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MOVEMENT OF THE WORKING CLASS
We will discuss the working class’s movement during India’s fight for her Independence. We will also explore formation of the AITUC and the role of communists in the Freedom Struggle.
The modern working class arose in India in the nineteenth century. This development was due to the establishment of modern factories, railways, dockyards and construction activities relating to roads and buildings. It was a modern working class in the sense of relatively modern organisation of labour and a relatively free market for labour. There were certain important exceptions to this rule. The plantation workers, who also worked for the capitalist employers and produced goods which were sold in the international markets, were recruited and worked under unfree conditions. In fact, for the majority of the workers in colonial India, the recruitment and working conditions were not as free as were present in some other countries which were capitalistically more developed. This situation had its impact on the working-class movement as it developed over the years.
WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT AND TRADE UNION MOVEMENT
The working-class movement and trade union movement are not exactly the same thing. They are different in the sense that the working-class movement is a much broader phenomenon and covers all kinds of movements involving workers. It includes within its ambit silent protests, passive resistance, individual protests and strikes as well as more organised forms of welfare activities and bigger protests and strikes reaching to the level of general strikes. Trade union movement, on the other hand, accepts the industrial system as given but attempts to make it more humane, more amenable to the needs of the workers. It tries to reform the working and living conditions of the workers within the industrial system. While labour movement may include various types of structures, pre-industrial or modern in nature, which coordinate the protest activities of the workers, the trade unions are generally hierarchical and bureaucratic, relying upon a variety of functionaries with defined roles.
WORKERS’ MOVEMENTS BEFORE THE EMERGENCE OF TRADE UNIONS
Even before the emergence of trade unions after the First World War, there have been various forms of labour movements and protest against low wages, long working hours, inhuman conditions of work and several other issues.
Plantations and mines
Although the plantations and mines contained a large number of workers who were heavily exploited, their conditions did not attract much attention in the initial period. But, despite this isolation, the plantation workers, on their own, registered their protests against the exploitation and oppression by the plantation owners and managers. Reports of such resistance are available since 1884.
Cotton and Jute industries
Records of open resistance are available since the 1870s in Bombay. In 1884, the Bombay cotton mill workers held a big meeting and submitted their demands to the government for lesser hours of work. The increasing duration of strikes and involvement of larger number of workers forced the Bombay Millowners’ Association to refer to the existence of a ‘labour movement’ in this country in 1913.
Initiatives Taken
In Bengal, Sasipada Banerjee initiated welfare activities among the workers since the early 1870s. He tried to educate them and to voice their grievances. ➤ For this purpose, he founded the ‘Working Men’s Club’ in 1870 and started publishing a monthly journal in Bengali entitled Bharat Shramjibi in 1874.
In 1878, Sorabjee Shapoorji Bengalee tried to get a bill, providing better working conditions to labour, passed in the Bombay Legislative Council.
The Brahmo Samaj formed the ‘Working Men’s Mission’ in Bengal in 1878 to impart moral education among the workers. It also established the ‘Working Men’s Institution’ in 1905.
In Bombay, N.M. Lokhanday was actively involved in welfare and organisational activities among the cotton mill workers since the 1880s. ➤ In 1890, he established the ‘Bombay Millhands’ Association’, and in 1898, he started publishing a journal entitled Dinbandhu in Marathi.
Some other important organisations active among the Bombay workers were the Bombay Millhands Defence Association formed by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1908, the Kamgar Hitwardhak Sabha formed in 1909, and the Social Service League established in 1911.
EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF TRADE UNION
The Indian trade unions have developed in the specific context of colonialism and an underdeveloped economy. The trade unions emerged in India after the First World War. Further, the rising prices of essential commodities, decline in the real wages of workers, increase in the demand for the industrial products resulting in the expansion of Indian industries, Gandhiji’s call for the non-cooperation movement, the Russian Revolution, etc., were the main factors which led to the emergence of trade unions in the post-War period in India. The Madras Labour Union, formed in April 1918, is generally considered to be the first trade union in India. B.P. Wadia, a nationalist leader and an associate of Annie Besant, was instrumental for its organisation. It was mainly an organisation based on the workers of Carnatic and Buckingham Mills in Madras. But workers from other trades such as tramways, rickshaw-pullers, etc. also joined the union in the initial stage. Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association- The workers in Ahmedabad were agitating for a bonus to compensate for the rise in prices. Ansuyaben Sarabhai, who was involved with the agitation, got in touch with Gandhiji and requested him to come to Ahmedabad. Gandhiji stood by the workers’ side and demanded that the workers should be given a 35 per cent bonus. On the refusal of the millowners, he called for a strike and insisted that the principle of arbitration should be accepted. He also went on a fast to persuade the millowners. Finally, the millowners accepted arbitration and as a compromise, the arbitrator recommended a 27.5 per cent increase in wages. On the basis of this struggle and on the principle of arbitration, the Textile Labour Association, also known as Majur Mahajan, was established in Ahmedabad in 1920.
