Narayan Meghaji Lokhande,the Father of Labour Movement in India and Departure from Trade Union Activities to Push Economic Reforms!
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed dDreams-480Palash Biswas
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Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, OBC leader from Mumbai Maharashtra who is well known as the Father of Indian Trade Union Movement, Anykali the Dalit SC Leader who led the First Strike in British India and Dr. BR Ambedkar who ensured the Trade Union Rights and Labour rights in India- have been outfocused to marginalise Indian working Class movement by the Marxist Leaders of Trade Union Movement Post Independence!Post Ambedkarites also did deviate from Ambedkarite Ideology which recognises the Excluded Communities SC, ST, OBC and Minorities as Producers and workers! Annihilition of Caste was immersed in Casteology and Greater Disaster for the Excluded Communities as Powerful Castes were co opted into the Hegemony to ensure POWER POLITICS Win and Share in Power with the Vote Bank equation of Castes most powerful across Caste and class line! More over, lack of Internal Democracy and Empowerment within the Ambedkarite movement has been HIJACKED by the Most Absolute and Opportunist caste leaders including those from Caste Hindus and the AMBEDKARITES making alliances with the Ruling Hegemony in the Centre and States contributed most to sustain ECONOMIC ETHNIC Cleansing! In parliamentary Majoritarian system, co opted Representation of EXCLUDED Communities departed from Trade Union Activities as well as Ambedkarite ECONOMICS of Inclusive Mass Mobilisation to Liberate the Eighty Five percent Enslaved Bonded Indian Masses. Deviation from Ideology have created number of FACTIONS and Personal Cult in the Ambedkarite movement and it led to the situation where the Aboriginal Indigenous Excluded landscape and humanscape are SEIZED WITHIN and all political parties and trade Unions push for Further Capital Inflow and Economic Reforms not to mention any resistance whatsoever.
BHARAT MUKTI MORCHA has launched Hundered Days` Budget Burn Campaign which is virtually a great Resurgence of AMBEDKARITE Economics! I have been talking and writing on the Global Phenomenon in which Caste Identity would be Never enough for SURVIVAL in War and Civil war like conditions and Unprecedented Violence Flare Up in ANRCHY sponsered by the Mind Control game 3 G Spectrum and Toilet media. The STATE power is in fact MILITARY NUCLEAR BIO Chemical Power and we have no space for Mass Movement and even EXPRESSION, Civil and Human Rights.Now, I do understand that Gandhian NON Violence was NEVER anything like Hindutva or Buddhism or Spritual Philosophy, but it was an EXCELLENT STRATEGY to resist the BRUTE Imperilaism which ended the SCOPE of All Out Aggression. Maoist Menace is the Part of Global Phenomenon to kill the Democratic Civil and Human Right movement in Violence so that Ruling Manusmriti Zionist Corpoaret Hegemony may have the LICENSE to Kill the Aboriginal and Indigenous , Working and Producing Communities! It is happening all over the Globe!
Thus, an ORGANISED Non Violent Trade Union Movement in the Organised SEctor is the DEMAND of the TIME and we may not dare to BETRAY the Challenge provided we have Hearts and Minds intact with Human Sensitivity and Commitment to the Toiling masses in HOLOCAUST Environment!
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Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, Remembered as the father of the Indian labour movement, Narayan Meghaji Lokhande fought for providing numerous facilities which are enjoyed by workers today.
His tireless efforts led to the establishment of the first Indian labour union, the 'Mill Hands Association' in 1884.For the first time in India the Bombay Mill Hands Association was formed on 24 April 1890. This gave impetus to the trade union movement in British India. The establishment of ILO in 1919 provided a source of inspiration for the workers to organise themselves and shape their destiny. India's membership of the same exerted great influence in the formation of a central organisation of workers called 'All India Trade Union Congress' (AITUC) in 1920 for the purpose of conducting and co-ordinating the activities of the labour organisations.
A member of the Factory Labour Commission established in 1890, Lokhande's efforts contributed to the enactment of the Factory Act (1891).
Every year, the first day of the month of May is being celebrated as the May Day. Since the beginning of the last decade of the nineteenth century this day came to be observed as the Labour Day or International Workers' Day to highlight the struggle of the workers and manifest their solidarity throughout the world.
The emergence of the urban working class can be traced to the Industrial Revolution in Europe since the mid-eighteenth century. The workers were exploited with lengthy hours of work, poor wages and unhealthy living conditions. Even women and children were forced to work for 12 to 15 hours a day. There was neither government legislation nor popular movement to improve the condition of the working class.
The first attempt to ameliorate the miserable condition of the working class was made by the so called 'Utopian Socialists'. A British socialist, Robert Owen created a model community of workers by improving their working and housing conditions and providing schools for their children. His ideas stimulated the cooperative movement in England. In France too, a number of socialists such as Saint Simon, Charles Fourier, Proudhon and Louis Blanc tried to implement socialist ideas to improve the condition of the workers. However, their efforts did not succeed in improving the lot of the working class.
Born in 1848 in Thane, he began his career in the Railways and Postal Department before joining the Mandavi Textile Mill as a storekeeper.
A follower of social reformer Jyotirao Phule, the Maratha Hospital at Mumbai was started by Lokhande to provide medical aid to the poor during the plague epidemic in 1896.
He died on February 9, 1897, while serving people affected by the plague.
Imput from BANGLAPEDIA
http://www.bpedia.org/T_0206.php
Trade Union Movement organised activities of workers to improve their working conditions. In the early stage of industrial development when there were personal contacts between employers (master) and workers (employee), there was no need of any organisation to determine relations between the two. But under the modern factory system the personal touch is absent and the relations between the employer and the worker have come under strain. The conflict of interests between buyer and seller of labour power has become conspicuous and this has led to the rise of trade union movement throughout the world. The tradition of the parallel development of the nationalist and the trade union movement, which had originated in British India continued through the Pakistan period down to the birth of Bangladesh.
For the first time in India the Bombay Mill Hands Association was formed on 24 April 1890. This gave impetus to the trade union movement in British India. The establishment of ILO in 1919 provided a source of inspiration for the workers to organise themselves and shape their destiny. India's membership of the same exerted great influence in the formation of a central organisation of workers called 'All India Trade Union Congress' (AITUC) in 1920 for the purpose of conducting and co-ordinating the activities of the labour organisations.
The period from 1924 to 1935 may be considered as the era of revolutionary trade union movement. MN Roy, Muzaffer Ahmed, SA Dange and Shawkat Osmani led the trade union movements and as a result the political consciousness among industrial workers increased. To control the movement, the British government adopted ruthless measures (eg, Kanpore Conspiracy Case and Meerat Conspiracy Case) against the militant workers and trade union leaders, but no strategy could suppress the trade union movement; rather the colonial resistance invigorated the movement against the colonial power. Later, the trade union movement was closely linked with nationalist movements and the working class started vigorous struggle for emancipation from extreme repression and economic exploitation by the colonial regime.
At the time of Partition of Bengal (1947), most trade union leaders were Hindus and when they migrated to India, a void was created in leadership in the trade union movement of Pakistan, especially in its eastern wing. Moreover, the institutions to advance workers' interest were mostly situated in areas outside Pakistan. There were barely 75 registered trade unions in the whole of Pakistan, compared to 1987 in undivided India in 1946. Of this small number of trade unions, the larger share fell to West Pakistan, leaving only a very few for the eastern wing, where there were only 141 factories with 28,000 workers and 30 unions in all with a total of 20,000 members.
During Pakistan period most trade union leaders held conflicting views and the trade unions were fragmented and weakened. As a result, the trade union movement met a setback and the trade union activities passed into the hands of petty bourgeoisie leadership. Moreover, the trade union movement in Pakistan was characterised by fragmentation of unions, prolonged strikes, retaliatory lockouts and picketing which sometimes led to violence.
As the trade union movement in Bangladesh originated in British India and Pakistan, it naturally retained its old character of working more as a nationalist force against colonial domination than as a class force vis-a-vis capitalist exploitation. As a result, the trade union movement of the region that had gained momentum in the hands of political leaders stood divided along the political and/or ideological lines in independent Bangladesh.
During this period, the trade union movement was marked by direct interference by the government and the ruling party in its internal affairs. In many industrial belts terrorism was let loose by the men of the labour front of the then ruling party and tried to drive out the honest trade unionists from the leadership of the unions. Moreover, the barring of outsiders from trade union leadership at the basic union level made the process of union hijacking very easy and turned the workers into a very weak and defenseless community.
In the early 1980s, the military government of Bangladesh banned all trade union activities in the country. Then an alliance of the National Federation of Trade Unions (NFTUs) emerged in the name of Sramik Karmachari Oikka Parishad (SKOP) to establish the democratic rights of workers as well as to fulfil their economic demands. Most NFTUs were in SKOP and since 1983, most trade union movements in Bangladesh have been organised under the leadership of SKOP.
The opportunism and lenient attitude of the trade union leaders including SKOP gave the ruling regimes a chance to disregard the agreements signed between the government and the trade union leaders. At present, the leaders of nineteen of the twenty three NFTUs are included in the SKOP. After its formation, SKOP submitted a 5-point charter of demands for establishing their democratic rights and higher wages through rallies, torch processions, demonstrations, strikes, hartals, blockades etc.
Ironically, SKOP failed to yield any tangible results for the working class people of the country. The effectiveness of the trade union movement under the leadership of SKOP gradually weakened because most SKOP leaders have political affiliations and therefore, cannot escape the influence of their respective political parties. Moreover, lack of active support by the major political parties to SKOP's programmes, excessive pressures on government by the private employers and donor agencies to disregard SKOP's demands using repressive measures to disrupt the trade union movement, forcible occupation of unions, bribing of trade union leaders, opportunistic and compromising attitude of the union leadership rendered the SKOP demands ineffective. In fact, SKOP has become a moribund forum of the working class with little to offer to the country's future trade union movements.
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Labour movement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour relations. Trade unions are collective organizations within societies, organized for the purpose of representing the interests of workers and the working class. Many ruling class individuals and political groups may also be active in and part of the labour movement.
In some countries, especially the United Kingdom and Australia the labour movement is understood to encompass a formal "political wing", frequently known by the name labour party, which complements the aforementioned "industrial wing".
| Part of a series on Organized labour |
|---|
 |
| The labour movement[show] |
| Academic disciplines[show] |
Contents[hide] |
[edit] History
 | This section requires expansion with: Apprentice laws, "The Mob," Agricultural labour laws, illegal combination, Peterloo, Chartism, Friendly societies and cooperatives, New Unionism, political party formation, socialism, anarchism, communism, craft unionism. |
In Europe, the labour movement began during the industrial revolution, when agricultural jobs declined and employment moved to more industrial areas. The idea met with great resistance. In the 18th century and early 19th century, groups such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs of Tolpuddle, Dorset were punished and transported for forming unions, which was against the laws of the time.
The movement gained major impetus in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from the Catholic Social Teaching tradition which began in 1891 with the publication of Pope Leo XIII's foundational document, Rerum Novarum, also known as "On the Condition of the Working Classes," in which he advocated a series of reforms including limits on the length of the work day, a living wage, the elimination of child labour, the rights of labour to organize, and the duty of the state to regulate labour conditions. Following the release of the document, the labour movement which had previously floundered began to flourish in Europe and later in North America.[citation needed]
Throughout the world, action by the labour movement has led to reforms and workers' rights, such as the two-day weekend, minimum wage, paid holidays, and the achievement of the eight-hour day for many workers. There have been many important labour activists in modern history who have caused changes that were revolutionary at the time and are now regarded as basic. For example, Mary Harris Jones, better known as "Mother Jones", and the National Catholic Welfare Council were central in the campaign to end child labour in the United States during the early 20th century. An active and free labour movement is considered by many to be an important element in maintaining democracy and for economic development.
[edit] Labour parties
Modern labour parties originated from an upsurge in organizing activities in Europe and European colonies during the 19th century, such as the Chartist movement in Britain during 1838–50.
In 1891, localised labour parties were formed, by trade union members in the British colonies of Australia. They later amalgamated to form the Australian Labor Party (ALP). In 1893, Members of Parliament in the Colony of Queensland briefly formed the world's first labour government.
The British Labour Party was created as the Labour Representation Committee, as a result of an 1899 resolution by the Trade Union Congress.
While archetypal labour parties are made of direct union representatives, in addition to members of geographical branches, some union federations or individual unions have chosen not to be represented within a labour party and/or have severed ties with them.
[edit] Labour and racial equality
"Negroes in the United States read the history of labor and find it mirrors their own experience. We are confronted by powerful forces telling us to rely on the good will and understanding of those who profit by exploiting us [...] They are shocked that action organizations, sit-ins, civil disobedience and protests are becoming our everyday tools, just as strikes, demonstrations and union organization became yours to insure that bargaining power genuinely existed on both sides of the table [...] Our needs are identical to labor's needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures [...] That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth."
– Dr. Martin Luther King, "If the Negro Wins, Labor Wins", December 11, 1961 [1]
[edit] Development of labour movements within nation states
Historically labour markets have often been constrained by national borders that have restricted movement of workers. Labour laws are also primarily determined by individual nations or states within those nations. While there have been some efforts to adopt a set of international labour standards through the International Labour Organization (ILO), international sanctions for failing to meet such standards are very limited. In many countries labour movements have developed independently and reflect those national boundaries.
