1. Collective Bargaining in India-
Recent Trends
Surendra Pratap
Asia Monitor Resource Centre

2. Introduction
•Collective bargaining is actually a struggle for
building a democratic and civilized society
•We can not imagine a civilized society without
independent sectional organizations and
political parties representing the overall socio-
economic-political interests of the masses

3. • Whenever capitalist development moved
forward at extraordinarily speedy rate, most
autocratic regimes ruled the states
• Seems most of the third world countries have
entered in a similar phase
• Liberalization and Globalisation means- state
acting as corporate agent to remove all barriers
for capital accumulation and mobility of capital
• Therefore suddenly in almost all the third world
countries, an all-round attack on right to
organizes and collective bargaining

4. Structure of Work force
• > 97 % enterprises in informal sector; 3% formal sector
• T. Employment: 396 million in 2000 to 456 million in 2005)
• Informal sector: 393.2 million (86 percent)--Agriculture:
251.7 million
• self-employed (63%), regular wage workers (17%) and
casual 20 %
• Formal sector employment increased from 54.9 to 62.6
million; but formal employment increased only from 33.6
million to 35.0 million
• 70,000 registered unions (politically affiliated and
independent) and non-registered organizations
• Total verified membership about 2.5 crore (25.5 million)
about 30% of it represented by agricultural workers
• Union density in India only 8 percent

5. Labour Legislations in India
1. Laws for regulating Conditions of Service
• The Factories Act, 1948---10 or more workers (Crèche: if 30 or more
women; rest room: if 150 or more workers; canteen: if 250 or
more workers; ambulance, dispensary, and medical and para-
medical staff: if 500 or more workers).
• Mines Act, 1952; Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of
Employment) Act, 1966; Building and Other Construction Workers Act
1995; Motor Transport Workers Act 1961; Plantation Labour Act
1951; Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act 1955; Sales promotion Employees (Conditions of
Service) Act 1976; Apprentices Act 1961; Inter State Migrant
Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act
1979
• Weekly Holidays Act 1942
• Contract Labour (Regulation) Act 1970
• Shops and Establishment Acts of various States (establishments
not registered under Factories Act)

6. Labour Legislations in India
2. Labour Relations Laws
• a) Trades Union Act, 1926 (7 or more workers)
• b) Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Procedural aspects to all workers;
Chapter V B: 100 or more workers, VA: 50 or more workers)
• c) Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946: (100 or more
workers----in some states 50 or more, only in UP-10 or more)
3. Wage Laws:
• Minimum Wage Act 1948 (all workers)
• Payment of Wages Act 1936; (10 or more workers, < Rs 1600 pm)
• Payment of Bonus Act 1965; (20 or more workers, < Rs 3500 pm)
4. Labour Laws regarding Human Rights:
• Child Labour (Prohibition and regulation) Act 1986; The Children
(Pledging of Labour) Act; Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976
• Equal Remuneration Act 1976.

7. Labour Legislations in India
5. Social Security Laws:
• Employees’ Provident and Miscellaneous Provisions Act
1952: (if 10 or more workers)
• Employees’ State Insurance Act 1948: (20 or more
workers)
• Maternity Benefit Act 1961 (if 10 or more workers)
• Payment Gratuity Act 1972 (if 10 or more workers)
• Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923 (all workers)
• Unorganized Workers Social Security Act 2008 :
(unorganized workers below poverty line)- (National
Old Age Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit
Scheme, Scheme for protection during maternity, medical
insurance schemes etc.)

8. Legal Boundaries for Collective
Bargaining
• No ratification of ILO conventions-C-87
and C-98
• Limited scope and coverage of R2A and
CB with in legal boundaries of TU Act and
ID Act
• TU Act and ID Act silent on the issue of
recognition of trade unions

9. Legal Boundaries for Collective
Bargaining
• Right to strike is not a fundamental right but a legal right
governed by Industrial Disputes Act 1947.
• Section 10k: can be imposed to prohibit strikes or Lock-
outs;
• section 22 : In Public Utility Services---strike notice of 6
weeks
• Section 23: Prohibition of strikes during the pendency of
conciliation, arbitration and court proceedings
• TU activities granted immunity from the applicability of
CRPC but not in case of illegal strikes

10. CTUOs in India
• BMS - Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (far right political party BJP)-
members: 6 million
• INTUC - Indian National Trade Union Congress (Congress Party),
members: 3.8 million
• AITUC - All India Trade Union Congress (CPI)- members: 3.3 million
• HMS - Hind Mazdoor Sabha (independent-socialist) -members: 3.2
million
• CITU - Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CPI-M) members: 2.6 million
• UTUC (LS) - United Trade Union Congress (Lenin Sarani) (SUCI)
• UTUC - United Trade Union Congress (Revolutionary Socialist Party)
• TUCC - Trade Unions co-ordination Centre (All India Forward Block)
• SEWA- Self-Employed Women's Association (independent)—recently
listed
• LPF- Labour Progressive Front (DMK)—recently listed
• ICCTU- All-India Central Council of Trade Unions (CPI-ML-liberation)-
recently listed
• INTTUC-Indian National Trinmool Trade Union Congress (All India
Trinmool Congress)-recently listed

