Unity of labour in the context of political diversity

Abstract

Labour disunity in India has been generally ascribed to the multiplicity in trade unionism. The responsibility for such a political ideologies that exist in India. It needs no in-depth study of the Indian political scenario to understand the existence of the diverse political ideologies. The range of the ideological spectrum extends from the Gandhian to the Marxian. Because of the diverse ideologies have manifested in fragmented trade unionism. Thus, the empirical reality of multiple trade unions in different organizations results in Labour disunity. In the context of such fragmentation and disunity the study examines a union where Labour unity is a reality – where diverse ideologies have combined on a common platform to further the cause of Labour. This exploratory study examines the factors which have led to such unity in the context of political diversity and its implications. It also explores the nature of the Labour unity and the manner in which it has been sustained. The case study method has been used in this study. The study indicates that: (a) The contention that political ideologies are primarily responsible for multiplicity in Indian trade unionism is not always true. (b) Union-management relationship is considerably influenced by the attitude of the management. (c) Democratization of the processes within union is conducive to unity, but the processes need to be internalized for its continuation.

The study also provides a refinement in the classification of Indian trade unions along the dimension of political linkage.