[edit] Development of an international labour movement
With ever increasing levels of international trade and rising influence of multinational corporations, there has been debate and action within the labour movement broadly to attempt international co-operation. This has led to renewed efforts to organize and collectively bargain internationally. A number of international union organizations have been established in an attempt to facilitate international collective bargaining, to share information and resources and to advance the interests of workers generally.
[edit] List of national labour movements
- Trade unions in Albania
- Trade unions in Algeria
- Trade unions in Andorra
- Trade unions in Angola
- Trade unions in Antigua and Barbuda
- Trade unions in Argentina
- Trade unions in Armenia
- Australian labour movement
- Trade unions in Benin
- Trade unions in Botswana
- Trade unions in Burkina Faso
- Trade unions in Egypt
- Trade unions in Ethiopia
- Trade unions in Germany
- Trade unions in Ghana
- Trade unions in India
- Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions
- Labor unions in Japan
- Trade unions in Malaysia
- Trade unions in Maldives
- Trade unions in Nauru
- Trade unions in Niger
- Trade unions in Oman
- Trade unions in Pakistan
- Trade unions in Qatar
- Trade unions in Senegal
- Trade unions in South Africa
- Swedish labour movement
- Trade unions in Switzerland
- Trade unions in Tanzania
- Trade unions in the United Kingdom
- Labor unions in the United States
- Trade unions in Nepal
- Labour unions in Nepal
[edit] See also
[edit] References
 | This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009) |
- ^ A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr, edited by James Melvin Washington, HarperCollins, 1991, ISBN 0060646918, pg 202-203
[edit] Further reading
- Robert N. Stern, Daniel B. Cornfield, The U.S. labor movement:References and Resources, G.K. Hall & Co 1996
- John Hinshaw and Paul LeBlanc (ed.), U.S. labor in the twentieth century : studies in working-class struggles and insurgency, Amherst, NY : Humanity Books, 2000
- Philip Yale Nicholson, Labor's story in the United States, Philadelphia, Pa. : Temple Univ. Press 2004 (Series 'Labor in Crisis'), ISBN 1-59213-239-1
- Beverly Silver: Forces of Labor. Worker's Movements and Globalization since 1870, Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-521-52077-0
- St. James Press Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide, St. James Press 2003 ISBN 1-55862-542-9
- Lenny Flank (ed), IWW: A Documentary History, Red and Black Publishers, St Petersburg, Florida, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9791813-5-1
- Tom Zaniello: Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor (ILR Press books), Cornell University Press, revised and expanded edition 2003, ISBN 0801440092
[edit] External links
- The Canadian Museum of Civilization - Canadian Labour History, 1850-1999
- LabourStart: Trade union web portal
- LaborNet: Global online communication for a democratic, independent labor movement
- CEC: A Labour Resource Centre in India
- Labor Quotes
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| May Day : Historical Perspective of Labour Movement |
| Dr Eugene D'Souza, Mumbai |
May 1, 2010 |
The first attempt to ameliorate the miserable condition of the working class was made by the so called 'Utopian Socialists'. A British socialist, Robert Owen created a model community of workers by improving their working and housing conditions and providing schools for their children. His ideas stimulated the cooperative movement in England. In France too, a number of socialists such as Saint Simon, Charles Fourier, Proudhon and Louis Blanc tried to implement socialist ideas to improve the condition of the workers. However, their efforts did not succeed in improving the lot of the working class.
It was Karl Marx who gave a voice to the working class. His clarion call, "Workers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains", has been the guiding spirit of the worker's movements all over the world. Marx made a close study of the industrial society and formulated certain conclusions, which constitute the chief principles of Scientific Socialism also known as Marxism or Communism. The basic ideas of Karl Marx were first expressed in the 'Communist Manifesto' which he wrote along with Fredrich Engels in 1848. Marx believed that the only way to ensure a happy and harmonious society was to put the workers in control.
Marxism had great influence on the history of the world. It inspired the Communist Revolution in Russia (1917) and other countries like China, Cuba, Vietnam and other East European countries. Marxism and the Russian and Chinese Revolutions inspired and emboldened the working classes throughout the world to unionize and fight for their rights.
On May Day or International Workers' Day, labour unions affiliated to various communist, socialist of anarchist groups take out processions and hold demonstrations and street rallies to show their solidarity and power. May Day is an important official holiday in most of the countries of the world. In Communist countries such as China and former Soviet Union, May Day celebrations typically feature elaborates popular and military parades.
In the United States, however, the official Federal holiday for the 'working man' is Labour Day on September 5. This day was promoted by the Central Labour Union and the Knights of Labour who organized the first workers' parade in New York City on September 5, 1882.
In India, the movement of the working class originated in industrialized centers such as Kolkata and Mumbai during the British period. Industrial working class emerged in India in the middle of nineteenth century when railways came to be introduced along with its ancillary industries. With the development of coal and iron mines, iron and steel industries, jute and cotton textile factories and tea-plantation industry, the number of wage earning people went on increasing.
During the British rule, the condition of the Indian workers was miserable. They were paid meagre salaries. The working hours in all the cotton mills and even other industries were 13 to 15 hours a day. The working conditions inside the factories were 'inhuman'. The workers had to put in hard labour and after the shift was over, they were so exhausted that a large number of them used to get fainted within the factory premises. The condition of the female workers was deplorable.
Employing of child labour was so common that children in the age group 5-7 constituted a major workforce in most of the factories.
Neither the British government nor the employers were sensitive to the miserable condition of the working class. Finally, after a lot of blood-bath on the part of the workers and pressure from the civil society, Indian Factory Act, 1881, was passed. This Act banned the employment of a child below 7 years of age in a factory and fixed the working hours for children in the age group 7-12 at 9 hours.
The labour movement in India had a humble beginning with Sashipada Banerjee publishing a journal titled 'Bharat Shramajivi' (Indian Labourers) in 1878 from Kolkata, exclusively devoted to the labourers.
This journal started expressing the labour problems for the first time. He also founded an institute in 1880 to spread primary and hygiene education among the workers. Another important contribution of Sashipada Banerjee was the establishment of a Savings Bank exclusively for the workers in Kolkata. A similar effort was initiated by Meghaji Narayan Lokhande in Bombay in 1898. He also started a journal, named 'Deenabandhu' (Friend of the Poor) in Marathi language.
The first major labour movement in India originated in Bengal. Much ahead of their European brethren, Indian railway men joined the first ever strike in the months of April and May, 1862, demanding an 8-hours-a-day working pattern. The historic May Day in Chicago (the Haymarket Massacre) took place around quarter of a century later. Very soon, the labour movement spread from Bengal to other parts of India.
The first political strike by the Indian working class took place in July 13, 1908, when the workers of the Greeves and Cotton Mill in Bombay ceased work protesting against the trial of Indian nationalist leader, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Lenin, who later was responsible for leading the Communist Revolution in Russia, highlighted the historic significance of these movements by the Indian workers.
Gradually, a large number of labour organizations came to be established in different industrial urban centres. As the workers started organizing themselves, they were in a better position to offer resistance to British imperialism and also attained a better bargaining power to protect and extend their legitimate rights.
In Kolkata and Mumbai as well as in other industrial centres, the labour movement was chiefly led by the Socialists and Communists. In post-independence era, with the proliferation of industries and factories, the working class began to make its presence felt. Realizing the potential of the workers as a political force, a number of labour unions came to be organized or supported by the political parties. Moreover, some of the labour union leaders developed political ambitions and contested elections either to the state assemblies or parliament.
Among the ma ny illustrious labour union leaders, George Fernandes and Datta Samant have left a lasting stamp of the working class movement in India in general and Mumbai in particular. Rising from humble beginning, George Fernandes became a firebrand trade union leader of Mumbai who initiated the 'bandh' culture in India. He contested the Lok Sabha elections in 1967 and defeated the Congress stalwart S.K. Patil.
Thereafter, George Fernandes never looked back. He went on contesting election, becoming member of the Union Cabinet and even founding his own political outfit, Samata Party which was later merged in the Janata Dal (U).
As a labour union leader, George Fernandes did achieve better wages and humane working conditions to workers in industries, municipalities and public transport. The week-long all India railway strike organized by George Fernandes in 1974 did paralyze the entire nation.
Datta Samant began life as a doctor in suburban Mumbai. Moved by the plight of some patients who were stone quarry workers, he sought to fight for their rights. Soon, he evolved as a militant labour union leader who could get better wages for the workers. In 1982, Datta Samant led 2.5 lakh workers from Mumbai's textile mills on a record-breaking strike. The strike practically destroyed the textile industry and rendered thousands of workers jobless. This was the saddest episode in the history of the working class movement in India. Datta Samant even contested and won the Lok Sabha election in 1989. However, union rivalry or other unexplainable reasons led to the assassination of Datta Samant in May 1997.
With the collapse of Communism in the former Soviet Union and the East European countries during the 1980s and adoption of liberalization and globalization, the working class movement has received a serious set-back. By paying better salaries and providing good working environment, most of the multinational corporations and even Indian firms have made the labour unions redundant. Under these circumstances it seems that the International Workers' Day has lost its relevance in modern times.
With the global economic meltdown, a large number of workers have lost their jobs. Many employees are forced to work on reduced salaries. As the workers in multinational companies are not unionized they do not possess the collective bargaining power in favour of workers. Besides, the silent majority of the unorganized urban and rural workers who continue to be exploited by ruthless employers await a messiah who could lend them a voice and lead them to a better future. As long as the workers are exploited and denied their basic rights, the May Day or the International Workers' Day has relevance not only in modern times but also in future till the establishment of a classless society.
NARAYAN MEGHAJI LOKHANDE stamp released on 01 05 2005
Denomination :500p
Stamps Printed :0.6 Million
Date of Issue :01-05-2005
Theme:Personality
Narayan Meghaji Lokhande
A socially committed person who toiled ceaselessly to ameliorate the grievances of the industrial labour and downtrodden people was Shri Narayan Meghaji Lokhande. The facilities and amenities, which are enjoyed by the workers today, are all because of his sacrifice, devotion and hard work.
Shri Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was born in Thane in 1848. Due to financial constraints, he was forced to work after completing his matriculation from Thane. He started his career in Railways and Postal Department before finally joining the Mandavi Textile Mill as a Store Keeper. Life was very tough in the mills in those days. Due to congested atmosphere and lack of cleanliness the workers were not capable of working for long hours and suffered ill-health. He campaigned for ensuring basic rights to the workers by visiting various mills and united them for fight against all forms of exploitation. His tireless efforts resulted into the establishment of the first labour union `Mill Hands Association' in 1884. A Factory Labour Commission was established in 1890 and Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was appointed in this Commission under the Chairmanship of Mr. Leth Bridge. Due to his efforts the Factory Act of 1891 came into force from January 1892.
Shri Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was a follower of Jyotirao Phule, the founder of 'Satyashodhak Samaj' in 1873. The philosophy and teachings of Jyotirao Phule made a lasting impact on Shri Lokhande and he pledged to devote his life for fighting the social ills and to improve the status of women and downtrodden. It is also said that it was Shri Lokhande who, in a public function on 60th birth anniversary of Jyotirao Phule, conferred on him, the title of "Mahatma".
In fact, the ideals of social justice, equality of men and women and eradication of casteism always remained dear to him. He was also a supporter of cooperative education.
As a Chief Editor of 'Deenbandhu' he continued his campaign on the issues dear to him. During the communal riots in Bombay in 1893, he exhorted the people to restore communal harmony and peace. He worked to ensure an atmosphere of positive dialogue between Hindus and Muslims. He also urged through the newspaper to maintain peace and amity. The British Government honoured him by conferring the title of 'Rao Bahadur' for his outstanding efforts.
In 1896, the epidemic of plague had created havoc in Bombay and its suburbans. Shri Narayan Meghaji Lokhande started Maratha Hospital at Byculla to provide medical aid to the poor and underprivileged. He continued to work fearlessly in the epidemic effected area. However, he got affected by plague and succumbed to it on 9th February 1897 at age of 49.
Shri Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was a dedicated social worker who left a lasting imprint on the Indian industrial labour scenario through his selfless and tireless works. He is rightly known as the Father of Indian Labour Movement.
The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Narayan Meghaji Lokhande.
http://www.stampsinindia.com/2008/08/narayan-meghaji-lokhande-stamp-released-on-01-05-2005/
PM releases commemorative stamp on Narayan Lokhande
TEXT OF DR MANMOHAN SINGH'S SPEECH
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, released a commemorative postal stamp on late Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, noted social worker and trade union leader, here today. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said:
"I feel deeply honoured to release a postal stamp honouring the memory of the Late Shri Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, hailed as the Father of the Trade Union Movement in our country.
Lokhandeji may have well regarded it a happy coincidence that the year of his birth, 1848, was also the year in which Karl Marx and Frederich Engels published the Communist Manifesto. He would have been equally proud of the fact that in that same year Mahatma Jyotiba Phule had established in Pune the first ever school in India for the education of our women. These happy coincidences have more than a symbolic value because Lokhandeji combined in himself Marx's and Engels' concern for the working class and Mahatma Phule's commitment to the cause of women.
