the NFL forming a new union under the name National Trade
Union Federation (NTUF). The AITUC and the RTUC, however, were not concerned
with this development. The division in the labour movement breaking the unity of the
workers had an adverse effect on the workers. As reported, in 1933 more than
50,000 workers in Bombay city alone were thrown out of employment and there
was a drastic reduction in the wage rates. Under these circumstances, the period
was very critical and necessitated unity efforts among the trade unions. Consequently,
in 1935, the RTUC merged into the AITUC which was recognised by then as the
central organisation.
In 1938, there was another unity move through the efforts of V.V. Giri, in the AITUC
in its special session held at Nagpur. The NTUF was affiliated as a separate unit to the
AITUC. However, in 1940 the NTUF was dissolved and finally merged with AITUC.
Thus, Nagpur the venue where the first split in AITUC took place got itself sanctified
in 1940 by bringing back unity in the trade union movement. 83
Trade Unionism In 1937, there were general elections and the Indian National Congress pledged in its
manifesto that if it was voted to power, it would improve the conditions of workers. It
promised to improve their living standard, working conditions, and for providing security
against old age, sickness and unemployment. As a result of this alluring manifesto, the
Congress came to power in eight of the ten provinces where elections were held. With
the formation of the Congress ministries the workers hoped that the government will
look into their long standing demands and grievances as promised in the election
manifesto. Even prior to the formation of Congress ministries the trade union movement
had witnessed a spurt on the eve of the elections in 1937. It got further intensified after
the formation of the ministries with a big upsurge of industrial unrest culminating in big
strikes. In 1937, there were 379 strikes involving about 6.47 lakh workers and resulting
in a loss of about 89.82 lakh man days.
III. During and After the Second World War (1939-1947):
The Second World War which broke out in September 1939 made an impact on the
status in the Indian trade union movement. The leaders of the in the AITUC belonging
to various factions again got divided on the question of whether the AITUC should
support the Government on war. The nationalist and the communists mostly remained
neutral with their approach towards the war. But the radical democrats under the
leadership of M.N.Roy were in full support of the war. Because of conflicting views
on this issue another rift took place in 1941 and the radicals left the AITUC and
formed a new central labour federation known as the Indian Federation of Labour
(IFL).
During war-time, the trade unions consolidated their position due to certain factors
namely:
(i) The Government and a number of employers initiated a number of welfare
measures aiming to increase production of war materials and other essential
goods and also to maintain high profits;
(ii) There was a change in the attitude of the government as well as the employers
towards the trade unions to gain the support of workers in production.
(iii) The Defence of India Rule 81-A was promulgated prohibiting the strikes and
lockouts and providing that all disputes would be referred to adjudication and
their rewards would be enforced;
(iv) The Indian labour Conference, a tripartite body having representation of the
government, employers and workers was formed in 1942 for the first time, to
provide a common platform for discussion and mutual understanding between
employers and employees.
(v) During war time, the number of trade unions increased considerably from
727 in existence in 1940-41 to 1833 in 1946-47 with growing membership
from 5.13 lakh to 13.31 lakh respectively during the above period.
(vi) In 1947, the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) was formed as
a labour wing of the Indian National Congress.
IV. Post Independence Period (1947 to date):
Independence and the partition of the country shattered the hope of the workers for
securing high wages and better working conditions from the national Government. In
84
order to retain the amenities already earned by the workers, a series of strikes swept Development and Functions
of Trade Unions
the country in 1947 with involvement of 18.41 lakh workers resulting a loss 165.63
lakh man-days.

In post-independence period, various political parties were formed and kept control
over various trade unions. In 1948, socialist group broke away from the congress and
formed a new political party i.e., Praja Socialist party. The trade union leaders working
in the INTUC who were supporters of the newly formed political party, seceded from
it and formed a new central trade union organisation called the Hindustan Mazdoor
Panchayat (HMP). The HMP and the Indian Federation of Labour merged together
and formed Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) in 1948. In 1949, the radicals and leftist
groups, which did not agree with the principles of both AITUC and HMS left the
AITUC and formed another organization in the name of United Trade Union Congress
(UTUC) on 30th April 1949.

