Worker consciousness and trade union response

This work is a comparative study of trade unionism in four major industrial centres Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Bangalore. It portrays the contemporary scene by examining broad trends in the labour movement and the individual styles of prominent leaders, and assessing specific unions against this backdrop.

Behind obvious dissimilarities, the four cities have in common a noticeable upheaval in the labour movement. The prime mover of this upheaval is the growing awareness of ordinary workers. They are dissatisfied with the leadership in spite of increasingly attractive emoluments. The issues the leaders raise, the methods they adopt, and the very manner in which they run the unions, all lie at the root of this discontent.

The employers find the situation disturbing. They are concerned to get a return for the handsome benefits militant trade unionism is extracting. Collective bargaining strategies are being honed to enhance productivity. However, the leadership on which they have placed their bets is crumbling, and they feel that anarchic forces have taken over.

Indian trade unions are in a ferment, a historic phase of change which will shape their future. Having examined current trends, this work offers pointers to the issues that will dominate the interface between labour and capital in the years to come.