Trade Unions in India - Initial period :

The industrial workforce in India mainly developed after the clothing mills and textile
factories were set up in Bombay and Calcutta, during late 19 th century. During this time ,
since the Britishers were in charge and East India Company governed the industries ,
several incidents of protests and strikes by the workers were seen. Even though the British
Government subsequently passed the First Factories Act in 1881 , it wasn’t until 1918 ,when
B.P Wadia founded the first registered trade-union – Madras Labour Union . In 1920, the first
trade union federation, All India Trade Union Congress, was set up. In the years between
1920 and 1924, rapid growth of unions around the world coupled with factors such as the
First World War and setting up of ILO, there was a steady increase in industrial conflicts,
with over 1000 strikes being recorded. Following the arrest of many trade unionists and
prominent leaders , who were accused of planning a revolution to overthrow the British
government, the Trade Union Act (1926) was passed, which ensured a level playing field
and aided in closer monitoring of Trade Unions.

Post-Independence, many public sector firms came up in India, and workers’ aspirations
began to rise with better quality jobs which ensured a good pay and better quality of life.
Public sector employment was encouraged and many pro-worker legislations. Many trade
unions came up and this saw a peak during the 1980s , owing to market-friendly policies
leading to a rise in support for industrialists .

After the economic liberalisation in 1991, there was a new found aspiration among workers
to shift to the private sector jobs. There was a decline in the creation of public sector
employment and there was a lack of support from the State’s side for protection of workers’
rights.

Hence ,since the pre-independence era, trade union movement has varied across states and
the usual pattern seen is an overlapping set of interactions between the unions and political
leaders and parties.

New generation of trade union leaders in India

Over the years, the industrial sector and labour relations in India have seen a decline in
managerial authority. Earlier, the trade union leaders used to have a lot of power , but with a
change in social composition of the workforce , wherein the workers are young, more skilled,
and literate , and from the urban areas, there has been a shift of power into the hands of
rank and file workers. Trade unions have also changed their role from just protecting the
rights of workers and improving working conditions to focusing on activities such as :

 Communication – by which magazines and newsletters are published to clarify

policies and pass on information about their activities
 Education – Unions have been involved in conducting educational program and skill
development workshops to enhance the worker’s knowledge and keep them aware of
procedures of workplace

Such function were considered to be ancillary functions earlier. Thought this practice was
adopted early by trade unions of other countries, India adopted it late. One such example is
the trade unions in NTPC , Unchahar. Some of the major unions are NTPC Employees’
Union, NTPC Mazdoor Singh and NTPC Power Karamachari which mainly focuses on
providing social security measures at work and ensuring greater participation of workers in
management of enterprises. These unions are also active in organising development
programs on subjects such as computers and technical skills. Other initiatives include
organising cultural events for worker’s families , which is also essential for a worker to feel
 attached to an organisation. Hence, there is a higher chance of worker staying in a union
which is actively involved in labour welfare, and motivate him to remain attached to it, rather
than joining another union.

New generation of workers

In India , during the 1970s and 1980s, workers were usually categorised as people who
came from economically marginal sections of rural areas and with little literacy. The jobs that
they were given were needed no specific skillsets and they could be replaced any time.
Wages given were low and employers targeted them by enforcing strict rules at the
workplace. There used to be a linkage between caste and occupation , with tribes and lower
castes being used for lower level jobs in organisations.

The current generation of workers are largely middle and upper castes and even those from
rural areas are not from the marginalised groups. Literacy among the workers is high and
with the advent of industries that demand specific technical skills, workers are not seen as
fillers , but as a value add to the organisation. Technologically advanced industries need
workers who are relatively educated and skilled, and they also offer good wages and provide
amicable working conditions. Migration of people from rural areas to urban areas in search
of jobs for a better quality of life has also been another factor behind changing dynamics of
the nature of workers in industries.

Workers come with a certain set of aspirations, which they expect their employer and trade
union leaders will fulfil. However, it is often seen that managers and TU leaders are unaware
of what a worker wants and what are his/her needs and aspirations. Work can be
monotonous, and employers fail to recognise the impact of such jobs on their workers.

The demand of new generation workers:

Compared to the 1990s, India has come a long way in terms of industrial growth. Services
sector contributes close to 54.3% to the GDP of the country, whereas industry sector stands
at 29.6%. Globalisation has been a major reason behind this tremendous gap. Workers in
the industrial sector have realised that service sector jobs are more lucrative, provide more
learning opportunities and opportunities to grow. Hence, workers in the industry sector are
demanding or expecting the same set of perks as their counterparts in services sector. They
want their skillsets to not just be service capabilities, but to be converted into core
competencies because with the advent of AI and machine learning, many workers who do
not have technical expertise, could get replaced in the future.

