Download Analysis of Trade Unions in India: Impact on Labor Standards and more Study notes Business Administration in PDF only on Docsity! INDIAN LABOUR STANDARDS India presents a confused and a gloomy picture when we probe into labour standards practiced in India. When we analyse, the labour in India we have to study the Trade Union Movement in India. As stated in earlier paragraphs, the Trade Union Movement in India was pioneered by Barristers, social reformers, editors, teachers and preachers. Most of our national leaders who fought for the liberation of India from the clutches of the colonial rule, have also waged a war with the colonial Government to liberate the working force from slavery. It was this long drawn battle that saw to the birth of many employee legislations during the colonial period. The Indian National Trade Union Congress was born in 1947 and it was under the banner of the then Congress Party. The other Trade Unions that followed took a leaf from INTUC and owed allegiance to political parties. All the Trade Unions in India are only organized by political parties. The Trade Unions carry with them certain ideologies which are totally outmoded and away from the current demand of economic governance. The economic governance demands privatization of all fields which policy is totally opposed by many of the Trade Unions in India. The evolution of trade unionism in India can be classified under four phases. The first phase (1950 to mid-1960s) corresponds to an era of state planning and import substitution, when public-sector employment and public-sector unionism rose phenomenally. Unions and bargaining structures were highly centralized; the two main federations were the nationalist Indian National Trade Union Congress and the communist All India Trade Union Congress. State intervention in the determination of wages and working conditions was the norm and "state- dominated pluralism" was the labour regime during this first phase. The second phase (mid-1960s to 1979) is associated with a period of economic stagnation and political turmoil. Employment slowed down, there were massive inter- union rivalries, and industrial conflict increased. Centralized bargaining institutions now started feeling the pressure of dissent from below, and both the Hind Mazdoor Sabha and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions made significant progress in the labour movement. The crisis culminated in the May 1974 railway strike that was followed by the 1975-77 Emergency Regime of Mrs. Gandhi. An "involuted" pluralism dominated Indian labour relations during this second phase. The third phase (1980-1991) corresponds to a period of segmented and uneven economic development. Decentralized bargaining and independent trade unionism enter the stage in a significant way. Two major strikes (the 1980/81 Bangalore public-sector strike and the 1982 Mumbai textile workers strike) marked this phase, and inter-state and inter-regional variations in the nature of labour-management regimes became much wider. In the more profitable economic sectors the unions gained, but in the unorganized and declining sector, workers lost out and unions were left with few strategies. Finally, the fourth phase of unionism (as yet incomplete, 1991-2000) represents the post- economic reform period. The stabilization and structural adjustment programmes led to demands for increased labour market flexibility, especially