Lokhandeji was a product of the awakenings of that era of our history, which altered the destiny of our Nation. The establishment of the Mill Hand Association in 1884 by Lokhandeji marked the institutionalization of the labour movement in India. Deeply moved by the inhuman working conditions and ruthless exploitation of workers, Lokhandeji spearheaded an agitation against millowners and demanded fair wages, a healthy working environment and the protection of the rights and liberties of labour. His struggle resulted in the constitution of the Factory Labour Commission, of which he was made a Member. The work of this Commission led to the enactment of the Factory Act of 1891, which regulated working conditions and gave some special rights to child and female labour.
What set Lokhandeji apart from many of his peers was his equal commitment to the welfare of non-working people who were also victims of discrimination. He championed the cause of women, especially widows, dalits, minorities and other weaker sections of society. His trade unionism represented the best of the social democratic and liberal consciousness of his times.
Lokhandeji's wider social commitment was reflected in the passion with which he edited the newspaper, 'Deenbandhu'. He was also deeply committed to communal harmony, having played a role in forging unity between the Hindu and Muslim Communities during the communal riots of 1893. He was an active participant in the strove hard struggle for social reform including through his involvement with the Satyoshodhak Samaj established by Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. For these activities he was conferred the title of Rao Bahadur, a rare honour indeed for a labour leader!
I urge today's generation of leaders of the working class to adopt a similar approach to foster social change and enable the empowerment of our people. When Marx and Engels dubbed the working class as the 'vanguard of social revolution', they did so because they saw in the working class the most socially and politically aware section of the society of their times. I urge our working class leaders today to draw inspiration from great pioneers like Lokhandeji and make use of the power of the trade union movement to take our society forward, to inculcate in our people a sense of national pride and commitment to the welfare of all sections of our society. I therefore, express my great pleasure in being associated with today's function. It goes without saying that India cannot be a prosperous Nation if our people are not better off. When I speak of a more prosperous and more inclusive society, I speak of a more prosperous people, of all classes, all communities, all religions and regions. We want India to shine, and we want India to shine for all.
That is the commitment we have made through our National Common Minimum Programme and I reiterate this sacred commitment on the solemn occasion of paying homage to the memory of a great son of India, Narayan Meghaji Lokhande. I thank the Department of Posts for having taken the initiative to print this stamp in honour of a great Indian of his time."
POLITICS
Relevance of Ambedkar
| From Editor's Column in the April 27, 1991, issue, assessing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's role in Indian politics, in his birth centenary year. |
Dr B.R. Ambedkar. No other national figure in Indian politics in the 20th century matched his scholarly orientation.
IN the centenary year of his birth, Babasaheb Ambedkar stands taller than he ever did before – his role in the struggle for a modern, new India gaining steadily in weight, stature and centrality at the expense of various other outstanding national figures who were contemporaries and opponents in the great battles of the freedom movement era. This is essentially because the deep-seated and central problems spotlighted by his life, struggles, studies and experimentation in ideas remain alive and kicking while the big socio-political questions he raised about the state, well-being and future of India remain basically unanswered.
He was born Bhimrao on April 14, 1891, at Mhow in Central India in an austere and religious Mahar family with a military service background and considerable respect for education. In school (Satara and Bombay), college (Bombay), service under the Maharaja of Baroda (briefly in 1913 and again between July and November 1917) and study abroad (Columbia University, the London School of Economics, Gray's Inn, the University of Bonn), he displayed a scholarly orientation, a commitment to the life of the mind and trained intellectual gifts that no other national figure in Indian politics could match over this century.
He benefited from opportunities which had just opened up, which none in his family (or, for that matter, in the recorded history of his people) had access to over the centuries; yet every one of his academic, intellectual and professional achievements was hard earned, in social battle, against entrenched oppression, discrimination and anti-human prejudice. By the time he was finished with his formal studies in the early 1920s, Dr Ambedkar had acquired qualifications that surpassed the M.A., Ph.D., M.Sc. (Econ), D.Sc. (Econ), Barrister-at-law he had added, by right, to his name and title; the young man had been through a real life educational experience which most people (including the most renowned scholars) do not manage to acquire in a lifetime.
There may be various opinions on the formidable range of issues and controversies in which Dr Ambedkar figured as a protagonist over 40 years of his public life – which can be said to have begun with the sharp and insightful paper on "The Castes in India, Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development" which he did for Dr Goldenweiser's anthropology seminar in New York in May 1916. He was a searchingly honest, challenging, analytical eclectic liberal thinker who was attracted to utilitarianism (and eventually to Buddhism) in philosophy and to the ideals of the French Revolution as much as to the socially forward-looking and humanistic elements and values in Indian culture and civilisation over the millennia.
He delved into the Marxist classics… but was not persuaded either by the revolutionary theory or the practice. He was emphatically opposed to Gandhism and to the Congress ideology, although on some social issues he shared common points with Jawaharlal Nehru – who badly let down his Minister of Law on the Hindu Code Bill in the early 1950s. Right from his early days, Ambedkar made a mark as a restless and courageous experimenter who, obviously, did not always get it right in the matter of trade-offs (and did not claim to). He fell in love with ideas as a socially oppressed and humiliated schoolboy who refused to be taken for a ride by anyone, including Baroda's royalty. Throughout his life (which ended on December 6, 1956, a couple of months after he publicly embraced Buddhism along with his followers), he was interested in the big picture. But the boy who was socially barred from playing cricket with his schoolmates in Satara (by the curse of untouchability) never took his eye off the ball. He concentrated in his public life on attainable, practical goals and never became too big to go into specifics, details, doubts, books, the problems of ordinary people, especially the lowliest of the low in Indian society.
What is absolutely clear in this centenary year is that Dr Ambedkar represented, in the truly national sense, the profound side of the socio-political struggle which formed an irrepressible part of the nationalist movement, although it was not often understood (by conservatism and orthodoxy in politics) to be such. Politically moderate, he tended towards radicalism and uncompromising struggle in the social arena in which he generalled many battles. His lifelong concern with religion, morality and justice in the idealistic sense was marked by a restlessly serious attempt to get the intellectual, social and political measure of these things. He did not believe in class analysis, but intuitively and intellectually grasped the link between caste and class in India.
Ideologically, Dr Ambedkar occupied the "centre", frequently the space right of centre, but at times he moved sharply the other way, to the radical side. This happened especially when his ideas, campaigns and political organisational work were backed by powerful mass movements (in the "radical" second half of the 1930s, for example, during the 1938 workers' struggle in Bombay against the anti-strike Bill). He was the builder of the Independent Labour Party, which did not take off in an all-India sense, but yielded some valuable political, ideological and organisational lessons to the Opposition round the nation. Despite his chairmanship of the Constitution Draft Committee in the Constituent Assembly and his stint in the Union Ministry under Nehru, Dr Ambedkar can be considered as a founder of non-Congressism and anti-Congressism in Indian politics.
Even while championing social egalitarianism and popular liberties and criticising the sway of big business and landlordism, campaigning for social and economic democracy, he remained a conscious ideological and political adversary of Marxism and Communism – for the basic reason that he found them challenging in the same way he found Buddhism inspiring. He had a number of interesting things to say about tricky national problems – Kashmir, language, nationhood, citizenship, ethnicity and so on – and his analysis lit up the field for a proper democratic understanding of federalism and Centre-State relations in India. On international questions and foreign policy, his approach was that of a centrist-conservative dissenting from non-alignment and from the Nehruvian (not to mention radical) world view.The social and class basis of the following he commanded; the non-philanthropic, non-petitioning nature of his social questioning; his passion for social justice (going well beyond Gandhiji's compromising vision so far as the ancien regime and the oppressed sections were concerned) and democratic liberties; his openness to modern, scientific and rational ideas, his unyielding secularism and progressive views on a number of questions, especially on the condition and future of women and on what it took to make a civil society; his great intellectual gifts and wide-ranging interests; his ability to concentrate on attainable, practical goals and his constructive sense of realism – these marked him out as a unique kind of leader.
The recent period of socio-political development in India has seen a blossoming of Hindutva and a majority chauvinist ideological and political offensive which can only be classified as extremist in relation to national unity. At this juncture, Dr Ambedkar's fearless analysis of the caste system, of chaturvarnya, of notions of pollution, of unalterable or rigid social hierarchy and so forth, and of the implications of the hegemony of the shastras must be read, re-read and made part of a national debate. His major theoretical exposition of such questions is contained in a 1936 presidential address which stirred up a hornet's nest, the radical "Annihilation of Caste". This ideological offering to the building of a new India must be ranked on a par with his signal and justly celebrated contribution to the making of a Republican Constitution.
In this work, Dr Ambedkar emphasised the anti-social, anti-progress character of an unjust social order as well as its vital connection, through networks of force and ideology, with political power. The caste system, in his analysis, militated against fraternity, "sanghatan and cooperation for a good cause", public charity and broad-based virtue and morality. "Chaturvarnya must fail for the very reason for which Plato's Republic must fail," warned the seriously read intellectual as social rebel. He pointed out that "the lower classes of Hindus" were "completely disabled for direct action on account of a wretched system". He asserted: "There cannot be a more degrading system of social organisation. ... It is the system which deadens, paralyses and cripples the people from helpful activity." He attempted to follow through the implications of this system in the political sphere. To him the real remedy was "to destroy the belief in the sanctity of the shastras" and their caste-borne tyranny.
One battle in which social orthodoxy and opportunist politics allied to defeat progress was the instructive fight over the Hindu Code Bill in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The leading author of the Constitution led the effort to institute a reasonably forward-looking and egalitarian Hindu Code law (especially from the standpoint of women), but it was sabotaged by orthodox elements. The Congress party, despite Nehru's claim to rationality and progressivism, refused to support the Bill.
His solid contribution to institution-building apart, he had a great deal to say about democracy as a real way of life and about citizens' rights, about authoritarianism and also about a healthy democratic political system. He detested hereditary, dynastic rule and a one-party system. "To have popular government run by a single party is to let democracy become a mere form for despotism to play its parts from behind it," is a typical Ambedkar formulation. He warned: "Despotism does not cease to be despotism because it is elective. The real guarantee against despotism is to confront it with the possibility of its dethronement, of its being laid low, of its being superseded by a rival party." Dr Ambedkar clearly had little use for political stability premised on a single party's rule, or on a social philosophy of "letting sleeping dogs lie".
Two other political principles which he focussed on have been honoured in their systematic and cynical violation over the years. Do not lay liberties at the feet of a great man; in politics, bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation. Make political democracy a social democracy; resolve the contradictions, else they will undermine, or blow up, democracy itself. Over a historic century, the many-sided achievement of Dr Ambedkar inspires awe.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2701/stories/20100115270101400.htmThe Release of Commemorative Postage Stamp on Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, held on 03-05-2005.
Respected Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singhji,
My Hon'ble colleagues in the Cabinet,
Hon'ble Thiru A.B. Bardhan Ji,
Hon'ble Thiru Prakash Karat Ji,
Thiru. Namdev Shelar, President, Narayan Meghaji Lokhande Pratishthan,
Hon'ble Members of Parliament,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I feel honoured to be associated with the release of a commemorative postage stamp on Thiru. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, the Father of Labour Movement in India.
The modern edifice of society, as we know it today, has its foundations in the recess of time, laid painstakingly by those unsung heroes who gave everything they had including their lives to nurture the roots of the industrialized world.
Thiru. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was one such visionary, a rare combination of heroic determination and compassionate liberalism, in whose memory our Hon'ble Prime Minister is going to release a postage stamp.
His life is not a chapter of history written in gold, but inscribed with agony, poverty, hunger and painful displacement from home and roots of migrants forced into industrial labourhood by compelling circumstances in the late nineteenth century.
Today when we take stock, we can take pride in our progressive and welfare-oriented labour policies – a well laid legal structure for labour issues, and a good track record of labour reforms, as also in our human capital – one of the best in the world. The foundation for this was laid by Thiru. Lokhande, who started by fighting for a half-an-hour lunch break, and for weekly off for the workers.
The great philosopher Plato had said:-
"All things will be produced in superior quantity and quality and with greater case, when hard man works at a single occupation, in accordance with his natural rights, and the right moment without wedding with anything else."
We find an echo of this far-reaching vision in the words of Lokhande,
"The constant working of mills led to an appreciable deterioration of the machinery and injured the health of the operative who were subjected to all sorts of maladies by their working constantly from day-break to dusk in ill ventilated building. It was absolutely necessary for the men, if they have to continue to work in a healthy condition, they should have four holidays in a month." He further says, "If the mill owners wished to further their interest, it could only be done by looking into the well-being and interests of these employed by them."
What may sound like the modern corporate dictum of human resource management, were thus authored more than a century ago.
His petition to the "Factory Commission" as the Chairman of the "Mill Hands Association" was prophetic, and from there the concepts of accident relief and compensation, death gratuity and family pension seem to have evolved.
