DEFINITION OF TRADE UNION

A trade union is an organization of employees formed on a continuous basis for the purpose of securing diverse range of benefits. It is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining and improving the conditions of their workinglives. The Trade Union Act 1926 defines a trade union as a combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and employers or between workmen and workmen, or between employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive condition on the conduct of any trade or business, and includes any federation of two or more trade unions.

This definition is very exhaustive as it includes associations of both the workers and employers and the federations of their associations. Here, the relationships that have been talked about are both temporary and permanent. This means it applies to temporary workers (or contractual employees) as well. Then this definition, primarily, talks about three relationships. They are the relationships between the: workmen and workmen, workmen and employers, and employers and employers.

Thus, a trade union can be seen as a group of employees in a particular sector, whose aim is to negotiate with employers over pay, job security, working hours, etc, using the collective power of its members. In general, a union is there to represent the interests of its members, and may even engage in political activity where legislation affects their members. Trade unions are voluntary associations formed for the pursuit of protecting the common interests of its members and also promote welfare. They protect the economic, political and social interests of their members.

The Trade Union Movement in India

The trade union movements origin in a sense can be traced back to very early date to the time when villages had panchayats and guilds for settling disputes between the masters and their members. The panchayats prescribed the code of conduct which was rigidly observed by its members. Its non-observance resulted in expulsion from the community. Trade unions, as understood today, however originated in the first quarter of the present century, although the groundwork was laid during the last quarter of the 19th century. In Mumbai, as early as in 1975, a movement was started by reformers under the leadership of Sorabji Shapurju. They protested against the appealing conditions of the factory workers and appealed for introduction of adequate legislation to prevent them. The credit of laying the foundation of the organized labour movement in India is at time accorded to Mr. N.M. Lokhande, a factory worker himself. An agitation was organized by him a 19884 in Mumbai. This resulted in certain amenities being extended to the mill workers which led to the organization of the Mumbai Milhands Association. Actually a real organized labour movement in India started at eh end of the First World War. Rising prices, without a corresponding increase in wages, despite the employers making huge profits, led to a new awakening. Many trade unions were formed throughout India. There were a number of strikes during 1919 to 1922. To this was added the influence of the Russian Revolution, the establishment of the ILO (International Labour Organisation) and the All-India Trade Union Congress. Thie4 speeded up the pace of the trade union movement. Following the Second World War, there was a spiraling of prices. The workers once again became restive. This further indirectly strengthened the movement in India. The labour world in India is dominated mainly by four central organization of labour. These unions are, in fact, federations of affiliated union units which function on regional, local and craft bases. These are: 1. All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC): An important event in the history of trade union movement in India was the organization of the All-India Trade Union Congress in 1920. Mr. Nehru took a prominent part in the organization of this Congress. It followed the pattern of the trade union s in the United Kingdom. The effort toward unified action in the matter of labour
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was, however, short-lived and soon it came under the domination of the Communists and Radicals. This lienated any prominent people who did not subscribe to the views and ideology of the communists. At present, it is the second largest union of workers and is still controlled by Communists and fellow-travellers. 2. Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC): In May, the Indian National Trade Union Congress was organized by the Congress party on its labour front. This was formed with the help of the Hindustan Mazdoor Sewak Sangh which consisted of those who believed in Gandhian methods and had left the AITUC in 1937 under of leadership of Mr. M.N. Roy. The INTUC received the blessings of the top congress leaders at the Centre like Mr. Nehru and Sardar Patel. The prominent leaders of ATLA and HMSS were elected office-bearers of INTUC. One of the important points of the constitution of Indian National Trade Union Congress is that every affiliated union has to agree to submit to arbitration every individual dispute in which settlement is not reached thorough negotiations. There must be no strikes till other means of settlement are exhausted. In 1948, the Government of India declared that INTUC, and not AITUC, was the most representative organization of labour in the country entitled to represent Indian labour in I.L.O. 3. Hind Mazdoor Sangha (HMS) : The socialists in the Congress disapproved not only the Communist run AITUC but also the Congress-sponsored INTUC, particularly because it advocated compulsory arbitration as a method of resolving industrial disputes. For sometime the activities of socialist leaders were coordinated by the Hind Mazdoor Panchayat. Subsequently when they left the Congress, they met in Kolkatta in December, 1948 and a new federation by the Hind Mazdoor domination by employers, Government and political parties. 4. United Trade Union Congress (UTUC): The dissidents from the Socialist Leaders Congerence held at Kolkatta in December, 1948 proceeded to establish yet another federation of trade unions in April-May 1949 under the name of United Trade Union Congress. The UTUS is more radical than HMS but less revolutionary in its objectives and policies than AITUC.
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FEATURES OF TRADE UNION

