Trade Unions in India

Prof. Ajay Singh

 Why Unions Evolved
1. Easy to fight for rights collectively

2. Desire to seek protection

3. Unions as footholds to political parties

4. Employers: easy to deal with groups

5. Countervailing power: social legitimacy

(TU power depends on its size, leadership, union density, etc.)
 Early History of T. U. in India
• Earliest TUs organized: Bombay, Calcutta, Madras
––Industries: Cotton textiles, jute, railways
• One of 1st lab. orgs.: Bombay Millhands Assn.
––Formed in 1890: was a welfare organization
–Many other such organisations formed between 1887 and 1910

• War Years (1914-18) witnessed a spurt of TUs

– domestic and global influence

•Gandhi’s satyagraha: Ahmedabad in 1917:

––50% wage hike demanded: Rejection––Strike
––Gandhiji said: 35% fair––WM pledged for strike
––Gandhiji on fast after 3 weeks of strike: Accepted
––This was 1st major union success: Fillip to unionism
 Early History of T. U. in India contd…
• 1st TU: Madras Lab Union (1918: by BP Wadia)
––Organized WM of Binny Mills Ltd.

• TLA: (1920: by Mahatma Gandhi and Ansuyaben Sarabhai

by organising workers of Ahmedabad Textile Mills)
• Madras Labour Union strike call in 1920
Court declared the strike and the union illegal: Big blow to movt.

• AITUC: first TU Federation formed in 1920

Lala Lajpat Rai (then president of INC) became its first President

•Binny Mills (Madras HC) case: led to TU Act in 1926

––Unionism accepted also due to check spread of communism
 TU under the TU Act 1926
2 (h) “Trade Union” means
any combination, whether temporary or permanent,
formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the
relations between
workmen & employers, or between WM & WM,
or between employers and employers,
for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct
of any trade or business,
and includes

any federation of 2 or more TUs:

 Salient Features of TU Act 1926
1. Provides who can register a T.U.:
–– Any 7 or more WM employed in industry/ trade form union
–– Later amended (2001): At least 10% or 100 whichever is less

2. Registrar of TUs: in each state: procedure for registration/ Appeal

3. Minimum subscription: Rs. 1/ 3/ 12 p.a. (currently)

4. No restriction on general/political funds of a TU:
–– Thus allows Politicization

5. The Law is silent about craft, category & caste unions

–– Allows all kinds of union formation
Salient Features of TU Act 1926 – Cont….

6. Rights of TUs: Immunities to registered TU/ Office

bearers against certain Civil offences (but now are liable
under consumer protection act)

7. Workmen in this act covers any person employed to do

any kind of work in trade or industry

8. Managers are not explicitly excluded under this Act

9. Both Registration & Recognition of TU not
mandatory under the Act (Some state govts. made law for recg.)
10. Outsiders permitted as TU members/leaders
– Reduced proportion of outsiders from 50% to one-third (2001)
TU Structure - 1. International Level
International level Trade Unions are two kinds:
1. International Trade Union Federations (ITUF) (Federation of
representatives from central TU orgs. in several countries)

2. Global Union Federations (GUFs) (Unions belong to a single or

related sectors, eg. Metal Workers Union)

International Trade Union Federations of three types:

1. Intl. Confederation of Free TUs (ICFTU) - 1913
-most popular in N. America, W. Europe, dev. countries including India
-Represents 125 m. TU members org. in 206 national TU centres in 141
countries/ territories

2. World Federation of TUs (WFTU) -1945 (communist bloc/ unions with

communist ideology)

3. International Federation of Christian Unions

Also there are several regional level TU organisations at international level: European, S. Asian,
African.
 TU Structure - 2. National Level
• According to criterion set by Govt. of India:
“Any Union with minimum of 5,00,000 members
spread over four industries and four states will be
recognized as national TU Centre”.

• Currently five unions fulfill this criterion:

– All India TU Congress (AITUC)-Affiliated to CPI and WFTUC
– Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS)-close links with RSS & BJP
– Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS)-No formal affiliation, ICFTU
– Centre for Indian TUs (CITU)-Affiliated to Marxist party
– Indian National TU Congress (INTUC)-Affiliated to
Congress party and ICFTU
 TU Structure in India….cont.
• TU wings of Regional Political Parties
(DMK, AIDMK, Telgu Desam, Trinamul Congress, Shiv Sena, etc.)

• Industrial/ Sectoral Federations: (Almost all National

TU in India have close to 25 industrial/ sectoral federation each)

• Enterprise Level Unions: They are of two kinds in India-

– Those associated to National centres
– Those without close affiliation
(within enterprise unions there are craft, category and caste wise unions in India)

• Managerial Trade Unions (Referred to as Association)

(Recognized by govt. and employers as welfare association, not as a TU: Bill for
providing junior & middle level managers privileges of workman: not yet passed)
 Unions in Crisis: Causes
• Unipolar world and Post-capitalist society
• Unitarist/individualized IR: gold-collar WM
• Declining employment––automation
• Emergence of service organizations
• New tech.––white-collar WM––home working
• Emergence of lean organization
• More specialization
• Decline in core; rise in peripheral workforce
• Employment of labour law consultants
 NDPL CASE
• Explain the sequence of the case to the class.

• What do you think are the issues in IR before the NDPL? How are they
different from those that had to be dealt with by the DVB?
• What do you think are the reasons for the popularity of the Kuldeep
group? What will be the impact of this development on employment
relations at NDPL?

• What is your opinion about the leadership qualities/ style of Mr. Anil
Sardana?

• What learning do you derive from the case?

• What management could have done/not done in the case to resolve

conflict? Give recommendations.
Discussion