It must have taken immense courage and deep-rooted conviction to speak openly against atrocities on women. Thiru. Lokhande mobilized the female workers successfully, and in a way, laid the foundation of involvement of women in India's freedom struggle at the grass root level.
India Post has consciously followed and implemented the policies of the Government concerning the welfare of employees. The postal system is vitally dependant on the postman, post-woman, mailman, mail-woman and the village mail carrier even today. I am proud to say, that it is our workforce at the lowest level, which has sustained our glorious evolution during the last 150 years.
It is said that "All wealth is the product of Labour" (Marx).
India Post takes pride in its wealth of heritage of service to the country, which consists of a significant contribution of its employees and workers.
The world has just now celebrated the Labour Day and today we dedicate ourselves to the philosophy of the dignity of labour and welfare of employees.
I hope that the Postage Stamps will carry the message of compassion, fearlessness and sacrifice all around the world, transcending the boundaries of employer and employee, industrialist and worker and saw the seeds of universal love for the humankind in a world so ravaged with unrest and anguish.
May I now request the Hon'ble Prime Minister to release the commemorative Postage Stamp on Thiru. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande.
Thank you.
Pre-Budget Discussions
FINANCE MINISTER WITH TRADE UNION LEADERS -
In wide-ranging discussions that followed, the major suggestions made by the trade union leaders included the following:
|
- Encouraging employment in SSIs and self employed sectors through enhanced credit.
- Setting up Workers Capital Trust to manage part of the worker 's funds such as provident fund.
- Encouraging distribution of equity to workers.
- Making highly profitable industries pay more taxes.
- Recovering a part of non-performing assets of the banking sector.
- No privatisation of airports.
- Encouraging permanent rather than contractual employment.
- Enhancing tax/GDP ratio and investment GDP ratio further.
- Increasing import duties on luxury and consumer goods.
- Introducing a tax on agricultural income for farmers with adequate irrigated land holding.
- Imposing taxes on lavish spending on social ceremonies such as birthdays and weddings and on service incomes.
- Strengthening the public distribution system.
- Maintaining fertilizer subsidy.
- Allocation of at least 10 per cent of budget on education.
- In line with the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, launching another programme for urban areas.
- Not investing pension funds in the share markets.
- No structural adjustment loans from the World Bank.
- More public investment in rural areas, agriculture and social sectors. The meeting was attended by representatives of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, Indian National Trade Union Congress, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, All India Trade Union Congress, United Trade Union Centre (LS), United Trade Union Congress, National Front of Indian Trade Unions, Trade Union Coordination Centre and senior officers of the Ministry of Finance.
Philip Spratt
The Indian Trade Union Movement
Source: Labour Monthly, Vol. 9, October 1927, No. 10.
Transcription: Ted Crawford
HTML Markup: Brian Reid
Public Domain: Marxists Internet Archive (2009). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit "Marxists Internet Archive" as your source.
[The author of the following very informative article, who has made a first-hand study of the Indian trade union movement, has recently been committed for trial in Bombay as the alleged author of a pamphlet, "India and China," now declared seditious.]
It is commonly said, indeed so commonly that the phrase becomes mechanical, that the Indian Trade Union Movement "is still in its infancy." The present writer has frequently had occasion to combat the use of this phrase, not so much because it is untrue, as because it is misused. Every kind of mistaken policy, sheer inactivity, sectarianism, abstention from politics, are all excused on the same plea. And, on the other hand, it conveys the idea that the only policy for Indian Labour is slow, patient progress on the present lines. It is not intended to deny the truth of what is meant by the statement, namely that Indian labour organisation is poor by Western standards. But the analysis of the situation implied by it is inadequate. It is the thesis of this article that Indian unionism is in its second stage, in which it will remain until there come into being the conditions necessary for the next stage. That these conditions will ripen fairly soon is also expected, and indeed the beginnings are already to be seen.
The broad facts of the present position have recently been given very completely by Mr. Joshi in his pamphlet, The Trade Union Movement in India, and the figures in the table below are taken from it. Though necessarily based to some extent on guesswork they are as sound as can be obtained and are near enough in any case for the present purpose.
Of the population of just over 300,000,000, 138,000,000 are taken to be workers, divided according to occupations as follows: Agriculture, 100,000,000; industry, with mining, 15,517,000; transport, 1,900,000; commerce, 8,000,000; domestic, 2,500,000; public services, 4,000,000. The more detailed facts are arranged under columns: (a) estimated number of wage- earning employees, (b) wage-earners in organised parts of occupations, or such as can be organised in trade unions, (c) number of unions in existence, (d) total membership.
| Occupation | (a) | (b) | (c) | (6) |
| Agriculture | 25,000,000 | 821,000 (plantations) | — | — |
| Industry | 12,147,000 | 294,000 (mining) | 1 | 1,500 |
| | 773,000 (textiles) | 18 | 34,000 | |
| 169,000 (metal) | 8 | 11,000 | ||
| 82,000 (glass, &c.) | 1 | — | ||
| | (printing) | 5 | 6,000 1,000 15,000 | |
| | 100,000 engineering | 5 | — | |
| (general) | 20 | — | ||
| (wood, leather, chemicals | ||||
| 332,000 | food, clothing, building, gas, furniture, &c.) | — | ||
| Transport | 1,500,000 | 155,000 (construction) | | |
| 800,000 (railways, | 25 | 50,000 | ||
| | shipping, | 6 | 20,000 | |
| | 100,000 docks &c., | 6 | 3,000 | |
| tramways) | 6 | 2,000 | ||
| Commerce | 4,000,000 | 100,000 | 6 | 5,000 |
| Domestic | 2,500,000 | 500,000 | 1 | — |
| Public Administration | 4,000,000 | 500,000 | 60 | 50,000 |
| Totals | 49,147,000 | 4,727,000 | 164 | 196,500 |
The distribution by provinces is also important. In 1925 the numbers of workers in factories subject to the Indian Factories Act were: In Bengal, 551,342; Bombay, 370,460; Madras, 123,563; Burma, 97,346; U.P., 78,942; Bihar and Orissa, 73,461; C.P. and Berar, 67,104; Punjab, 53,533; Assam, 48,697. Others, 30,330. Total, 1,494,958.
Government employees, railwaymen, &c., will be distributed roughly according to population. The number of trade unionists by provinces is more difficult to state, but is approximately as follows: Bombay (June, 1927), 76,000; Bengal, probably 50,000; Madras, about 25,000; others up to a few thousands each. The total number of unions affiliated to the All-India Trades Union Congress is now 60, with 125,000 members.
It is also necessary to show roughly how the present situation is related to the past. Organisation on a large scale practically began in 1918, and at the first All-India Trades Union Congress, in Bombay, October, 1920, sixty unions were affiliated, having 140,000 members, while it was claimed that the total membership of unions expressing sympathy, &c., was 500,000. At the second Congress, at Jharria, November, 1921, it was stated that 1,000,000 affiliated members were represented. It is doubtful if these numbers were actually even approached, but it is certain that there was a very big fall after 1922. At the end of 1924, only eight unions were affiliated, but by the time of the fifth Congress, in Bombay, February, 1925, there were thirty-one unions with perhaps 80,000 members. The number has risen steadily from that time.
The more exact figures compiled by the Labour Office for the Bombay Government show the same tendency. There were in the Presidency in June, 1922, twenty-two unions with 58,000 members; in September, 1923, nineteen unions with 42,000 members; September, 1924, twenty-one with 47,000 members, and since then a fairly steady rise to the present figures: sixty-six unions with 76,000 members.
The Bombay Government commented on these facts in its criticism, dated January, 1925, of the draft Trade Unions Bill.
It cannot be denied that the progress of Trade Unionism in this Presidency is at the best stationary at the present moment . . . . the movement seems to be able to show solid progress only in Ahmedabad. The quarterly review . . . . is a tale of lassitude and disillusionment. The present slump in the movement is due largely to falling prices and rising wages.
The "slump" in the movement after 1922 would be better shown by statistics of industrial disputes. The period, 1919-22, saw a very intense "strike wave," which fell away almost to nothing by 1924. In the character of the Congresses also, a similar contrast is to be seen between those days and the present. The first two Congresses were practically huge demonstrations. At Jharria there were several thousand delegates, and a strike was held specially for the occasion in the local coalfield. Many of the best-known political leaders of the country were present at both Congresses, and took active part. In the Trades Union Congress, which the present writer attended in March this year, the number of delegates was under fifty, not more than ten of whom were workers. Perhaps a score or so of members of the public were present, while as the place was Delhi, a few Congress leaders "dropped in," but said nothing.
Mr. R.K. Das, in his book The Labour Movement in India (1923), remarks that, while in the first years of intense activity the unions were mainly industrial in type, in the later period in which he was writing, craft unions also began to appear. This is an important observation, for though the unions which were then making their appearance, and by this time are the predominant type, are not craft unions in the strict sense, they do closely resemble craft unions in many ways. The figures of unions for the whole country, and especially for the Bombay Presidency, show a large increase recently in the number of unions, but a fall in the average membership, and this is characteristic.
The union movement of 1919-22, and that of 1924-27, are really quite distinct in organisation, composition, and aims, as well as in magnitude and methods. The difference has been compared plausibly with that which came about in the British movement between the 'thirties and the 'sixties of last century. The former movement was the product of a period of universal instability and excitement, and was fundamentally a revolutionary response to a revolutionary situation. The economic circumstances were enough to bring about universal discontent and protest. But the workers were also undoubtedly affected by the political excitement of the time. Thus, during the famous pilgrimage in 1921 of the primitive and ignorant plantation "coolies" of Assam and Bengal, some hundreds of them were suddenly and brutally cleared out of the Chandpur station yard at midnight by armed soldiers. They made no resistance, but shouted "Mahatma Gandhi ki jai." The revolutionary consciousness was of course generally extremely dim, but there can be no doubt that it was present. Strikes took place in every part of the country in all kinds of occupations. There was in most cases no organisation before the strike, but some kind of union was often established afterwards. All grades of workers took part. Frequently the demands of the strikers were not formulated until they had been out for some days, and they were then of an "extravagant" nature. The chief concrete demand was nearly always for wage increases, with reduction of hours a close second, but there were others often not of an economic character. The unions then formed were what would be expected from the circumstances of their origin. They were industrial in type, but usually covered only a restricted area. They often had no regular membership, payments, &c., and have been, in fact, accurately described as "little more than strike committees."
There are now few remnants of those days. The present movement operates in conditions of economic stability and political quiescence. Only in Bombay in the last two or three years has the depression in the cotton industry brought about a general tendency towards worsening of conditions. But the pressure has only sufficed to give a spurt to organisations of the present type.
The present movement, as has been remarked, while not strictly a craft unionism,1 is similar in several respects to a typical craft movement, such as that in Britain in the middle of the last century. It is mainly a movement of the upper grades of workers for extremely limited aims. The organisation is fairly thorough, but narrow as regards activities, the classes of workers involved, and the areas from which they are drawn. There is little inter-union organisation or solidarity, little class-consciousness, and a general avoidance of political activity.
It is proposed here to describe the trade union movement as the writer has hitherto seen it, in a little greater detail, in the hope that it will be of interest to Western readers, and will give some idea of present conditions and possibilities of development. The writer's observations are limited to the Bombay Presidency and the Punjab, but conversations and published reports enable it to be said that statements applicable to those Provinces are fairly sound in regard to the rest of India, apart, perhaps, from Madras.
There are several unions which aim at covering the whole of India. They are mainly of long standing, contain only upper grade workers, and remain practically aloof from the general movement.2 The All-India Postal and R.M.S. Association and the All-India Postal and Lower Grade Staff Union are loose federations of provincial and local unions. In some places one or other is split, so that in these towns there are three Postal unions with perhaps not more than one or two hundred members each. Poona and Baroda are examples. The Association was founded in 1906, and is well established, with nearly 40,000 members and a fund of perhaps a lakh of rupees. The Union arose from local unions founded in 1918 and later. Both are recognised by the Government.
The All-India Telegraph Association was founded in 1908, and has about 3,000 members and substantial funds. A split occurred in 1923, when the All-India Telegraph Union was formed. The Association contains all the Anglo-Indian and European members, while the Union has only Indians. The lower grade employees have several separate local unions.
There are other All-India federations such as that of the Currency Office Associations.
The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India and Burma has 2,250 members, almost all Anglo-Indians and Europeans (drivers, guards, &c.). It was founded in 1898, and is thus the oldest union in India. It is strictly non-political and tends to separate its members from other railway employees. It tried, successfully, to keep its members at work during the N.W. Railway strike of 1925. There should also be mentioned the All-India Railwaymen's Federation, founded in 1925, after similar attempts had been made in 1921. It includes most of the railway unions, but its existence is only nominal. During the N.W.R. strike of 1925 it sent its secretary to the scene of action, but, according to Mr. Miller's report, he confined himself to mediation, and when that failed, to delivering defeatist speeches. During the B.N.R. strike of this year the federation was entirely inactive.