FORMATION OF THE ALL-INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS (AITUC)
Many people connected with labour realised that there was a need for a central organisation of labour to coordinate the works of the trade unions all over India. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, N.M. Joshi, B.P. Wadia, Dewan Chamanlal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Joseph Baptista and many others were trying to achieve this goal.
The formation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1919 acted as a catalyst for it.
The All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed in 1920 as a development of these trends towards union formation all over India.
Lala Lajpat Rai became the first president of the AITUC and Joseph Baptista its vice-president.
There were about 107 unions which were affiliated or sympathetic to the AITUC.
One notable absence was the Gandhian trade union of Ahmedabad, the Textile Labour Union.
THE TRADE UNION ACT, 1926
Trade unions were granted legal recognition as legitimate associations.
Provisions were established to regulate their registration and activities.
Trade unions received civil and criminal immunity for lawful actions, though restrictions were placed on their political activities.
Emergence of communists
The emergence of communists marked a significant development in the Indian labor movement, with their ideology, rooted in Marxist and Leninist principles, emphasizing the central role of the working class.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) was established in October 1920 in the Soviet Union, largely driven by the efforts of M.N. Roy.
The communists mobilized workers in industries such as the cotton mills of Bombay and jute mills of Calcutta, leading militant labor struggles, prompting the government to impose legislative restrictions like the Public Safety Ordinance (1929) and the Trade Disputes Act (TDA), 1929, to curb the movement's influence.
The TDA, 1929
Mandated the establishment of Courts of Inquiry and Consultation Boards to resolve industrial disputes.
Prohibited strikes in public utility services such as postal services, railways, water, and electricity, unless workers provided a one-month advance notice to the administration.
Restricted trade union activities involving coercion or solely political motives.
Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929)
In March 1929, the government detained 31 labor leaders, leading to a trial lasting three and a half years. This trial culminated in the conviction of individuals such as Muzaffar Ahmed, S.A. Dange, Joglekar, Philip Spratt, Ben Bradley, Shaukat Usmani, and others. While the trial attracted global attention, it ultimately weakened the labor movement.
Legacy of AITUC
In the tenth session of the AITUC held in Nagpur and presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, the communists were able to pass resolutions calling for the boycott of the Royal Commission on Labour, demanding dissociation from the ILO and association with the League against Imperialism.
The moderate and reformist group, led by N.M. Joshi, Dewan Chaman Lall, V.V. Giri and B. Shiva Rao, was unable to digest these moves, and left the AITUC along with 30 unions and a membership of 95,639 and formed the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU).
Another split occurred in 1931 due to divergence between the nationalist and communist opinions. The communists severely criticised Gandhiji and condemned the Round Table Conference in which the Congress was participating. They wanted to pass a resolution to this effect. Unable to secure a majority for this, they walked out and formed another federation of trade unions, called the Red Trade Union Congress (RTUC). Thus, by 1931, there were three national federations of trade unions – the AITUC, the IFTU and the RTUC.
As a beginning, the Railway unions and some unaffiliated unions united with the IFTU to form the National Federation of Trade Unions (NFTU) in 1933. The Red Trade Union Congress, led by the communists and the AITUC, led by radical nationalists, were coming closer. They united in 1935 and the name AITUC was retained for the unified organisation.
To achieve unity among the anti-imperialist forces, both the AITUC and NFTU were making intense efforts. The unity was achieved in 1940 when the NFTU merged with the AITUC and N.M. Joshi of the NFTU became its general secretary.
Some of the trade union leaders led by M.N. Roy believed that the fascist countries were the main enemies and the democratic countries should be supported against them. The Roy Group broke from the AITUC in July 1941 and decided to support the British Indian Government in its War efforts by not sponsoring strikes and by trying to convince the workers to raise productivity. The Group set up the Indian Federation of Labour (IFL).
The Congress tried to influence the AITUC and its unions to work along Gandhian lines and in support of the Congress. But by then the communist influence had grown very strong. The Congress, therefore, decided to form its own trade union organisation. The foundation in May 1947 of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) was the result of this effort.
In 1948, the unions under the influence of the Congress Socialists came out of the AITUC and formed the Hind Mazdoor Panchayat (HMP).
In 1949, another organisation called United Trade Union Congress was formed under the famous trade union leader, Mrinal Kanti Bose. In 1949, the HMP and the IFL united to found the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS). Thus, in 1949, there were four central trade union federations – the AITUC, the INTUC, the HMS and the UTUC.
THE MOVEMENT IN THE POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD
The post-independence period also saw the formations Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) in 1955, affiliated to the Jan Sangh, which was formed in 1952.
In 1970, following the split in the Communist Party of India in 1964, the AITUC split leading to the formation of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) which was affiliated to the newly formed Communist Party of India (Marxist) or the CPM.
The working-class movement in India is constrained by several factors. The organized working class forms a very small section of the working population in India. Therefore, there is no class politics in the country. Instead, Indian politics is centrist politics.
No doubt, the rise of identity politics based on caste, language, religion, tribe, regions, etc., especially from the last two decades of the twentieth century pose serious challenges to unite the working class on their issues. The encouragement to the market with the declining role of the state as part of the globalization agenda has further relegated the issues of working classes to the background.