1. It is an association either of employers or employees or of independent workers. They may consist of : Employers association (eg., Employers Federation of India, Indian paper mill association, etc.) General labor unions Friendly societies Unions of intellectual labor (eg, All India Teachers Association) 2.It is formed on a continuous basis. It is a permanent body and not a casual or temporary one. They persist throughout the year. 3.It is formed to protect and promote all kinds of interests economic, political and social-of its members. The dominant interest with which a union is concerned is, however, economic. 4.It achieves its objectives through collective action and group effort. Negotiations and collective bargaining are the tools for accomplishing objectives. 5.Trade unions have shown remarkable progress since their inception; moreover, the character of trade unions has also been changing. In spite of only focusing on the economic benefits of workers, the trade unions are also working towards raising the status of labors as a part of industry.

NEED FOR TRADE UNION

One of the main reasons of workers joining a trade union been their belief to get wages increased and maintained at a reasonable standard through collective action and their realization that individual bargaining was utterly useless for this purpose. Since the employee, as an individual, feels specially weak, he prefers to join an organization that my afford him an opportunity to join others for the achievement of those objectives that he considers as socially desirable.
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 The employees may join the unions to ensure a just and fair dealing by management. Through collective strength, they restrain the management from taking any such action which may be irrational, illogical, discriminatory or contrary to their general interests. Another reason of employees joining some union may be the broader realization on their part that unions fulfill the important need for adequate machinery for proper maintenance of labour-management relations. Employees may join the unions because of their belief that it is an effective way to secure adequate protection form various types of hazards and income insecurity such as accident injury, illness, unemployment etc. The employees may join the unions because of their feeling that this would enable them to communicate their views, ideas, feelings and frustrations to the management effectively. Individuals may join the unions in the hope of finding a job through their influence in the company management.

TYPES OF TRADE UNION

In the early 20th century when trade unions were being established, the major models available were: 1. the craft union, which was either based on a single craft or on multiple crafts, or one that was spread across an entire industry relating to similar crafts. It became known as an industrial union in a horizontal arrangement; 2. the industrial union, which was vertically structured in a single industry and existed across a geographical area; and

3. the white collar union which existed mainly for public sector workers, many of which started as associations. Trade unions may, for the purpose of analysis, be divided into a number of categories, as follows: Craft union : The earliest form of trade union , one whose membership is restricted to a particular category of skilled or craft workers , for instance, printers, carpenters and so on. Membership of craft unions is usually restricted to those who have completed the recognised qualification for the craft or skill in question, frequently an apprenticeship. Being closed unions (see below), craft unions may be quite small: for example, the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers of Ireland has 720 members as of January 1992, and the Cork Operative Butchers' Society 149 members at the same date. General union : A trade union which has no form of restriction on categories of worker who may join. There are no limits on the industrial or occupational area of recruitment. As such, general unions are open unions (see below), and tend to be fairly large. The largest general union in Ireland, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), has 190,500 members in the Republic of Ireland as of December 1992 and amounts to 43 per cent. of the Republic's total ICTUaffiliated trade union membership. As some trade unions move away from their original areas of recruitment, so they may become more like general unions; for example, the British-based union EETPU (now amalgamated with the engineering union AEU to become AEEU) which was originally a craft union, has now moved into a number of other sectors and recruited many semiskilled workers, thus having become closer to a general union than a craft union. Similarly, the retail and distributive union IDATU has widened its areas of recruitment. Industry union : A union which confines its recruitment to one particular industry or industrial sector, and aims to recruit all workers at all grades in that area. There are very few "pure" industrial unions in Ireland, but the Communications Workers' Union is the most prominent union in the postal and telecommunications sector, and the non-ICTU National Busworkers' Union competes with SIPTU in recruiting workers in the two CIE bus companies. In attempting to recruit all grades of workers in the industry, industry unions are therefore vertical unions; however, the existence of the Communication Managers' Union blocks the CWU's attempts to recruit managerial staff.

