.

IN LAW, RANCHI

HISTORY

LABOUR MOVEMENT AND RISE OF TRADE UNIONISM IN

COLONIAL INDIA

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MR. ABHINAV PRAKASH PIHA BIRLA

PROFESSOR HISTORY SEMESTER 2 (SECTION B)

NUSRL, RANCHI ROLL NO.: 1301

1|Page
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

(i) INTRODUCTION
(ii) EARLY TRADE UNION PHASE
(iii) WHAT ARE THE FACTORS THAT AFFECTED
THE MOVEMENT?
(iv) WHAT WAS THE CONDITION OF TRADE
UNIONS UNDER CONGRESS?
(v) CONCLUSION
(vi) REFERENCES

2|Page
DECLARATION:
I am PIHA BIRLA a first-semester BALLB student of the National University of Study and
Research in Law, Ranchi, hereby declares that my project, under the guidance of MR.
ABHINAV PRAKASH, faculty of History, is an original work. I have made sincere efforts to
complete this project and have not done any misrepresentation of facts or data.

I declare that the statements made and the conclusions drawn are the bona fide outcome of
the research work. I further assert that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, proper
references have been given and do not contain any work that has been submitted to any other
university.

PIHA BIRLA

SEMESTER- 2

ROLL NUMBER-1301

NUSRL, RANCHI

3|Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
I, Piha Birla, would like to thank all of those who helped me during the whole procedure of
making this project and helped me in completing it successfully.

Firstly, I would like to thank my teacher and mentor Mr Abhinav Prakash who showed faith
in me by providing such a wonderful topic. His constant guidance has played a vital role in
the completion of this project successfully. His keen attention helped me to deal with each
problem that I faced during the making of this project. My heartfelt gratitude to all the staff
members and administrators of NUSRL for providing me with a wonderful library. Their
support cannot be expressed in words.

Finally, I would like to thank God for his benevolence and grace in enabling me to finish this
task. I express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who helped me to complete this project
without any problems.

Thanking you!

4|Page
 INTRODUCTION
In India, the development of trade unions took years and a lot of struggle throughout the
years. Labour movement is a wider term and it includes trade union movement.

Labour movement implies, in some degrees, a community of outlook. It is an organisation or

rather many forms of organisations based upon the sense of a common status and common
need for help. It seeks to develop among workers a spirit of combination, class-consciousness
and solidarity of interest and arouses a consciousness, for self-respect, rights and duties.

It creates organisation for their self-protection, safeguarding of their common interest and
betterment of their social and economic position. A trade union, on the other hand, is
essentially a basis of the labour movement, without which labour movement cannot exist,
because trade unions are the principal schools where workers learn the lesson of self-reliance
and solidarity.”1

We can better understand the terms as the labour movement is ‘for the worker’s and the
trade union movement is ‘by the workers’. Every effort whether made by labourers
themselves through trade unions or by other persons such as social reformers labour leaders
etc. is a part of the labour movement and not that of the trade union movement.

Like many other nations, India saw the development of Trade unions alongside
Industrialization. With the introduction to large scale industries, the living condition and
working conditions changed a lot. The introduction of machinery, new lines of production,
and concentration of industries in certain big cities gave birth to a new class of wage-earners
and divided the industrial society into capitalists and labourers or haves and have nots.

Because there was no organisation for their benefit or regulation they were exploited and had
to work in inhuman conditions. A single voice could not have changed anything and thus the
demands had to be raised unanimously.