On a close observation, it is evident that the trade union movement in India has become
politically motivated. As a result any split in a political party has led to have a similar
type of split in the trade union dominated by that party. Thus, by 1949, there were four
central organisations led by different political parties i.e., the INTUC led by Congress,
the AITUC dominated by the communists, the HMS, affiliated to the Socialist Party
and the UTUC, led by the Revolutionary Socialist Party. It was an indication that the
political involvement in trade union movement still continued. After 1952, a number of
efforts were made for bringing about some unity in the movement but none of them
succeeded.

In 1959, a few unions led by the members of the Socialist party seceded from the
HMS and formed Hind Mazdoor Panchayat, as an organisation of Samyukta Socialist
Party. Further, in 1962, a new organisation called Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(CFTU) was formed with the support of Swatantra Party. There was again a rift in the
AITUC in 1970 when the Communists divided into CPI and CPM. The CPI held the
AITUC and the CPM formed a new central organization namely, the Centre of Indian
Trade Union (CITU).

In 1972, the Indian National Congress split in two groups, resulting in the division of
INTUC in two groups. The ruling Congress retained its control over the INTUC and
other group under the leadership of Morarji Desai, Nijalingapa and Kamraj formed a
new union namely, National Labour Organisation (NLO).

Another interesting development took place in May 1972, when a limited accord was
reached between the AITUC, the INTUC and the HMS regarding the procedure to
be followed for the recognition of trade unions. As a result, a National Council of
Central Trade Unions (NCCTU) was formed with representative of the AITUC, INTUC
and HMS. The basic idea behind it was to isolate the CITU. Consequently the CITU
set up a United Council of Trade Unions (UCTU) in September 1972 as a rival body
of NCCTU.

After the declaration of Emergency in 1975 again, the INTUC, the AITUC and the
HMS combined and joined with the employers’ representatives on what was called
the National Apex Body. This body ceased to exist as soon as the state of Emergency
was lifted in 1977.
85
Trade Unionism
Activity 1: Briefly summarise the development of trade unions in your own words.
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................

6.3 PRESENT SCENARIO OF THE TRADE UNION

MOVEMENT
The Indian Trade unions have now got a legal status and these are no more ad-hoc
bodies or strike committees. They have now become a permanent feature of the
industrial society. They have succeeded in organising Central Union Federations which
help in the determination of principles, philosophy, ideology and purposes of the unions
and give some sense of direction to the otherwise scattered and isolated unions.
The unions now have gained a remarkable status in the labour movement. Now, the
Government and the employers consult them on all matters concerning labour. The
trade unions also participate in formulating policies and ideologies at State and National
levels. They have succeeded in evolving suitable machinery of joint consultation to
negotiate various issues between labour and management. But for reasons such as
affiliation to a political party, factionalism etc. have resulted multiplicity of unions in
post-independence period. In the modern industrial society, the importance of trade
unions have been recognised which have diminished interest in political matters. Subtle
changes are visible in the pattern of political unionism.
These changes have manifested in three ways:
i. Political leaders have secondary interest in labour union activities. Now more
emphasis has been paid to labour leadership by giving more attention to the
improvement of union cadre, finances and training in official administration.
ii. The national federations have shown keen interest in long term activities, even
maintaining their rival character. Now federations arranges for the training of
workers.
iii. Now trade unions function as autonomous units rather than simply as
appendage of political parties.
Central trade union organizations in India:
Local, firm-level or industry-level trade unions are often affiliated to larger Federations.
The large Federations in the country representing labour at the National level and are
known as Central Trade Unions or Central Trade Union Organisations (CTU or CTUO).
To acquire status as a CTUO, a trade union federation must have a verified membership
of at least 500,000 workers who must have spread over a minimum of four states and
four industries (including agriculture). Trade-union membership verification is usually done
once in a decade. The last verification was done taking into the membership strength as
on 31.12.2002 of the 13 central federations qualifying the above norms. The membership
strength of the central trade union organizations were finalized on 31st December 2007.
86 The membership strength of these 13 unions is as follows: