INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Emerging Issues

And

Challenges of

Trade Union in India

“Is there an alternative to bureaucratic and politically shackled trade unionism on the one hand, and
isolated and depoliticised 'independent' activism on the other? Recent developments suggest the
emergence of a third current, combining ideological commitment and practical integrity bringing
together the organised and the unorganised sector workers in a wider movement”.

The major concern in Trade Unions and a reason of conflict from the beginning

Issues and challenges in Trade Unions

1) Trade Union Leadership- Absence of strong leaders from the rank of workers, inability to
present forcefully the woes of workers, presence of political personalities, illiteracy of workers.

2) Multiunionism- This becomes difficult when employer hopes to achieve a common set of
procedures and conditions, particularly where single status is an aim.

3) Outsiders in the Union- There are high chances of conflict when some outsider joins the
union.

4) Political Affiliation- The political affiliation of trade union deviates the welfare of workers and
the overall motive becomes to gain power.
5) Inter Union Rivalry- When there are more then one unions, there are conflicts which prevail
amongst them. This is inter union rivalry.

6) Intra Union Rivalry- Within a union, there are sometimes sub unions are formed. Reason
may be fight for power, right job etc.

7) Financial Woes- The membership is very low. Members are supposed to raise funds for the
union. To keep workers motivated, union have to organise a few events. Hence the money is
drawn out from management. Hence the bargaining power of union is decreased.

CURRENT TRENDS IN TRADE UNIONISM

Trade unions have been pushed to the walls due to factors such as globalization, restructuring
exercise carried out by companies from time to time, rising cost of manufacturing, lack of support
from general public and government, privatisation, failure to deliver results in case of a prolonged
battle.

The accelerating process of globalisation has focused attention on the trade union movement
from all sides. On the one hand, drastic large-scale retrenchments, casualisation of labour, rising
prices and cuts in government spending, and a creeping curtailment of workers' rights to
organise have made Indian workers in both the organised and increasingly the unorganised
sectors turn to trade unions and demand from them new strategies to confront these attacks. On
the other hand, while global capital and its representatives have long regarded trade unions as
an obstacle to the introduction of policies which further its interests (the Indian trade union
movement being singled out for criticism by the World Bank for its opposition to the new economic
policies), attempts are now on to appropriate and remould trade unions from above in order that
they may actually become a tool in the current economic restructuring.

The most explicit articulation so far of this new approach to trade unions came in this year' s
World Development Report published by the World Bank. Departing from earlier free-market
orthodoxy, the Report, entitled Workers in an integrating World magnanimously declared that
'denial of workers' rights is not necessary to achieve growth of incomes. It is possible to identify
the conditions and policies under which free trade unionism can advance rather than impede
development.' What this 'free trade unionism' entailed, the Report explained, was the limiting of
the scope of unions to decentralised bargaining in the individual workplace - thus rendering
ineffective the basic impetus underlying trade union organising, that of uniting workers on as
large a scale as possible, drawing upon the workers' numerical strength to win better working and
living conditions - and keeping them 'free' of the taint of wider political concerns.

A more recent development has been the proliferation of a variety of independent unions and
NGOs, particularly among unorganised sector workers. These organisations have been
formed in response to a failure of the established trade union movement to articulate the
needs and demands of these workers, and are in many cases challenging the acute
exploitation which these workers face. But the small- scale approach of the majority of these
organisations, their isolation from the mainstream of the working class movement, and in many
cases their conscious rejection of a wider political perspective inevitably limit their potential to
challenge the framework in which such exploitation is occurring, and ironically make them
perfectly acceptable to the World Bank and its associates.

Reasons for this shift

 1. Militancy does not exist

2. Political base shrinking

3. Public sympathy disappearing

4. Job vanishing at an alarming rate

5. Membership figures sinking

8) The future role of the trade union movement is linked

with a broader concern for ensuring the social cohesion of
working people in a large and diverse country.
9) •It is imperative for the trade union movement to
concentrate on organizing the unorganized, so as to create
secure incomes and safe working conditions for those
with irregular jobs.