Occupational union : A union which confines its recruitment to particular occupational areas, many of which may require the holding of certain qualifications in the same way as craft unions. Occupational unions mainly exist in the white-collar area: for teachers, civil servants, police, bank employees and so on. Many Irish occupational unions are structured along the lines of grade or type of staff: for example, membership of civil service unions is highly structured according to grade, and the four teaching unions respectively represent primary, secondary, vocational and university teachers. Occupational unions also exist for workers in the health services, but these are more commonly referred to as professional unions. Professional unions : Unions whose membership is restricted to members of the same or similar professional areas. Professional unions are thus another form of craft union, but members of these unions would regard themselves as being of a higher status. Examples of professional unions are the National Union of Journalists and unions representing health professionals, such as those for doctors or nurses, and teaching unions. Most health unions are not affiliated to the ICTU, with the exception of the Irish Nurses' Organisation which affiliated in 1990. Vertical union : A union which recruits vertically through grades; in other words, workers from the lowest "shop-floor" grade up to management are recruited. Many professional unions are vertical: for example, those representing nurses and teachers, among others. The difficulty with vertical unions is the potential they contain for conflict between the grades, which may be manifested in different views on what union policy should be in a particular area, or even in cases where the management structure means that the workers in dispute and the managers against whom the dispute is taken are in the same union.

White-collar union : A union which recruits primarily whitecollar workers, in other words, non-manual workers. Whitecollar unions represent general clerical workers and workers from the services sector, including financial services. The main expansion in trade union membership since the 1960s has been in this area. The largest white-collar union is the MSF, although the general unions have a large proportion of white-collar workers in membership, and trade unions representing clerical grades in the civil service and local government may also be classed as whitecollar.

OBJECTIVE OF TRADE UNION

Representation Trade unions represent individual workers when they have a problem at work. If an employee feels he is being unfairly treated, he can ask the union representative to help sort out the difficulty with the manager or employer. Unions also offer their members legal representation. Normally this is to help people get financial compensation for work-related injuries or to assist people who have to take their employer to court.

Negotiation Negotiation is where union representatives, discuss with management, the issues which affect people working in an organization. There may be a difference of opinion between management and union members. Trade unions negotiate with the employers to find out a solution to these differences. Pay, working hours, holidays and changes to working practices are the sorts of issues that are negotiated. In many workplaces there is a formal agreement between the union and the company which states that the union has the right to negotiate with the employer. In these organizations, unions are said to be recognized for collective bargaining purposes. Voice in decisions affecting workers The economic security of employees is determined not only by the level of wages and duration of their employment, but also by the managements personal policies which include selection of employees for lay offs, retrenchment, promotion and transfer. These policies directly affect workers. The evaluation criteria for such decisions may not be fair. So, the intervention of unions in such decision making is a way through which workers can have their say in the decision making to safeguard their interests. Member services During the last few years, trade unions have increased the range of services they offer their members. These include:
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Education and training - Most unions run training courses for their members on employment rights, health and safety and other issues. Some unions also help members who have left school with little education by offering courses on basic skills and courses leading to professional qualifications. Legal assistance - As well as offering legal advice on employment issues, some unions give help with personal matters, like housing, wills and debt. Financial discounts - People can get discounts on mortgages, insurance and loans from unions. Welfare benefits - One of the earliest functions of trade unions was to look after members who hit hard times. Some of the older unions offer financial help to their members when they are sick or unemployed

