English
Maharashtra State BoardSSC (English Medium) 10th Standard Board Exam
Question Papers331
Textbook Solutions22362
MCQ Online Mock Tests39
Important Solutions5859
Concept Notes & Videos438
Time Tables28
Syllabus

Important Movements in India - Worker's Movements

Advertisements

Topics

Notes

Worker's Movement:

  • In India, factory production started in the early 1860s. The colonial regime established a broad pattern of trade whereby raw resources were obtained from India and items produced in the United Kingdom were marketed in the colony. As a result, these factories were built in the port cities of Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai). In the future, factories were also built in Madras (Chennai). Assam's first tea plantations were created in 1839.
  • In the early stages of colonialism, labour was very cheap as the colonial government did not regulate either wages or working conditions. Workers were drawn into the anti-colonial movement by some of the nationalist leaders. Although the war helped our country's industries grow, it also brought the poor a tremendous deal of misery. Food was in low supply, and prices rose dramatically.
  • Despite the later development of trade unions, workers did protest. In Bombay's textile industries, there were waves of strikes. There were about 30 strikes that were documented in September and October 1917. Calcutta jute workers went on strike. The employees of Buchingham and Carnatic Mills (Binny's) in Madras went on strike to demand higher pay. Ahmedabad textile workers went on strike in protest of a pay raise of 50%.
  • In Madras, India, in April 1918, social worker and Theosophical Society member B.P. Wadia founded the first trade union. Mahatma Gandhi established the Textile Labor Association in the same year (TLA). Bombay saw the creation of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) in 1920. The AITUC was a multi-ideological organisation with a wide base of support. The three main ideological factions were the nationalists, which included figures like Lala Lajpat Rai and Jawaharlal Nehru, the moderates, led by M. Joshi and V.V. Giri, and the communists, led by S.A. Dange and M.N. Roy.
  • The colonial authority became more careful when dealing with labour once the AITUC was established. In 1922 the government passed the fourth factories Act which reduced the working day to 10 hours.
  • In May 1947, the Indian National Congress made the decision to establish a different union known as the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) as the communists gained control over the AITUC.
  • The labour movement organised various agitations in the 1960s and 1970s. There was a significant railway workers' strike in 1974. The government restricted all union operations between 1975 and 1977 while there was an emergency. However, the labour movement began to break apart in the 1980s.
  • The worker's movement was very much part of the wider struggle for civil liberties. 
  • Different issues that Indian labourers are dealing with. Some of the issues include unstable working conditions, contract labour, financial instability, a lack of legal protection for employees, unrestricted hours, workplace insecurity, and health risks.
If you would like to contribute notes or other learning material, please submit them using the button below.

Related concepts

Advertisements
Share
Notifications

Englishहिंदीमराठी
Login
Create free account


      Forgot password?
Course
Use app×