The G.I.P. railway has at present four separate unions, all situated at Bombay. One is for the Bombay shops, two for the headquarters clerical staff, and one for the suburban stationmasters, clerks, &c. The total membership is 5,000 to 6,000. The railway employs in all over 100,000 men. It is perhaps not an accident that the shop union, while perhaps less successful than the others in remedying grievances, &c., is the only one affiliated to the T.U.C. or the Central Labour Board, and has recently established a branch at Kalyan. The B.B.C.I. Railway has three separate unions, one with about 2,000 shopmen at Bombay, one with 6,000 members of all grades at Ahmedabad, and one at Ajmer. Even the N.W.R. has had separate unions at Karachi and Sukkur, but these are dying out. A separate union of railway clerks has recently been formed at Lahore, but it adopted Mr. Miller as its president, and is the result rather of discontent with the old union than of sectarian aims. Other militants, headed by Miller, have also recently broken away from this union and begun to organise a new one.
The N.W.R. union, at one time probably the most powerful union in Asia, really requires separate treatment. It began to organise in 1920, and in the same year fought a long and successful strike. The membership soon afterwards reached 85,000, out of about 125,000 then employed, and included all grades, among them a substantial proportion of the Europeans. It has fallen since then, with a temporary revival in 1925, owing partly to the general stabilisation of conditions, but also because of the special measures taken against it on account of the strategic importance of the line. Mr. Miller was imprisoned, other leading members were suborned, "tame" rival unions started, and so on. The paying membership of the existing recognised union is about 2,000.
Unions are now in most cases confined practically if not formally to, upper or skilled grades of workers. Thus, the Bombay Port Trust has three unions with a purely theoretical joint committee), one for the 600 men on the Port Trust Railway, one for the 1,000 workshopmen, &c., and one for the 1,600 tally clerks, shed superintendents, &c. And this last is the most successful and is the only one "recognised." But the 2,000 or more dock labourers are entirely unorganised. Even in these unions the upper grades are more strongly represented than the lower. The same thing applies in a less degree to the railway shop unions, and to others.
Thus, the Bombay Port Trust Docks Staff Union shows the following composition (May, 1927):—
| Grade | No. Employed | No. in Union | Wage rates (Rs. per mth.) |
| Minor officials | 120 | 105 | 125, 175, 225 (3 grades) |
| Senior clerks | 200 | 175 | 85-110 |
| Junior clerks | 350 | 300 | 50-85 |
| Menial staff | 900 | 550-600 | 18-30 |
Similarly with the G.I.P. Railway Workmen's Union, which has the following membership (roughly) in the Matunga shops:—
| Grade | No. Employed | No. in Union | Wage rates (Rs. per mth.) |
| Foremen | 25 | — | 260- |
| Chargemen | 250 | 10 | 86-140 |
| Mistries | 100 | 25 | 50-85 |
| Workmen | 4,000 | 1,500 | 50-86 |
| Smiths | 700 | 500 | 50-86 |
| Assistants | 2,000 | 500 | 30-40 |
| Apprentices | 100 | 50 | 160-32 |
| Coolies | 1,000 | 100 | 23-29 |
This is partly the result of the natural tendency of the unions to fall into the hands of the more literate members, who in present circumstances do not urgently require the strength to be derived from the solidarity of the lower grades. It is one aspect also of the general difficulty of organising the more illiterate workers, which is exemplified by the failure yet to establish a really successful union in the Bombay textile industry. There are here two unions, the Bombay Textile Labour Union, founded January 1, 1926, which has about 7,500 members, and the Girni Kamgar Mahamandal (Mill Workers' Association), founded 1923, with about 3,000. The total number employed is about 150,000. Even the Ahmedabad Textile Workers' Union, with all its resources and traditions, is finding it difficult to keep its members. Though 20,000 strong in 1922, and successful in regaining nearly 15,000 members in two years after the strike of 1923, it is now losing members, and has about 11,000 (out of over 50,000). Similarly the textile unions at Broach and Sholapur have disappeared, though on the other hand one has been recently established at Indore. The migratory character of mill labour, of which much has been said, is decreasing, and is no longer of much importance, at any rate in Bombay.
Many other classes of workers of similar skill and education remain practically or wholly unorganised—in Bombay, building, oil, gas, tramway, and other workers, and generally miners, jute workers, &c. Even when organised, either in their own or in predominantly upper grade unions, workers of this kind tend to form a "floating population" in the union. All textile unions say the same thing. The Bombay Textile Labour Union had in January, 1926, 6,000 members. It increased to over 9,000 by the end of the year, but again fell to just under 7,500 in June, 1927. The Girni Kamgar Mahamandal speaks of a "steady stream of members through the union."
The aims of the present movement are very limited. Though petitions and memoranda are continually being presented on general grievances, such as wages and hours, they are almost always unsuccessful, and there are not the spirit or material resources necessary to conduct a struggle for improvements. Strikes occur fairly frequently, mainly on account of attempts to worsen conditions, or victimisation, which is very common. Employers and managers are almost always arbitrary and provocative in their attitude, except when dealing with superior grades.
The efforts of unions are, therefore, directed mainly towards the remedying of individual complaints, and in this the upper grades are markedly more successful than the lower. The usual complaints are excessive fines, arbitrary dismissals, irregularities in promotions due to bribery and favouritism, &c.
There is a general sentiment in favour of benefit funds. The older unions, especially the A.S.R.S., have them in plenty, but the new unions and the customary contributions (1 to 8 annas per month) are too small to make them generally successful. Many unions already have Death Benefit schemes, and voluntary benefits with special subscriptions are becoming more common.
A few unions conduct educational classes for their members, the Girni Kamgar Mahamandal, the Bombay Postal and Lower Grade Staff Union, and the Ahmedabad Union in particular. (The last-named runs also temperance work, a research department, a hospital, &c.). But the education provided is in all cases the "three R's" (plus religious instruction at Ahmedabad). Mr. Joshi has attempted an inter-union class in the history and principles of Trade Unionism, but without great success.
The organisation of unions is commonly good for the very limited purposes. The proportion of actual to possible members is often high, at any rate for upper grade workers. A committee is appointed in the early stages, usually representative of all grades, and is re-elected at annual meetings. (It is not unusual, after the first month or two, for the annual meetings to be the only occasions on which the mass of members meet or take any part, save payment.) The active officers, owing to the danger of victimisation, are often "outsiders." The union has an office, usually a small room with a typewriter. These are sometimes shared with another union, especially in Bombay, where unions are numerous and rooms expensive. The older and bigger unions have permanent officials, and many of the newer unions in Bombay employ for part of their time the paid servants of the Social Service League or the Central Labour Board. The committees in most cases meet regularly and conduct the small amount of routine business. Rules and reports are published, in many cases in vernacular and English editions. The older unions publish journals, which rival their European counterparts in dullness, and some of the newer ones publish occasional bulletins. Contributions are usually collected at the place of work by committee members, and receipts are passed. A few unions adopt the system of membership cards. The books are in most cases well kept. In short, "Strict Business" might be the motto of Indian Trade Unionism.
A warning should at once be uttered against accepting this as a picture of the movement as a whole. It is correct of those unions of the upper grade type, which are active, as nearly all the Bombay unions are at the moment. But in a few cases there, and in many elsewhere, when demands are temporarily satisfied, or further advance is found to be impossible, or a severe defeat has been suffered, stagnation sets in. The union may simply cease to work, or if individuals try to keep it going, members drop a way. There is little or nothing, material or moral, to keep them together.
It is typical of social conditions generally that women's organisation hardly exists. Women are employed in large numbers, but as lower grade workers. The Girni Kamgar Mahamandal has about twenty women members, and there are a few organised in Ahmedabad and Bengal (jute workers).
Inter-union organisation is not of importance. The All-India T.U.C. contains a majority of the organised workers, though not of the unions. It and its subsidiary bodies, the Provincial Federations (in Bengal, Bombay and Madras, and in a nebulous form in the Central Provinces and the Punjab) exist mainly because they are the representatives of the labour movement officially recognised by the Central and (sometimes) by the Provincial Governments. Owing to the great distances and the general poverty of the movement, meetings can seldom be held between Congresses, and the work done is mainly of a routine character. The members of the unions take little interest in its doings, and if they send delegates they do not usually receive reports.
There is only one body in the country which can in any way be compared to a Trades Council, the Central Labour Board of Bombay.3 And that is solely because of its constitution. It does not work as a Trades Council. It, or rather Mr. Jhabvala, organises separate unions, and sometimes conducts temperance propaganda. The former he does as provincial organiser for the T.U.C., the latter as secretary of the Central Labour Board.
There is commonly great solidarity among members of the same union, especially of the same grade, and strikes often result from this. But general class-consciousness is seldom to be noticed, except among lower grade workers. It may be mentioned that the writer was present at a meeting of railway workers at the time of the agitation against the dispatch of Indian troops to China, and although the men in question have grounds for grievance against the Chinese, who are employed in the railway on the same work for higher pay, they brought forward a young Chinese worker and cheered him loudly as a demonstration of class solidarity.
The first May-day demonstration was held in Bombay this year, and was attended mainly by municipal-, mill-, and railway-men, i.e., by lower and middle grade workers. (It is possible that the upper grade men were kept away by their characteristic petit-bourgeois "respectability complexes.") It should be said that men of the lower grades, though generally unorganised, have some knowledge of what the Labour Movement means. Every worker in Bombay appears to know and respect Jhabvala, just as all Punjab workers know Miller.
A word should be said on the difficulties in labour organisation arising from differences of language, religion, &c. They are no doubt obstructions, but are not as important as is commonly thought in Europe, even in the Punjab, where communal feeling is at its worst.4 The chief difficulty of this nature is due to the relatively large differences in the wage rates of various grades (see tables on page 613). It comes about through the greater effectiveness of upper grade workers in pressing their claims, through the scarcity of persons with elementary or technical education, and partly, no doubt, through a deliberate dividing policy.
The influence of "outsiders" as officials and leaders is a delicate question, and one of great importance. They are certainly necessary, especially for lower grade unions, because of general illiteracy and the risk of victimisation. Only one such union, the Girni Kamgar Mahamandal, is carried on nominally without outside helpers. They tend to be eliminated for practical purposes by upper grade unions, when the need for them disappears. But it is the writer's impression that the present "outsiders" as a whole deserve their bad name. Many enter the movement with interested motives, and though they may promote efficiency they are not to be relied upon. A notorious case is that of the B.N. Railway strike of this year. Even if, as is often the case, their motives are purely unselfish, they generally strengthen the sectarian and otherwise reactionary tendencies to which the movement is so prone. The Ahmedabad Union is perhaps the worst case. Here the President is an ordinary humanitarian, a member of a mill-owning family, and a conscious advocate of class-collaboration. Other officials, though they see something of its dangers, allow themselves to be completely led by Gandhi, whose policy is (in most respects, but not all) the same.
Bombay is blessed with disinterested and not unprogressive leaders. The Punjab is not so fortunate. The policy of the officially recognised body is one of sheer servility. Bengal has officials of both kinds, and has for years been divided by quarrels, which have more than once split unions, probably of purely personal origin. Many of the unions seem to be of the type described by Mr. Tom Johnston in his report on the jute industry. Three out of the four unions in that industry were bogus, and served merely to advertise their presidents. Madras has leaders who do not commit the usual error of abstaining from political activity, but their politics is not that of the working class. A Labour Party has been established which runs candidates in local elections. These make the grave mistake (in present circumstances) of opposing Congress candidates. The Party in fact seems to be entirely for electoral purposes, which are of very minor importance for labour at the present stage, and to have been organised in support of the reactionary remnants of the Home Rule League.
The acknowledged national leader of the trade union movement is Mr. N.M. Joshi, the General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress. With all respect it must be said that he is as much out of place in his position as, let as say, Mr. Sidney Webb would be as Secretary of the Miners' Federation. He carries on his work with the same disinterested care that Mr. Webb would no doubt devote to the position suggested, and undoubtedly does the best that is possible along his lines. But his function is observation, research and the drafting of Bills, not leadership.
Enough has now been said to give some idea of the movement as it stands. It is clear that the most important circumstances determining the present phase are the economic stability and the political deadness—the slow collapse of bourgeois nationalism, and the continued paralysis of the petit-bourgeoisie.
India can expect on general grounds a prosperous industrial future. But Indian industry and economics generally are still very closely dependent upon Britain, which is becoming more and more a broken reed in these matters. And it is almost certain that the immediate political future of the British Empire, and Asia generally, is a stormy one. It seems in any case safe to prophesy that the decades of peaceful progress, which many Indian leaders, apparently on the example of Britain, appear to expect, will not materialise. But it is even safer to predict that the present political quiescence in the country will not last for more than a year or two. The petit-bourgeoisie in the national movement are beginning to revolt against the bourgeois leadership, the last remnants of which are fast going over to the Imperialist camp, in preparation for the Statutory Commission. It is to be expected, in view of the generally difficult position of British capitalism, that they will not be disappointed. Substantial concessions, probably "Dominion Status," &c., will be offered, and obviously the whole of the bourgeois political school will accept them thankfully. All pretence of Swarajist opposition will probably disappear fairly quickly. The mantle of nationalism will fall upon the shoulders of the petit-bourgeoisie, who will be forced to seek the assistance of the Labour Movement. (The example of Ireland must not be taken too seriously, as there the civil war upset the "normal" course of events.) The emergence of the Workers' and Peasants' Parties, of which four,5 counting the Young India Society of the Punjab, now in existence, shows this tendency. They have already made some impression upon the Labour Movement. Owing partly to their influence the T.U.C. at its last session carried a resolution in favour of industrial unionism. Unfortunately, a last-minute amendment by a railway representative was accepted, substituting "federations of unions" for "unions." Thus the resolution, which might have had some little effect, was rendered absolutely useless, by the action of the industry which stood most to gain, at the moment, from its application.