Due to the development of the industries in India, many social evils like employment and
exploitation of women and child labour erupted in India who worked in the deplorable
conditions, more likely worse than the conditions of labour in England. Workers were not
organised at that time and were very often at the mercy of their employers.
1
Sunita c, “origin and development of trade unions in India”, <https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/trade-
unions/origin-and-development-of-trade-unions-in-india-economics/29303>

5|Page
“Though the origin of labour movements was traced to the 1860s, the first labour agitation in
the history of India occurred in Bombay, 1875. It was organised under the leadership of S.S
Bengalee. It concentrated on the plight of workers, especially women and children. This led
to the appointment of the first Factory commission, in 1875. Consequently, the first factories
act was passed in 1881.”2

“The first concerted action was taken in 1875 under the leadership of Sorabji Shaparji who
along with some social workers started the agitation to draw the attention of the Government
to the deplorable conditions of women and child labour in Indian industries. Strikes were not
absent even in the 19th century. In 1877, workers of The Empress Mills at Nagpur observed a
strike over wage rates.”3

The convocation of a labour convention in Bombay in 1884 under the leadership of factory
worker N.M. Lokhande was one of the significant events of the eighties. A memo was sent to
the Second Factory Commission to note the workers' bad working conditions, but no change
was noticed. As a result, on April 21, 1890, a mass assembly was held in Bombay, which
drew about 10,000 labourers.

A resolution was voted at the conference that demanded:

(i) One weekly day off

(ii) At midday, take a half-hour break.

(iii) Reduction in working hours,

(iv) Payment of wages not later than the 15th day of the month, and

(v) compensation for the injuries sustained by a worker on duty

With the above demands, we can see that people were demanding the basic amnesties and
they were in a sorry state of being. The mill owners agreed to grant a weekly holiday to
textile workers. This encouraged N.M. LOKHANDE formed the BOMBAY MILHAUD
ASSOCIATION in 1890. This was the first trade union in India. He also started the worker’s
2
clear IAS, “ Trade unions-the history of labour unions in India, < https://www.clearias.com/trade-unions-
history-labour-unions-in-india/>
3
Sunita c, “origin and development of trade unions in India”, <https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/trade-
unions/origin-and-development-of-trade-unions-in-india-economics/29303>

6|Page
first newspaper, known as DINABANDHU; the purpose was to place the legitimate
grievances of the workers and also to educate and aware of the workers.

One point worth mentioning is that the period from 1882-to 1890 had witnessed 24 strikes in
the two provinces of Bombay and Madras.

In the following years, India saw the formation of a number of unions such as:

(a) The Amalgamated society of railway servants of India and Burma (for European and
Anglo-Indian Railway employees)

(b) The printer’s Union of Calcutta, 1995

(c) The Bombay postal union at Calcutta and Madras, 1907

(d) The Kamgar Hitwardhak Sabha, 1909 and

(e) The social service league, 1910

The thing interesting here is the fact that these unions took place at irregular intervals and
their impact was minimal therefore could not make a real start in the labour movement.

The leaders of such groups were primarily social reformers and law-abiding citizens who
belonged to the moderate political school. These organisations' goals were to promote welfare
activities.

These unions however were not traded unions but they acted out to become the foundation
for the establishment of Trade Unions which came into existence after the first world war.
After the First World War, the labour union movement became more active, and the
leadership of trade unions shifted from social workers to politicians. That was the year of
widespread labour unrest all over the country.

The factors responsible for this situation were:

7|Page
(i) As a result of the war's severe economic hardships, there was a rise in industrial
unrest. Workers took collective action to demand a wage raise when the cost of
living increased.
(ii) The Swaraj Movement accelerated the movement, exacerbated the gap between
employers and employees, and sparked mass mobilisation among workers
demanding racial equality with their British bosses.
(iii) The victory of the 1917 Russian Revolution resulted in a revolutionary wave of
ideas, class awareness, and worker self-respect.
(iv) The International Labour Organization (ILO) was founded in 1919, giving
workers around the world dignity and inspiring the Labour movement.
(v) Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement in 1920-21, as well as his support
for working-class demands, had a significant impact on the labour movement.

8|Page
THE EARLY TRADE UNION PHASE

The period from 1918-to 1924 is said to be the early trade union phase. This era was the
time when world war had deteriorated the living conditions of the workers and this created
heightened class consciousness amongst them. The conditions turned out to be the fertile
ground for the development of the movement and therefore this period is called the early
trade union period.