Workers also demand that they are made aware of how their efforts are contributing to the
company’s growth as Indian companies are now focused on serving a global community.
Awareness of workers is high, and it is the organisation’s responsibility to pass on the
relevant information to workers and show where they stand in the industry. Many of the
young generation workers are ambitious and do not settle for jobs that are conventional.
They want to be involved in tasks that test their creativity and be involved in core
engineering projects. Attrition rate can only be controlled if the demands are met and
workers feel valued in the company they invest their time in. Many do not feel connected to
the organisation and are given tasks that are unvarying, due to which many switch jobs or go
for higher studies.
Trade Unions in India - Initial period : 
     
The industrial workforce in India mainly developed after the clothing mills and textile factories
were set up in Bombay and Calcutta during the late 19th century. During this time, since the
Britishers were in charge and East India Company governed the industries, several incidents
of protests and strikes by the workers were seen. Even though the British government
subsequently passed the First Factories Act in 1881, it wasn’t until 1918, when B.P. Wadia
founded the first registered trade-union – Madras Labour Union. In 1920, the first trade union
federation, All India Trade Union Congress, was set up. In the years between 1920 and
1924, the rapid growth of unions around the world, coupled with factors such as the First
World War and setting up of ILO, there was a steady increase in industrial conflicts, with
over 1000 strikes being recorded. Following the arrest of many trade unionists and
prominent leaders, who were accused of planning a revolution to overthrow the British
government, the Trade Union Act (1926) was passed, which ensured a level playing field
and aided in closer monitoring of Trade Unions.
Post-Independence Era:
Post-Independence, many public sector firms came up in India, and workers’ aspirations
began to rise with better quality jobs, which ensured good pay and better quality of life.
Public sector employment was encouraged and many pro-worker legislations. Many trade
unions came up, and this saw a peak during the 1980s, owing to market-friendly policies
leading to a rise in support for industrialists.
After the economic liberalization in 1991, there was a newfound aspiration among workers to
shift to the private sector jobs. There was a decline in the creation of public sector
employment, and there was a lack of support from the State’s side for the protection of
workers’ rights.
Hence, since the pre-independence era, the trade union movement has varied across states,
and the usual pattern seen is an overlapping set of interactions between the unions and
political leaders and parties.
A new generation of trade union leaders in India
Over the years, the industrial sector and labour relations in India have seen a decline in
managerial authority. Earlier, the trade union leaders used to have a lot of power, but with a
change in the social composition of the workforce, wherein the workers are young, more
skilled, and literate, and from the urban areas, there has been a shift of power into the hands
of the rank and file workers. Trade unions have also changed their role from just protecting
the rights of workers and improving working conditions to focusing on activities such as :
 Communication – by which magazines and newsletters are published to clarify
policies and pass on information about their activities 
 Education – Unions have been involved in conducting educational program and skill
development workshops to enhance the worker’s knowledge and keep them aware of
procedures of workplace
Such functions were considered to be ancillary earlier. Thought this practice was adopted
early by trade unions of other countries, India adopted it late. One such example is the trade
unions in NTPC, Unchahar. Some of the major unions are NTPC Employees’ Union, NTPC
Mazdoor Singh, and NTPC Power Karamachari, which mainly focuses on providing social
security measures at work and ensuring greater participation of workers in the management
of enterprises. These unions are also active in organizing development programs on
subjects such as computers and technical skills. Other initiatives include organizing cultural
events for worker’s families, which is also essential for a worker to feel attached to an
organization. Hence, there is a higher chance of worker staying in a union which is actively
involved in labour welfare, and motivate him to remain attached to it, rather than joining
another union.

 The new generation of workers

     
In India, during the 1970s and 1980s, workers were usually categorized as people who came
from economically marginal sections of rural areas and with little literacy. The jobs that they
were given were needed with no specific skillsets, and they could be replaced at any time.
Wages given were low, and employers targeted them by enforcing strict rules at the
workplace. There used to be a linkage between caste and occupation, with tribes and lower
castes being used for lower-level jobs in organizations.
     
