IMPACT OF TRADE UNIONISM ON INDIAN SOCIETY

Abstract

A Trade union is an organization of workers, acting collectively, who seek to protect and promote their mutual interests through collective bargaining. Trade unions are based upon the concept of "class-struggle" between the capitalist employers and their workers. Tannenbaum traces the rise of unions to the worker's reaction to the philosophy of individualism dominating the 19^th and the 20^th centuries. The Industrial Revolution destroyed the older way of life and left the individual worker at the mercy of the employer "who became the catalytic agent that crystallized them into a self-conscious group." The worker became completely dependent on others for his livelihood, and "equality came to mean equality for competitive strife. The role of trade unions are considered as essentially reformist organizations and economic institutions based on the Sarvodaya principles of Truth, Non-violence and Trusteeship. Trade unions are important players in today’s industrialized world. Trade Unions have three cardinal principles; Unity is strength, Equality of pay for equal work, Security of employment. Trade unions have gradually evolved and have now come to occupy an important place in the modern industrial order, they have now become gigantic associations; they have now become institutions which are interested in the social, cultural and political development of the county. Now-a-days the trade union movement is no longer solely a movement for advancing claims as a movement seeking to increase the material well being of its members but has grown into a force which not only defends the political, social and cultural interests of its members but also carries out special tasks affecting enterprising and intellectual workers especially with regard to their career, jobs, salaries, paid holidays, vocational training, recreational and health improvement programmes etc. The growth of trade unions has been influenced by a number of ideologies, social, economic and even political movements have influenced trade unions in one or the other way.