FUNCTIONS OF TRADE UNION

Trade unions main objective is the deliberate regulation of the conditions of employment in such a way as toward off from the manual working procedures, the evil effects of industrial competition. The functions of trade unions are as under Fighting functions: The main functions of Trade Unions are to ensure adequate wages, secure better conditions of work employment , reduce hours of work., get better treatment from employers and to secure some share in the profit and also control of industry . In order to achieve these things, trade Unions adopt the methods of collective bargaining negotiations, strikes, and boycotts. These functions of the trade unions are known as militant or fighting functions. Welfare works: Trade Unions help the worker in the form of sickness and accident benefits . They support them during unemployment or during strikes and lockouts. They run schools for the children of the workers they provide library facilities to their members. They provide indoor and out door games. In this way Trade Unions try to increase the welfare of their members.
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Represent their members: They select their leaders to represent them on the board of directors of companies. They plead on behalf of the workers. Political functions: Trade Unions try to achieve political objectives of establishing socialist state. They participate in general elections. They fight in elections.

The other functions of trade union are:

Defending their employee rights and jobs Securing improvements in their working conditions, including hours of work and health safety at work Improving their pay and other benefits, including holiday entitlements Encouraging firms to increase worker participation in business decision making Improving sick pay, pensions and industrial injury benefits Developing and protecting the skills of union members

Problems of Trade Union

The following are some of the most important problems of the trade unions in India:

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1. Multiplicity of Trade Unions and Inter-union Rivalry 2. Small Size of Unions 3. Financial Weakness 4. Leadership Issues 5. Politicalisation of the Unions 6. Problems of Recognition of Trade Unions Multiplicity of trade unions Multiple rival unionism is one of the great weaknesses of the Indian trade union movement. Multiple unions are mainly the result of political outsiders wanting to establish unions of their own, with a view to increasing their political influence. The existence of different conflicting or rival organisatoins, with divergent political views, is greatly responsible for inadequate and unhealthy growth of the movement. Within a single organisation one comes across a number of groups comprising or insiders and outsiders, new-comers, and old-timers, moderates and radicals, and high and low caste people. This develops small unions. Interunion and intra-union rivalry undermines the strength and solidarity of the workers in many ways. Multiplicity of unions lead to inter-union rivalries, which ultimately cuts at the very root of unionism, weakens the power of collective bargaining, and reduces the effectiveness of workers in securing their legitimate rights. Therefore, there should be One union in one Industry. Inter-union rivalry Another vexing problem is that of intra-union rivalry. Trade rivalry is acute and pervades the entire industrial scene in India. Practically every important industry, there exists parallel and competing unions, e.g. on the Indian Railways, there are two parallel Federations the Indian Railway Mens Federation and Indian National Federation of Railway-men. Small Size of unions
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The small size of unions is due to various factors, namely: The fact that by seven workers may form a union under the Trade Union Act of 1926, and get it registered and a large number of small unions have grown. The structure of the trade union organization in the country which is in most cases the factory or the unit of employment; so whenever employees in a particular factory or mine are organized, a new union is formed. Unionism in India started with the big employers and gradually spread to smaller employers. This process is still continuing and has pulled down the average membership. Though the number of unions and union membership are increasing average membership is declining. Rivalry among the leaders and the Central Organisation has resulted in multiplicity of unions. The small size of unions create problems such as: Lack of funds to help its members. Lack of ability among the leaders and members. Low bargaining power. Rivalry between the unions Lack of unity among workers.