11. Further Shrinking the Space for
Collective Bargaining
Amending the Trade union Act
• 10% or 100, whichever is less, subject to a
minimum of 7 workmen members for
registration—limiting no. of outsiders
• Banning the Strikes by using ESMA
• TN-ESMA in 2003: imposed on general
strike of government and public sector
employees- 170000 employees were
dismissed-lastly reduced to 6074

12. Judicial Precedents Imposing Further Limitations
• General strike in Tamil Nadu (2003) TR Rangarajan vs
Government of Tamil Nadu, AIR 2003 SC 3032):
government employees have no fundamental right to strike
• Kerala geneal strike 1997: Bandhs (general Strikes) are
illegal; Order of HC Kerala upheld by SC
• In 2004, Calcutta High Court delivered similar decision
Making SEZs and NMIZs Immune to Trade Union Actions
• All SEZs and NIMZs declared as public utility services
• Amendments proposed: applicability of protective sections
of ID Act and CL Act, No outsiders in trade unions etc.
Right to join unions in NMIZs – only to low paid workers

13. Declining wage share in India,
1993–2007 World of Work Report, ILO
2010

14. New Trends : 1
New wave of labour movement for unionization
• A new wave of workers struggle for unionization;
• Workers struggle in Graziano Transmissioni in Noida,
NCR Delhi, Rico Auto Ltd and Sunbeam Auto Ltd in
Gurgaon, Pricol in Coimbtore, Hyundai motors, Foxconn
and Madras Rubber Factory in Chennai, Nestle in
Uttarakhand, and Viva Global in Gurgaon etc.
Efforts to develop unity among the CTUOs resulted in
Coordination Committee of eight CTUOs and the first joint
action was successful all India strike on Nov 7, 2010.
Individualized Bargaining : Spurt in individualised
bargaining mainly due to rampant informalisation

15. Strikes and Lockouts from 2002 to
2005 Labour Bureau, Government of India
ITEM 2002 2003 2004 2005
No. of Strikes 295 255 236 227
No. of Workers 900,386 1,010,976 1,903,054 2,722,784
Involved
Man-days lost 9,664,537 3,205,950 4,828,737 10,800,686
No. of Lockouts 284 297 241 229
No. of Workers 179,048 804,969 169,167 190,817
Involved
Man-days lost 16,921,382 2,70,49,961 19,037,630 18,864,313

16. Strikes and Lockouts 2005-09
www.livemint.com/2009/12/.../The-rise-of-the-new-proletaria.html

17. The case of Viva Global
• 400 male workers and 200 females workers in company --- demand
for wage increment in April 2010 after minimum wages revised in
January 2010--- stopped the work for two hrs every day April 8-10
• One worker dismissed---protest----15 workers taken in custody
• Workers started their efforts to form trade union
• Protest ended-demands fulfilled---minimum wage, formal contract-ESI
and PF
• But Soon management started throwing out workers one by one
• Workers successfully registered union in May 2010; collectively
protested against this move
• Aug 21: all contract workers thrown out-protest at the factory gate
• Management locked out the factory, regular workers also thrown out
• August 25: 20-25 local goons brutally attacked the factory workers

18. The case of Viva Global
• One worker was caught and abducted by the goons.
• Accounts of Abducted worker: “I was put in backside box
of a car. Lastly the car stopped and the goons closed my
eyes with some cloth before taking me out of the box.
They took me to a house and hit me with whatever they
had till they received directions on phone to take me to
another place. Thereafter they took me to a jungle and
threatened to kill me. But soon after they received
directions on phone and therefore they again put me in
the same backside box of the car and threw me out at
Delhi-Gurgaon Border. As soon as I reached my
residence from there, the police also reached there and
took me to the Police Station and then to the hospital and
from there I again came to the place where sit-in-protest
of workers was going on.”

19. New Trends: 2
Informalisation and New Paradigm of CB
• Emphasis on Community organizing rather than at shop-
floor; Collective Bargaining at Industry or National level
rather than factory level; adopting more political forms of
struggle than traditional union tactics
• In many industrial sectors, for example in garment-the
situation provides only two options: individual bargaining or
Industry level/national level bargaining and requires
political forms of struggle
New initiatives to organize informal sector workers:
Many local level unions of rural workers and also regional
platforms of rural workers have started emerging—
Particularly arround NREGA.

20. Thank You
Thank you

21. Thank You