HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Originally there were no organised trade unions. They developed gradually with the growth
of industrialisation. Initially there have been attempts by unorganised group of workers for
better working conditions. This might have been under the influence of the humanitarian
movement in the 19th century. The British employers encouraged the humanitarian
movement in India with the sinister motive of dividing Indian employers because they feared
the competition of Indian goods made at low cost.
In 1875, the British textile magnets secured the appointment of a Commission but it was not
useful. The philanthropic movement continued in India against child labour. The Government
was not responsive to this movement. Finally, the pressure of public opinion in England
compelled the House of Commons to pass a resolution against requiring children between
seven and twelve years old from working more than nine hours a day.
First Union Association formed.-Protests against low wages and cruel conditions of
employment gained momentum. The first strike took place in Express Mills at Nagpur in
1877. This was followed in Madras and Bombay. Agitations, demonstrations and mass
petitions became frequent.
However, the Government did not give sufficient attention to this. Finally, the British
Government directed the Government of India to consider the conditions of labour. For the
first time in 1890, the Bombay Mill Hands Association was formed. This association brought
to light the Indian workers' miserable conditions with enormous work-load, long working
hours, miserable wages, worst working conditions, etc. However, this association was more
like a welfare organisation than a modern trade union. After 1900, the Postal Union in
Bombay and Printers Union in Calcutta emerged. They were closer to the modern trade
unions, seeking to exert steady pressures to improve the working conditions of labour. The
jute industry in India also began to witness protests for better conditions.
Impact of World War I.—By the time of World War I, the production began to increase and
the prices also went up. But the wages and their conditions of work remained without any
changes. The workers got only starvation wages. This injected a sense of concerted action,
organised movement for redressing their grievances. Hence, many modern labour unions
began to spring up. The textile workers in Madras formed Labour Union in 1918. This was
followed by many unions in Bombay, Bengal, Punjab, etc. The sense of solidarity and union
consciousness began to grow among the workers. Thereafter, labour movement and
independence movement were joined together under the leadership of Gandhiji.
The first All India Trade Union formed- In 1920, A.I.T.U.C. was formed by the fusion of 107
trade unions. This became the most powerful labour federation and occupied a dominant
position in the nationalist movement also. In 1920, the first Trade Disputes Act was passed.
This was a retrograde legislation, indirectly stifling or making unions illegal.
The subsequent industrial unrest and the international exerted through International Labour
Organisation pressures demanded the Government to provide legislative protection for
labour. Hence, the new Factories Act, 1922, Indian Mines Act, 1923, Employees'
Compensation Act, 1923 were enacted. Lastly, the Indian Trade Union Act was passed in
1926. The Act recognised the legality of the unions and conferred immunities from certain
liabilities, both civil and criminal. Split in Trade Union Movement.-The A.I.T.U.C.