The current generation of workers is largely middle and upper castes, and even those from
rural areas are not from the marginalized groups. Literacy among the workers is high, and
with the advent of industries that demand specific technical skills, workers are not seen as
fillers, but as a value add to the organization. Technologically advanced industries need
workers who are relatively educated and skilled, and they also offer good wages and provide
amicable working conditions. The migration of people from rural areas to urban areas in
search of jobs for a better quality of life has also been another factor behind changing the
dynamics of the nature of workers in industries.
Workers come with a certain set of aspirations, which they expect their employer and trade
union leaders will fulfill. However, it is often seen that managers and Trade Union leaders
are unaware of what a worker wants and what are his/her needs and aspirations. Work can
be monotonous, and employers fail to recognize the impact of such jobs on their workers. 
The demand of new generation workers:
Compared to the 1990s, India has come a long way in terms of industrial growth. The
services sector contributes close to 54.3% to the GDP of the country, whereas the industry
sector stands at 29.6%. Globalization has been a major reason behind this tremendous gap.
Workers in the industrial sector have realized that service sector jobs are more lucrative,
provide more learning opportunities and opportunities to grow. Hence, workers in the
industry sector are demanding or expecting the same set of perks as their counterparts in
the services sector. They want their skillsets not just to be service capabilities, but to be
converted into core competencies because with the advent of A.I. and machine learning,
many workers who do not have technical expertise, could get replaced in the future.
Workers also demand that they are made aware of how their efforts are contributing to the
company’s growth as Indian companies are now focused on serving a global community.
Awareness of workers is high, and it is the organization’s responsibility to pass on the
relevant information to workers and show where they stand in the industry. Many of the
young generation workers are ambitious and do not settle for jobs that are conventional.
They want to be involved in tasks that test their creativity and be involved in core
engineering projects. The attrition rate can only be controlled if the demands are met, and
workers feel valued in the company they invest their time in. Many do not feel connected to
the organization and are given tasks that are unvarying, due to which many switch jobs or go
for higher studies. 

New methods of communication – social media

A labourer was burnt to death and the video of the incident was uploaded on social media.
This happened in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district in Dec 2017. In these kinds of incidents,
the social media is a powerful tool which the workers can use for their protection and as a
defence and negotiating weapon with the management. A research led by Wil Chivers and
his co-workers from Cardiff University has investigated the prevalence and styles of social
media use by the labour movement. Their study suggests that Twitter has grown to be an
important tool to draw support for issues like fair pay and better working conditions. The
studies analysed the ‘McStrike’ campaign by workers concentrated on McDonald’s in
London and Cambridge, and the national dispute at TGI Fridays. It observed that social
media networks played a major role to raise awareness against McDonald’s and act against
them and it was backed by the Bakers’ Union (BFAWU). Dr. Chivers stated that these strikes
encourage workers with a hope to bring a new generation of trade union members. Social
media has been an important element of a strategy trying to elevate awareness of those
disputes concerning low paid workers and the issues they’re challenging the management.
This fledgling movement differs to those earlier because maximum young population in the
group of workers have experienced low pay. Their thirst for bringing a change has been
recognized by unions who are capitalising on use of social media to bring those changes.
They recognise the potential for astute social media users to improve the impact of their
campaigns, and to attain a wider target audience.

In India on 8 Jan 2020 recently, workers stage a 24-hour strike against PM policies and the
slowing economy. This strike was nation wide and supported by at least 10 trade unions. A
strike like this which is occurring on such a large scale is facilitated by social media. Not only
do trade unions get a better medium for communication, but their visibility also increases
among common people and the public can come to support these workers. This strike was
supported by economic Nobel prize winner Abhijit Banerjee who said that India is extremely
close to recession. The unions stated that hundreds of employees would lose jobs if the
government decided to go forward with the sale of Air India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation,
the Shipping Corporation of India and the Container Corporation of India. The authorities say
it plans to sell the businesses due to the fact they had been losing cash for years. Because
of the internet the news is speedily reached to all corners of the country and such issues
which the management previously used to hide and threaten the worker are now showcased
on social media and it’s difficult for management to bury them. The workers are using tools
like Facebook to revitalise themselves and start a border movement where all workers can
participate and get support from people also.  

How Internet can be a tool for trade union democracy?

WhatsApp is used as a medium of communication between Indian workers working in Gulf

countries and volunteers here. In Tamil Nadu, a group of volunteers and journalists are
helping these workers stuck in hostile conditions by suggesting measures on how to get
back home. A female from Tamil Nadu, for example, who went to Jeddah as a cook, was
able to get in touch with an NGO in Chennai and later returned to India. Hence, with the
advent of internet the workers are getting information required by them and this is helping
them understand their rights. Also, people are helping them fight for their rights.