In Bombay in particular, the Workers' and Peasants' Party is carrying on propaganda for greater activity in the unions (some unions. have now commenced monthly general meetings) and for the transformation of the Central Labour Board into a genuine Trades Council, &c. It is clear from what has been said above that they will have largely to depend upon what has here been called "lower grade" labour, and the solution of the still unsolved problem of the organisation of the great mass of Indian Labour probably lies with them.
There is a general realisation in political circles of the future importance of the Labour Movement, and though nothing is done, Congress leaders speak more frequently than ever of Labour work. At the Delhi Congress, two leaders, Mr. Chaman Lal and Lala Lajpat Rai, who had been out of touch with labour for some years, reappeared. The former rejoined the movement because, after three years of Swarajist politics, he realises that bourgeois nationalism is dead, and that the future conduct of the struggle will depend upon Labour. The latter came for exactly the contrary reason, that he saw the future danger, for the bourgeoisie, and wished to check it in time.6 The struggle between Nationalism and Imperialism for the possession of the Labour Movement has begun. When it has fully opened out, the next great stage in the history of Indian Labour will have commenced.
Notes
1. Practically the only pure craft unions, apart from the Mechanical Engineers' Association of Akola, which could almost be called a professional association, are those constituting the Ahmedabad Textile Workers' Union. It is significant of the atmosphere in which this union, and indeed the movement generally, works, that craft unionism having been introduced, some workers demand more of it than their officials are willing to give them.
2. Only the Bombay section of the Postmen's Union has been affiliated to the T.U.C., and has recently withdrawn because of the protest made by the Delhi T.U.C. against the dispatch of Indian troops to China. About the same time the Department of Posts and Telegraphs announced that unions of its employees must not affiliate to the T.U.C., as the latter is a political body.
3. The Provincial Federations of course tend to become in practice confined to Madras City, Calcutta, &c. And there is in Rangoon a general labour union with 10,000 members from different industries. It appears to be an unusually successful lower grade organisation, and is probably in practice nearer to a genuine Trades Council than any other.
4. Efforts are occasionally made by employers to arouse communal passions, e.g., recently in the Bombay Port Trust Docks Staff Union, and previously in the N.W.R. union. Neither had any success. In fact only three cases have come to the writer's notice. The Moslems have recently withdrawn almost en bloc from the Ahmedabad Weavers' Union. The Punjab Press Workers' Union is said to have collapsed last year from this cause, but it was in any case a feeble body. The Indian Seamen's Union, Bombay, has split nominally on this ground. Many of the saloon crews (Indian Christians, mainly Goanese) have withdrawn to form a new union, as the old one also contains engine and deck hands (non-Christians, mainly Mohammedans). Communal feeling is present, but the split was promoted by the shipowners and brokers, because the old union was opening its doors to the other crews, and was trying to extend its activities beyond the traditional limits of a mere employment bureau. The differences which often separate Indians from Anglo-Indians and Europeans are economic. The latter are invariably privileged, and often paid much higher rates.
5. In Bengal, Bombay, Rajputana (Ajmer) and the Punjab. The Punjab Society was the first to organise a May-day demonstration in India, in Lahore in 1926. The Bombay Party has established itself as leader of the opposition in the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee. It organised the May-day demonstration this year, and is leading the present (end of August) strike of protest against the attempt to make the weavers in some mills work three looms instead of two.
6. Cf. his remarks in the People (Lahore, March 20, 1927) on the Delhi session of the Trades Union Congress: "It (the Labour Movement) is a tender plant which requires careful nursing—careful watering and protection from the rigours of the climate. . . . What the Indian worker wants is not dogma, but help in organising, and in the redress of his grievances against the Government and the employers. To feed him on doctrines . . . . is to lead him astray."
http://www.marxists.org/archive/spratt/1927/10/x01.htm
Trade union
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English) is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file[1] members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. The agreements negotiated by the union leaders are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers.
Originating in Europe, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution, when the lack of skill necessary to perform most jobs shifted employment bargaining power almost completely to the employers' side, causing many workers to be mistreated and underpaid. Trade union organisations may be composed of individual workers, professionals, past workers, or the unemployed. The most common, but by no means only, purpose of these organizations is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment".[2]
Over the last three hundred years, many trade unions have developed into a number of forms, influenced by differing political objectives. Activities of trade unions vary, but may include:
- Provision of benefits to members: Early trade unions, like Friendly Societies, often provided a range of benefits to insure members against unemployment, ill health, old age and funeral expenses. In many developed countries, these functions have been assumed by the state; however, the provision of professional training, legal advice and representation for members is still an important benefit of trade union membership.
- Collective bargaining: Where trade unions are able to operate openly and are recognized by employers, they may negotiate with employers over wages and working conditions.
- Industrial action: Trade unions may enforce strikes or resistance to lockouts in furtherance of particular goals.
- Political activity: Trade unions may promote legislation favorable to the interests of their members or workers as a whole. To this end they may pursue campaigns, undertake lobbying, or financially support individual candidates or parties (such as the Labour Party in Britain) for public office.
[edit] History
 | The examples and perspective in this article or section might have an extensive bias or disproportional coverage towards USA. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
The origins of unions' existence can be traced from the eighteenth century, where the rapid expansion of industrial society drew women, children, rural workers, and immigrants to the work force in numbers and in new roles. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings,[2] and would later be an important arena for the development of trade unions. Trade unions as such were endorsed by the Catholic Church towards the end of the 19th Century. Pope Leo XIII in his 'Magna Carta': Rerum Novarum, spoke against the atrocities workers faced and demanded that workers should be granted certain rights and safety regulations. [3]
[edit] Origins and early history
Trade unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of medieval Europe, though the relationship between the two is disputed.[4] Medieval guilds existed to protect and enhance their members' livelihoods through controlling the instructional capital of artisanship and the progression of members from apprentice to craftsman, journeyman, and eventually to master and grandmaster of their craft. A trade union might include workers from only one trade or craft, or might combine several or all the workers in one company or industry.
Trade unions and/or collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the fourteenth century when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England. Union organizing would eventually be outlawed everywhere and remain so until the middle of the nineteenth century.
Since the publication of the History of Trade Unionism (1894) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, the predominant historical view is that a trade union "is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment."[2] A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a trade union is "an organization consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members."[5]
Yet historian R.A. Leeson, in United we Stand (1971), said:
Two conflicting views of the trade-union movement strove for ascendancy in the nineteenth century: one the defensive-restrictive guild-craft tradition passed down through journeymen's clubs and friendly societies, ... the other the aggressive-expansionist drive to unite all 'laboring men and women' for a 'different order of things'.
Recent historical research by Bob James [disambiguation needed] in Craft, Trade or Mystery (2001) puts forward the view that trade unions are part of a broader movement of benefit societies, which includes medieval guilds, Freemasons, Oddfellows, friendly societies, and other fraternal organizations.
The 18th century economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners (or "masters"). In The Wealth of Nations, Book I, chapter 8, Smith wrote:
We rarely hear, it has been said, of the combination of masters, though frequently of those of workmen. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor above their actual rate[.]When workers combine, masters ... never cease to call aloud for the assistance of the civil magistrate, and the rigorous execution of those laws which have been enacted with so much severity against the combination of servants, laborers, and journeymen.
As Smith noted, unions were illegal for many years in most countries (and Smith argued that schemes to fix wages or prices, by employees or employers, should be). There were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. Despite this, unions were formed and began to acquire political power, eventually resulting in a body of labor law that not only legalized organizing efforts, but codified the relationship between employers and those employees organized into unions. Even after the legitimization of trade unions there was opposition, as the case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs shows.
The right to join a trade union is mentioned in article 23, subsection 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which also states in article 20, subsection 2 that "No one may be compelled to belong to an association". Prohibiting a person from joining or forming a union, as well as forcing a person to do the same (e.g. "closed shops" or "union shops", see below), whether by a government or by a business, is generally considered a human rights abuse. Similar allegations can be leveled if an employer discriminates based on trade union membership. Attempts by an employer, often with the help of outside agencies, to prevent union membership amongst their staff is known as union busting.
[edit] Europe
In France, Germany, and other European countries, socialist parties and democrats played a prominent role in forming and building up trade unions, especially from the 1870s onwards. This stood in contrast to the British experience, where moderate New Model Unions dominated the union movement from the mid-nineteenth century and where trade unionism was stronger than the political labor movement until the formation and growth of the Labour Party in the early years of the twentieth century.
[edit] Unions in the United States
[edit] 19th Century American Unionism
In the early 1800s many men from large cities put together the organization which we now call the Trade Union Movement. Individuals who were members of unions at this time were skilled, experienced, and knew how to get the job done. Their main reasoning for starting this movement was to put on strikes. However, they did not have enough men to fulfill their needs and the unions which began this trendy movement, collapsed quickly. The Mechanics' Union Trade Association was the next approach to bring workers together. In 1827, this union was the first U.S. labor organization which brought together workers of divergent occupations. This was "the first city-wide federation of American workers, which recognized that all labor, regardless of trades, had common problems that could be solved only by united effort as a class."[6] This organization took off when carpentry workers from Philadelphia went on strike to protest their pay wages and working hours. This union strike was only a premonition of what was to come in the future.
According to history.com:[7]
| " | Besides acting to raise wages and improve working conditions, the federations espoused certain social reforms, such as the institution of free public education, the abolition of imprisonment for debt, and the adoption of universal manhood suffrage. Perhaps the most important effect of these early unions was their introduction of political action. | " |
Workers realized what unionism was all about through the configuration of mechanics association and many people followed in their footsteps. The strike gave others hope that they could get their concerns out by word of mouth. Before this time many people did not speak about their concerns because of the lack of bodies. However, with more people comes more confidence. Strikes were a new way of speaking your mind and getting things accomplished.
The next established union which made an impact on the trade movement was the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union. This union was founded in 1834 as the first domestic association. However, this union was short lived due to the panic of 1837. "[Andrew] Jackson thought the Bank of the United States hurt ordinary citizens by exercising too much control over credit and economic opportunity, and he succeeded in shutting it down. But the state banks' reckless credit policies led to massive speculation in Western lands. By 1837, after Van Buren had become president, banks were clearly in trouble. Some began to close, businesses began to fail, and thousands of people lost their land." [8] This collapse of financial support and businesses left workers unemployed. Many of these workers, who became affected by the 1837 disaster, were members of a union. It was very hard for them to stay together in an economic hardship and the trade union movement came to a bump in the road. But the economy was restored by the early 1840s and trade unions started doing better. National labor unions were forming, different than ones in the past, consisting now of members of the same occupation.
The work force was drastically impacted by the Civil War and the economy was thriving. Many workers gained employment because of this economic boom and unions increased greatly. "More than 30 national craft unions were established during the 1860s and early '70s."[7] One of the significant national craft unions to be formed during this time was the National Labor Union (NLU). It was created in 1866 and included many types of workers.[9] Although relatively short-lived, the NLU paved the way for future American unions. Following the decline of the NLU, the Knights of Labor became the leading countrywide union in the 1860s. This union did not include Chinese, and partially included black people and women.[10]
[edit] Knights of Labor
The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor (KOL) was founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by Uriah Stephens and six other men. The union was formed for the purpose of organizing, educating and directing the power of the industrial masses, according to their Constitution of 1878.[11] The Knights gathered people to join the Order who believed in creating "the greatest good to the greatest amount of people". The Knights took their set goals very seriously. Some of which consisted of "productive work, civic responsibility, education, a wholesome family life, temperance, and self-improvement."[12]
The Knights of Labor worked as a secret fraternal society until 1881. The union grew slowly until the economic depression of the 1870s, when large numbers of workers joined the organization.[13] The Knights only permitted certain groups of individuals into their Order which promoted social division amongst the people around them. Bankers, speculators, lawyers, liquor dealers, gamblers, and teachers were all excluded from the union. These workers were known as the "non-producers" because their jobs did not entail physical labor. Factory workers and business men were known as the "producers" because their job constructed a physical product. The working force producers were welcomed into the Order. Women were also welcome to join the Knights, as well as black workers by the year 1883.[14] However, Asians were excluded. In November 1885, the Knights of a Washington city pushed to get rid of their Asian population. The knights were strongly for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 because it greatly helped them deteriorate the Asian community. "The Act required the few non-laborers who sought entry to obtain certification from the Chinese government that they were qualified to immigrate. But this group found it increasingly difficult to prove that they were not laborers because the 1882 act defined excludables as 'skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining.' Thus very few Chinese could enter the country under the 1882 law." [15]
The act also stated that if an Asian left the country, they needed a certificate to re-enter.