AITUC the oldest trade union federation of India was set up in 1920 and founded by Lala
Lajpat Rai, Joseph Baptista, N.M Joshi and Diwan Chaman Lall. Lajpat Rai was elected as
the first president of AITUC.

WHAT WERE THE FACTORS THAT

AFFECTED THE MOVEMENT?

Inflation: the prices in colonial India were skyrocketing and this impacted the living
condition of workers.

The development of home rule, the emergence of Gandhi as a leader and the socio-political
conditions led to the nationalist leadership taking interest In the worker’s plight

Russian Revolution and other international developments (like the development of the
International Labour Organisation in 1919) boosted their morale.In 1921, the International
Labour Organization (ILO) passed a resolution emphasising that workers should have the
complete right to organise unions. As a result, the trade union movement gains a lot of
traction in the 1920s. In 1924, there were 167 unions with a total membership of 2.23 lakh
workers.

The Trade Union Act was passed in 1926, kicking off a period of regulated trade unionism.
It was a central statute that gave registered trade unions legal standing and provided them and
their members with some protection from civil and criminal charges.

9|Page
The public perception of labour unions has improved as a result of this. The Act was a benefit
to India's trade union movement. Existing trade unions were registered under the Act, and
efforts were made to gain recognition for them. Aside from that, various new labour unions
arose. AITUF (ALL INDIA TRADE UNION FEDERATION) became the only central trade
union by 1929.

10 | P a g e
WHAT WAS THE CONDITION OF TRADE
UNIONS UNDER CONGRESS?

By 1937, The Indian National Congress came into power in most of the provinces. The
AITUC gave its full support to congress in the said elections and when Congress came into
power in these provinces it was empathetic to the needs and demands of the workers. They
also worked towards and passed many legislations which would prove to be favourable for
the workers.

“The approach of Congress ministries was that of promoting worker interests while
protecting industrial peace. Reconciliation of labour with capital was seen as an aim, with
ministries working towards securing wage rises and better living conditions. However, many
ministries treated strikes as law and order issues. They used colonial machinery to suppress it.
This led to considerable resentment from the unions.”4

The workers' standard of living was further decreased by the Second World War, which
strengthened the labour movement. The war effort issue caused a schism between the
Communists and the Congress. This, combined with other concerns, caused the movement to
splinter even more. However, due to the compounding challenges, the movement as a whole
grew stronger. This included postwar widespread entrenchment and the large price increases
that came with it. The trade union movement was strengthened by legislation such as the
Industrial Employment Act of 1946 and the Bombay Industrial Relations Act of 1946. The
movements became increasingly vociferous and involved in the national movement in
general.

4
577847985708945. 2018. “A History of Trade Unions in India.” Statecraft. November 22, 2018. https://www.statecraft.co.in/article/a-
history-of-trade-unions-in-india

11 | P a g e
 CONCLUSION
THE labour movement and development of Trade unions in INDIA was gradual but evident
and impactful. THE people were oppressed and they stood up for themselves. Throughout
history the workers took inspiration from other movements, participated in mass struggles
and the development of unions in India saw and stood the test of time.

Overall, India's labour movements were a dynamic phenomenon that included people from
practically every social level at some point. It developed on its own, with the assistance of
Nationalist leaders, and even received inspiration from outside India.

12 | P a g e
 REFERENCES
(i) https://www.clearias.com/trade-unions-history-labour-unions-in-india/
(ii) https://www.statecraft.co.in/article/a-history-of-trade-unions-in-india#:~:text=The
%20earliest%20trade%20union%20was,labour%20uprisings%20in%20the
%20country
(iii) https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/trade-unions/origin-and-development-of-
trade-unions-in-india-economics/29303
(iv) https://www.gktoday.in/upsc-questions/factors-that-contributed-to-the-growth-of-
trade-union-movement-in-india/
(v) https://www.epw.in/journal/2009/52/special-articles/indian-labour-movement-
colonial-era-global-age.html

13 | P a g e