Financial weakness The financial weakness of the union may be attributed to the small size of union and poor ability of its members to contribute. The other reasons are low subscriptions and irregular payments of subscriptions by the members. Leadership issues
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Another disquieting feature of the trade unions is the outside leadership, i.e. leadership of trade unions by persons who are professional politicians and lawyers and who have no history of physical work in the industry. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, namely. The rank and the file are largely illiterate as such they cannot effectively communicate with the management; The unions lack of formal power tends to put a premium on the dharismatic type of the leader, usually a politician, who can play the role of the defender of the workers against the management; For ensuring a measure of equation of power in collective bargaining where the workers are generally uneducated and have a low status. For avoiding victimisation of worker-office-bearers of the trade unions; and For lack of financial resources to appoint whole time office-bearers. These political leaders are inevitably concerned with maximizing their individual standing as political leaders rather than with, maximizing the welfare of their members. Further, in bigger unions, direct contact with the rank and file membership and the top leaders is missing because of their hold on a number of trade unions in varied fields; they fail to pay adequate attention to any one union. Again, often these union leaders are not adequately aware of the actual needs and pressing problems of the members. They, therefore cannot put forth the case of the union effectively. Outside leadership of the unions leads to political unionism (each union having an allegiance to a different political party), which in turn, leads to multiplicity of unions, leading to intra-union rivalry, which cause low membership leading to unsound finances and in turn, lack of welfare and other constructive activities which may infuse strength into unions and to conduct collective bargaining effectively the unions depend on outside leadership, and the vicious circle thus goes on and on. Over and again it has been realized that a reorientation of policy is desirable by a switchover to working class leadership. The National Commmission on Labour
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gave a good deal of though to the issue whether outside leadership shoul be retained. It felt that, there should be no ban on non-employees holding positions in the executive body of the unions as that would be a very drastic step. The Commission also refers to the ILO convention (No. 87) concerning freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, and the workers organisation shall have the right to elect their representative in full freedom. The commissions own estimate was that outsiders in the unions executive bodies would be about 10%, much less than the number legally permitted. It makes the following recommendations to deal with the problem of outside leadership: Ex-employees of an industrial enterprise should not be treated as outsiders; Intensification of workers education; Penalties for victimization and similar unfair labour practices such as would discourage the growth of internal leadership; Intensification of efforts by trade union organizers to train workers in union organisation. Limiting the proportion of outsiders in the union execute; Establishing a convention that no union office-bearer will concurrently hold an office in a political party. Hence, leadership should be promoted from within the rank and file and given a more responsible role. Initiative should come from the workers themselves through the launching of a vigorous programme for Workers Education. This will enable them to participate in the decision-making and managing the union affairs effectively. Politicalisation of the unions On of the biggest problems of the countrys trade union movement faces is the influence of the political parties. i.e., the most distressing feature is its political character. Harold Crouch has observed, Even to the most casual observer of the Indian trade union scene, it must be clear that much of the behaviour of Indian unions, whether it be militant or passive behaviour can be explained in political
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terms. Dr. Ramans observations are: Trade union multiplicity in India is directly traceable to the domination and control of the trade union movement by rival political parties. The clay of unionism is possibly an effervescent industrial labourers, but the sculptors chiseling it into shape have certainly been members of political parties. In a recent study, Dr. Pandey had reached the conclusion: The unions are closely aligned with political parties, and political leaders continue to dominate the unions even now The supreme consequence of political involvement of unions in India in general, formed to safeguard and promote the social and economic interests of workers, have tended to become tools of party politics. It should be noted that decisions in the trade union fields are taken by the respective political parties to which the unions are attached and, therefore, with the changing political situation, the decisions also change. With the split in the political ideology, there develops factional split in the same trade union professing the same political ideology. The divisions and sub-divisions, thus made, have affected adversely the trade union movement. It has become fragmented and disjointed. Each section pulls itself in different directions; with the result that instead of becoming a unity and mighty torrential river, the movement is subdivided into numerous rivulets. Dr. Raman ahs very aptly conclude that: The use of political methods by trade unions may be to their advantage, but the union cause is endangered when unions allow themselves to become pawns in political fights. Political unionism has prevented the development of a movement or organisation that could be termed the workers own and turned the soil upside down to such a degree that it has become impossible for a genuine labour-inspired, labour-oriented, worker-led trade union movement to take root.

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