Special Feat Post Independenceures of Labour Movement
Special features of the labour movement in the post independence period
Before Independence, there was a common cause of independence from colonial rule for trade unions to be in unity. But post independence split became more prominent. As AITUC became communist dominant before independence, so Congress decided to start its own trade union and just a few months before independence it formed Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in May, 1947. Congress came to power after independence and INTUC was a congress led trade union, so this period saw some steps towards industrial peace to have political stability. But most of the time workers issues have been neglected. Post independence also saw formation of new parties, and as the trade unions were affiliated to the political parties, so labour movement was fragmented further. This period saw new trade unions emerging like Hind Mazdur Sabha (HMS), Hind Mazdur Panchayat, Bhartiya Mazdur Sangha etc. All these trade unions emerged because of political rivalry among the leaders.1960’s saw emergence of other trade unions as many political parties started forming their own union.
What is common in trade union movement post independence is fragmentation of workers. With emergence of new political parties, new trade unions also emerged. Even regional parties started forming their unions e.g. DMK union in the state of Tamilnadu when it came to power in 1967, formation of Bhartiya Kamgar Sena by SHiv Sena in Maharashtra etc. The split was also based on personal interest and caste. This weakened the workers. As the workers stand divided, management can take decision without considering the worker’s right. So, condition of workers remains bad till today. But all the unions were united against foreign capital, so this helped in keeping foreign investment away from India after independence. Apart from these political unions, a number of large enterprises, especially of Multi National Companies (MNC’s), have their internal
Before Independence, there was a common cause of independence from colonial rule for trade unions to be in unity. But post independence split became more prominent. As AITUC became communist dominant before independence, so Congress decided to start its own trade union and just a few months before independence it formed Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in May, 1947. Congress came to power after independence and INTUC was a congress led trade union, so this period saw some steps towards industrial peace to have political stability. But most of the time workers issues have been neglected. Post independence also saw formation of new parties, and as the trade unions were affiliated to the political parties, so labour movement was fragmented further. This period saw new trade unions emerging like Hind Mazdur Sabha (HMS), Hind Mazdur Panchayat, Bhartiya Mazdur Sangha etc. All these trade unions emerged because of political rivalry among the leaders.1960’s saw emergence of other trade unions as many political parties started forming their own union.
What is common in trade union movement post independence is fragmentation of workers. With emergence of new political parties, new trade unions also emerged. Even regional parties started forming their unions e.g. DMK union in the state of Tamilnadu when it came to power in 1967, formation of Bhartiya Kamgar Sena by SHiv Sena in Maharashtra etc. The split was also based on personal interest and caste. This weakened the workers. As the workers stand divided, management can take decision without considering the worker’s right. So, condition of workers remains bad till today. But all the unions were united against foreign capital, so this helped in keeping foreign investment away from India after independence. Apart from these political unions, a number of large enterprises, especially of Multi National Companies (MNC’s), have their internal