Although Asians were not welcomed in the union, black workers who joined the union brought a large number of blacks into the white labor movement. In 1886, the Union exceeded 700,000 members, 60,000 of them black. The Knights were told that they "broke the walls of prejudice"; the "color line had been broken and black and white were found working in the same cause. The American Federation of Labor (AFL),founded by Samuel Gompers, was established due to the vexation of many Knights who parted from the KOL. Many Knights joined the AFL because they set themselves apart from the KOL. They "tried to teach the American wage-earner that he was a wage-earner first and a bricklayer, carpenter, miner [...] after. This meant that the Order was teaching something that was not so in the hope that sometime it would be.' But the AFL affiliates organized carpenters as carpenters, bricklayers as bricklayers, and so forth, teaching them all to place their own craft interests before those of other workers." [16] The AFL also differed from the KOL because it only allowed associations to be formed from workers and workers were the only people permitted to join them. Unlike the AFL, the knights also allowed small businesses to join. A small business is "An independently owned and operated business that is not dominant in its field of operation and conforms to standards set by the Small Business Administration or by state law regarding number of employees and yearly income called also small business concern."[17] Since the knights allowed an array of members into their association, they ended up getting rid of many because they did not fit the title. However, the AFL was right behind them picking up their pieces. This was another way in which the AFL helped to destroy the Knights. Once an associate was no longer a knight, and they fit the description of an AFL member, they hunted them down and offered them a spot. Many times spots were offered to men who were still Knights. This allowed the AFL to grow very strong with a diverse set of members.
The diversity in the AFL faltered when many of the black members were excluded. Gompers only wanted skilled workers representing his union and many black people were not considered skilled. The AFL claimed to not exclude the black members because of their race but because they were not qualified for the part. "So as long as wages rose, and they did, hours fell, and they did, security increased, and it appeared to, the AFL could grow fat while neglecting millions of laborers doomed to lives of misery and want."[18] Even black workers considered skilled enough to fit the part were generally excluded from the Union. The AFL conducted literacy tests which had the effect of excluding immigrants and blacks. Regardless of black members being excluded, the AFL was the most prevalent union federation in America before the mid 1940s. The union was composed of over 10 million members before it combined with the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO).
[edit] Congress of Industrial Organizations
The CIO was put forth by John L. Lewis when troubles with the AFL persisted, after the death of Gompers in 1924. Many members of the union requested that they switch the rules which were laid out by Gompers. They wanted to support inexperienced workmen rather than only focusing on experienced workers of one occupation. John L. Lewis was the first member of the AFL to act upon this issue in 1935. He was the founder of the Committee for the Industrial Organization which was an original union branched from the AFL. The Committee for the Industrial Organization transformed into the Congress of Industrial Organization. "The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) encompassed the largest sustained surge of worker organization in American history."[19] In the 1930s, the CIO grabbed many of their member's attention through victorious strikes. In the 1935, employees of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company formed their own union called the United Rubber Workers. The Rubber Workers went on strike in 1936 to protest an increase in product with lower pay wages. "There were forty-eight strikes in 1936 in which the strikers remained at their jobs for at least one day; in twenty-two of these work stoppages, involving 34,565 workers, the strikers stayed inside the plants for more than twenty-four hours."[20] This tactic was called a "sit-down" strike which entailed workers to stop doing their job and sit in their place of employment. During these strikes, business owners were unable to bring in new workers to replace the ones who were on strike because they were still in their seats at the factory. This was unlike any strikes in the past. Before this time, workers showed their fury by leaving their factory and standing in picket lines.Walter Reuther was in control of the union at this time and moved forward to higher roles during 1955.
[edit] AFL-CIO
On May 5, 1955, labor delegates gathered in NY on behalf of 16 million workers, to witness and support the merger of The American Federation of Labor and The Congress of Industrial Organization. The merger is a result of 20 years of effort put forth by both the AFL and CIO presidents, George Meany and Walter Reuther. The gathered delegates applauded loudly when the time came to nominate officers for the new AFL-CIO. Reuther who was named one of the 37 vice presidents of the union, nominated Meany for President. After Meany's retirement in 1979, Lane Kirkland took over his position. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was elected in 1952, was the first to publicly address and congratulate the new union, which was now the largest in the world.
In Eisenhower's telephone broadcast to the United States he acknowledged the impact union members had made to better the nation and one of these impacts was "the development of the American philosophy of labor."[21] Eisenhower states three principles which he feels apply to the philosophy of labor. The first principles states that: "the ultimate values of mankind are spiritual; these values include liberty, human dignity, opportunity and equal rights and justice."[21] Eisenhower was stating that every individual deserves a job with decent compensation, practical hours, and good working conditions that leave them feeling fulfilled. His second principle speaks of the economic interest of the employer and employee being a mutual prosperity.[21] The employers and employees must work together in order for there to be the greatest amount of wealth for all. Workers have a right to strike when they feel their boundaries are being crossed and the best way for the employer to fix the employees unhappiness is to come to a mutual agreement. His last principle which he preached stated: "labor relations will be managed best when worked out in honest negotiation between employers and unions, without Government's unwarranted interference."[21] Eisenhower was saying that when both parties cooperate and act in mature fashion, it will be easier to work out situations and a better outcome will result because of it. Once he was done delivering the speech, everyone across the U.S. knew of the new AFL-CIO whose "mission was to bring social and economic justice to our nation by enabling working people to have a voice on the job, in government, in a changing global economy and in their communities." [22]
This new alliance is made up of 56 nationwide and intercontinental labor unions. The unions which are a part of this alliance are composed of 2.5 million working Americans and 8.5 million other affiliated members. These members do not fall under one job title but they are very diversely spread out among the working area. Their jobs go from doctors to truck drivers and painters to bankers. The mission of these workers and the AFL-CIO "is to improve the lives of working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our nation. To accomplish this mission we will build and change the American labor movement."[23] The AFL-CIO also has many goals which coincide with their mission:
"We will build a broad movement of American workers by organizing workers into unions. We will build a strong political voice for workers in our nation. We will change our unions to provide a new voice to workers in a changing economy. We will change our labor movement by creating a new voice for workers in our communities."[23]
The association was willing to go to any extent to help out their employers which is why the membership was so high. Members started to slowly disappear after 25 successful years of a steady membership. Starting out with 16 million members in 1955 and dropping down to 13 million by 1984 is a significant loss. This loss of members is in large part due to the 1957 removal of the Teamsters' Union who were long time members of the AFL. The Teamsters' were involved in organized crime and manipulating employers with strong force. The Teamsters' philosophy was to
"Let each member do his duty as he sees fit. Let each put his shoulder to the wheel and work together to bring about better results. Let no member sow seeds of discord within our ranks, and let our enemies see that the Teamsters of this country are determined to get their just rewards and to make their organization as it should be -- one of the largest and strongest trade unions in the country now and beyond."[24]
This philosophy did not work well for Teamster presidents Beck, Hoffa, and Williams who were all accused of criminal acts and sent to prison. In 1987 the AFL-CIO membership grew to 14 million members when the Teamsters Union was restored to the association.
The AFL-CIO also lost many members due to financial struggles in the United States. During the late 1900's the U.S. dollar began to oscillate due to rivalry with foreign countries and their coinage. This affects global trafficking and results in job loss for American citizens. The issues between the United States and foreign countries cannot be resolved by Eisenhower's third principle, which entailed honest negotiations. Consequently, the association has been dynamically supportive in administration policies which deal with global trafficking, the production of goods, and many other issues, which are optimistic policies that will add to an established financial system.
The AFL-CIO is now governed by a gathering of delegates who are present on behalf of association members who meet every four years. The delegates who are the spokespeople of the federation members are chosen by union members. While the delegates vote for new representatives every four years, they also lay down the goals and policies for the union. The most recent representatives for the organization along with 45 vice presidents are President John J. Sweeny, Secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka, and executive vice president Arlene Holt Baker
In the United States there are a total of 15.4 million union members, "11 million of whom belong to unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO."[25] This number has grown rapidly since the beginning of the union movement because today, all individuals with different occupations are welcomed to join unions. "Today's unions include manufacturing and construction workers, teachers, technicians and doctors—and every type of worker in between. No matter what you do for a living, there's a union that has members who do the same thing."[25] Educating union members about issues that shape lives of functioning families on a daily basis is one of the AFL-CIO's policies. They give them confidence to have their voices heard for political purposes. They also prioritize in
"creating family-supporting jobs by investing tax dollars in schools, roads, bridges and airports; improving the lives of workers through education, job training and raising the minimum wage; keeping good jobs at home by reforming trade rules, reindustrializing the U.S. economy and redoubling efforts at worker protections in the global economy; strengthening Social Security and private pensions; making high-quality, affordable health care available to everyone; and holding corporations more accountable for their actions."[25]
The AFL-CIO is very supportive of political issues and they show their concern by giving out information about existing political issues to families. This information is spread by volunteers and activists and includes where all the candidates stand on the issues.
[edit] Mexico
Before the 1990s, unions in Mexico have been historically part of a state institutional system. In the 1940-1980 period, between the end of the Mexican revolution in 1940, till the 1980s worldwide spread of neo-liberalism through the Washington Consensus, the Mexican unions have not operated independently, but have been instead part of a state institutional system, largely controlled by the ruling party.[26]
During this 40 years, the primary aim of the labor unions was not to benefit the workers, but to carry out the state economic policy, under their cozy relationship with the ruling party. This economic policy, which peaked in the 1950-60s with the so called Mexican Miracle, saw rising incomes and rising standards of living, but only a minor part went to the workers, while the primary beneficiaries had been the wealthy.[26]
When in the 1980s Mexico began to follow Washington Consensus, and sell of state industries (railroad, telecommunication) to private industries, the new owners had an antagonist attitude towards unions, and the unions, used to the cozy relationship with the state, was not prepared to fight back. A movement of new unions began to emerge, with a more independent model, while the old institutionalized unions had become very corrupt, violent and gangsterized. From the 1990s the new model of independent unions prevailed, and a number of them were represented by the National Union of Workers.[26]
[edit] Australia
Supporters of Unions, such as the ACTU or Australian Labor Party, often credit trade unions with leading the labor movement in the early 20th century, which generally sought to end child labor practices, improve worker safety, increase wages for both union workers and non union workers, raise the entire society's standard of living, reduce the hours in a work week, provide public education for children, and bring other benefits to working class families.[27]
[edit] Structure and politics
Union structures, politics, and legal status vary greatly from country to country. For specific country details see List of trade unions.
Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers (craft unionism), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism). These unions are often divided into "locals", and united in national federations. These federations themselves will affiliate with Internationals, such as the International Trade Union Confederation.
A union may acquire the status of a "juristic person" (an artificial legal entity), with a mandate to negotiate with employers for the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to engage in collective bargaining with the employer (or employers) over wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The inability of the parties to reach an agreement may lead to industrial action, culminating in either strike action or management lockout, or binding arbitration. In extreme cases, violent or illegal activities may develop around these events.
In other circumstances, unions may not have the legal right to represent workers, or the right may be in question. This lack of status can range from non-recognition of a union to political or criminal prosecution of union activists and members, with many cases of violence and deaths having been recorded both historically and contemporarily.[28][29]
Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle. Social Unionism encompasses many unions that use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favorable to their members or to workers in general. As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties.
Unions are also delineated by the service model and the organizing model. The service model union focuses more on maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving disputes. Alternately, the organizing model typically involves full-time union organizers, who work by building up confidence, strong networks, and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. Many unions are a blend of these two philosophies, and the definitions of the models themselves are still debated.
Although their political structure and autonomy varies widely, union leaderships are usually formed through democratic elections.
Some research, such as that conducted by the ACIRRT,[30] argues that unionized workers enjoy better conditions and wages than those who are not unionized.
In Britain, the perceived left-leaning nature of trade unions has resulted in the formation of a reactionary right-wing trade union called Solidarity which is supported by the far-right BNP.
[edit] Shop types
Companies that employ workers with a union generally operate on one of several models:
- A closed shop (US) or a "pre-entry closed shop" (UK) employs only people who are already union members. The compulsory hiring hall is an example of a closed shop — in this case the employer must recruit directly from the union, as well as the employee working strictly for unionized employers.
- A union shop (US) or a "post-entry closed shop" (UK) employs non-union workers as well, but sets a time limit within which new employees must join a union.
- An agency shop requires non-union workers to pay a fee to the union for its services in negotiating their contract. This is sometimes called the Rand formula. In certain situations involving state public employees in the United States, such as California, "fair share laws" make it easy to require these sorts of payments.
- An open shop does not require union membership in employing or keeping workers. Where a union is active, workers who do not contribute to a union still benefit from the collective bargaining process. In the United States, state level right-to-work laws mandate the open shop in some states.
[edit] Diversity of international unions
Labor law varies from country to country, as does the function of unions. For example, in Germany only open shops are legal; that is, all discrimination based on union membership is forbidden. This affects the function and services of the union. In addition, German unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in corporate boards and co-determination than have unions in the United States. (newsletter/files/BTS012EN_12-15.pdf).
In Britain, a series of laws introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government restricted closed and union shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal. In the United States, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the closed shop, but permitted the union shop unless the state government chose to prohibit it.
In addition, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with a political party intended to represent the interests of working people. Typically this is a left-wing, socialist, or social democratic party, but many exceptions exist. In the United States, by contrast, although it is historically aligned with the Democratic Party, the labor movement is by no means monolithic on that point; this is especially true among the individual "rank and file" members. For example, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has supported Republican Party candidates on a number of occasions and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980. (However, when PATCO went on strike in violation of their "no strike" contract, President Reagan ordered them back to work. Those who didn't return to the job were fired and replaced, effectively destroying PATCO.) In Britain the labor movement's relationship with the Labour Party is fraying as party leadership embarks on privatization plans at odds with what unions see as the worker's interests. On top of this in the past there as been a group known as the Conservative Trade Unionists or CTU. A group formed of people who sympathized with right wing Tory policy but were Trade Unionists.
In Western Europe, professional associations often carry out the functions of a trade union. In these cases, they may be negotiating for white-collar workers, such as physicians, engineers, or teachers. Typically such trade unions refrain from politics or pursue a more ordoliberal politics than their blue-collar counterparts[citation needed].
In Germany the relation between individual employees and employers is considered to be asymmetrical. In consequence, many working conditions are not negotiable due to a strong legal protection of individuals. However, the German flavor or works legislation has as its main objective to create a balance of power between employees organized in unions and employers organized in employers associations. This allows much wider legal boundaries for collective bargaining, compared to the narrow boundaries for individual negotiations. As a condition to obtain the legal status of a trade union, employee associations need to prove that their leverage is strong enough to serve as a counterforce in negotiations with employers. If such an employees association is competing against another union, its leverage may be questioned by unions and then evaluated in a court trial. In Germany only very few professional associations obtained the right to negotiate salaries and working conditions for their members, notably the medical doctors association Marburger Bund and the pilots association Vereinigung Cockpit. The engineers association Verein Deutscher Ingenieure does not strive to act as a union, as it also represents the interests of engineering businesses.
Finally, the structure of employment laws affects unions' roles and how they carry out their business. In many western European countries wages and benefits are largely set by governmental action. The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Historically, the Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate but collective bargaining has been legal only if held in sessions before the lunar new year. In totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany, Trade Unions were outlawed. In the Soviet Union and China, unions have typically been de facto government agencies devoted to smooth and efficient operation of government enterprises.
[edit] Criticism
Trade unions have been accused of benefiting insider workers, those having secure jobs, at the cost of outsider workers, consumers of the goods or services produced, and the shareholders of the unionized business. Those who are likely to be disadvantaged most from unionization are the unemployed, those at risk of unemployment, or workers who are unable to get the job they want in a particular line of work.[31]
In the United States, the outsourcing of labor to Asia, Latin America, and Africa has been partially driven by increasing costs of union partnership, which gives other countries a comparative advantage in labor, making it more efficient to perform labor-intensive work there.[32] Milton Friedman, Nobel economist an advocate of laissez-faire capitalism sought to show that unionization produces higher wages (for the union members) at the expense of fewer jobs, and that, if some industries are unionized while others are not, wages will tend to decline in non-unionized industries.[33]
Trade unions have been said to have ineffective policies on racism and sexism, such that a union is justified in not supporting a member taking action against another member. This was demonstrated by the 1987 judgment in the Weaver v NATFEH case in the UK — in which a black Muslim woman brought a complaint of workplace racist harassment against a co-trade unionist. The finding was that in the event of the union offering assistance to the plaintiff it would be in violation of the union's duty to protect the tenure of the accused member and the judgment still sets the precedent for cases of this kind that union members who make complaints to the employer of racist or sexist harassment against member(s) of the same union cannot obtain union advice or assistance; this applies irrespective of the merit of the complaint.[34]
Unions are sometimes accused of holding society to ransom by taking strike actions that result in the disruption of public services.[35][36]
[edit] Worldwide Union and by Region and Country
[edit] Worldwide and International Cooperation
The largest organization in the world is the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation, which today has approximately 309 affiliated organizations in 156 countries and territories, with a combined membership of 166 million. Other global trade union organizations include the World Federation of Trade Unions.
National and regional trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form global union federations, such as Union Network International, the International Federation of Journalists or the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance.
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[edit] Union publications
Several sources of current news exist about the trade union movement in the world. These include LabourStart and the official website of the international trade union movement Global Unions.
Another source of labor news is the Workers Independent News, a news organization providing radio articles to independent and syndicated radio shows.
Labor Notes is the largest circulation cross-union publication remaining in the United States. It reports news and analysis about labor activity or problems facing the labor movement.
[edit] See also
| Social democracy |
|---|
- Eight-hour day
- Anarcho-syndicalism
- Political Catholicism
- Labor aristocracy
- New Unionism
- Solidarity
- Strike action
- Salt (union organizing)
- Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act
- Syndicalism
- Workers' Memorial Day
- Labour Day
- Labour movement
- Hazards Campaign
- Opposition to trade unions
- Union busting
- Craft unionism
- Directly Affiliated Local Union
- General union
- Industrial unionism
- Labour council
- Trades Hall
- National trade union center
- Anarcho-syndicalism
- AFL-CIO
- Change to Win Federation
- Labor federation competition in the United States
- International Trade Union Confederation
- International Labor Rights Forum
- International Workers Association
[edit] References
- ^ Definition of "rank and file"
- ^ a b c Webb, Sidney; Webb, Beatrice (1920). History of Trade Unionism. Longmans and Co. London. ch. I
- ^ Rerum Novarum
- ^ Trade Unions and Socialism International Socialist Review, Vol.1 No.10, April 1901.
- ^ "Trade Union Census". Australian Bureau of Statistics. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/9FCBBF538897395ACA2570EC001A6CED?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2006-08-05.
- ^ Foner, Phillip Sheldon. History of the Labor Movement in the United States. International Publishers Co., 1972.
- ^ a b TRADE UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 2008. http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=224387 (accessed April 1, 2009).
- ^ America's Story from America's Library. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/presidents/buren/panic_2 (accessed April 6, 2009).
- ^ Ayers, Edward L. et al.. American Passages: A History of the United States. Vol. 1. Harcourt. pp. 288. ISBN 978-0-4950-5015-5.
- ^ Kennedy, David; Lizabeth Cohen, Thomas Bailey (2006). The American Pageant (Thirteenth Edition ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- ^ 1997. "Knights of Labor constitution of 1878." Knights of Labor Constitution of 1878 1, no. 1: 1. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 24, 2009).
- ^ Fink, Leon. Workingmen's Democracy: The Knights of Labor and America Politics. United States of America: the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 1983.
- ^ "KNIGHTS OF LABOR,," The History Channel website, http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=213962 (accessed Feb 24, 2009).
- ^ "Knights of Labor." Columbia Encyclopedia . Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 24, 2009).
- ^ Chinese Exclusion Act (1882). 1989. http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=47 (accessed March 31, 2009).
- ^ Dubofsky, Melvyn. We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World. 2000.(accessed April 6, 2009).
- ^ Dictionary.com. 2009. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/small%20business?qsrc=2888 (accessed April 6, 2009).
- ^ Dubofsky, Melvyn. We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World. 2000. http://books.google.com/books?id=DmAer6Nz75kC&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5&dq=Knights+of+Labor+competition+with+AFL&source=bl&ots=-k3A0t8rN6&sig=Xt1W6THNjgswcbTwsHoWszrlqa4&hl=en&ei=rrHbSfXBFJvqlQfFrfiUCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#PPP1,M1 (accessed April 6, 2009).
- ^ Zeger, Robert H. The CIO:1935-1955. 1997. http://books.google.com/books?id=ghy45fyXYyoC (accessed April 7, 2009).
- ^ Fine, Sidney. Sit-down: the General Motors Strike of 1936-1937 . 1936. http://books.google.com/books?id=0TkupxD2njcC&pg=PA123&dq=Rubber+Strike+of+1936 (accessed April 6, 2009).
- ^ a b c d Peters, Gerhard. Dwight D. Eisenhower. 1999-2009. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=10394 (accessed April 16, 2009).
- ^ Union Facts. 2009. http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/faq/ (accessed April 7, 2009).
- ^ a b What We Stand for: Mission and Goals of the AFL-CIO . 2009. http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/mission/ (accessed April 20, 2009).
- ^ The Teamster History. http://www.teamster.org/history/teamster-history/overview (accessed April 20, 2009).
- ^ a b c Union Facts. 2009. http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/faq/ (accessed April 200, 2009).
- ^ a b c Dan La Botz US supported economics spurred Mexican emigration, pt.1, interview at The Real News, May 1, 2010
- ^ ACTU, History of the ACTU (website), http://actu.com.au/AboutACTU/HistoryoftheACTU/default.aspx
- ^ ICFTU press release - regarding Cambodia.
- ^ Amnesty International report 23 September 2005 - fear for safety of SINALTRAINAL member José Onofre Esquivel Luna
- ^ Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training report.
- ^ Card David, Krueger Alan. (1995). Myth and measurement: The new economics of the minimum wage. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press.
- ^ Kramarz, Francis (2006-10-19). "Outsourcing, Unions, and Wages: Evidence from data matching imports, firms, and workers". http://www.eco.uc3m.es/temp/agenda/wage102006.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ Friedman, Milton. Price Theory
- ^ "The Legal Ferret.net" http://www.legalferret.net retrieved on 22-Dec-2008
- ^ http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/viewFile/10489/11328
- ^ http://www.indiatogether.org/combatlaw/vol2/issue6/strike.htm
[edit] Further materials
[edit] Books
- The Government of British Trade Unions: A study of Apathy and the Democratic Process in the Transport and General Worker Union by Joseph Goldstein[1]
- The Early English Trade Unions: Documents from Home Office Papers in the Public Record Office by A Aspinall[2]
- Magnificent Journey: The Rise of the Trade Unions, by Francis Williams[3]
- Trade Unions by Allan Flanders[4]
- Trade Union Government and Administration in Great Britain by B C Roberts[5]
- Union Power: The Growth and Challenge in Perspective by Claud Cockburn[6]
- Directory of Employer's Associations, Trade Unions, Joint Organisations &c — No author and produced in paperback[7]
- The History of the TUC (Trades Union Congress) 1868-1968: A pictorial Survey of a Social Revolution — Illustrated with Contemporary Prints, Documents and Photographs, edited by Lionel Birch[8]
- Clarke, T.; Clements, L. (1978). Trade Unions under Capitalism. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. ISBN 0-391-00728-9.
- Panitch, Leo & Swartz, Donald (2003). From consent to coercion: The assault on trade union freedoms, third edition. Ontario: Garamound Press.
- Phil Dine (2007). State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence, McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-148844-0
[edit] Articles
- Charles A. Orr, "Trade Unionism in Colonial Africa" Journal of Modern African Studies, 4 (1966), pp. 65-81
[edit] Films
- The 2000 film Bread and Roses by British director Ken Loach depicted the struggle of cleaners in Los Angeles to fight for better pay, and working conditions, and the right to join a union.
- "Hoffa" A Danny DeVito film (1992): The man who was willing to pay the price for power."Jack Nicholson gives a gigantic powerhouse performance" - The New York Times
- The 1985 documentary film Final Offer by Sturla Gunnarsson and Robert Collision shows the 1984 union contract negotiations with General Motors.
- The 1979 film Norma Rae, directed by Martin Ritt, is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Jordan's successful attempt to unionize her textile factory.
- Other documentaries: Made in L.A. (2007); American Standoff (2002); The Fight in the Fields (1997); With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade (1979); Harlan County USA (1976); The Inheritance (1964)
- Other dramatizations: 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002); Matewan (1987); American Playhouse--"The Killing Floor"(1985); Salt of the Earth (1954); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); Black Fury (1935)
[edit] External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trade unions |
- LabourStart international trade union news service
- New Unionism Network
- Younionize Global Union Directory
- Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)- Australian Council of Trade Unions
- Trade union membership 1993-2003 - European Industrial Relations Observatory report on membership trends in 26 European countries
- Trade Union Ancestors - Listing of 5,000 UK trade unions with histories of main organizations, trade union "family trees" and details of union membership and strikes since 1900.
- TUC History online - History of the British union movement
- Trade EU - European Trade Directory
- Historical memory of the UGT in Catalonia
- Short history of the UGT in Catalonia
[edit] References
- ^ First published by George Allen and Unwin Ltd (London) in 1952, and subject of reprints — Foreword by Arthur Deakin
- ^ Published by Batchworth Press (London) in 1949
- ^ First published by Odhams Press (London) in 1954
- ^ First published by Hutchinson (London) in 1952 and reprinted several times
- ^ First published by The School of Economics/Bell and Sons (London) in 1956 and reprinted
- ^ First published by William Kimber in 1976 (London) ISBN 0718301137
- ^ published by HMSO (Her Majesty's Stationery Office) on 1986 ISBN 11 361250 8
- ^ Published in large paperback by Hamlyn/General Council of Trade Union Congress in 1968 with a foreword by George Woodcock
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