Trade Union Movement in India- History APPSC G1 Prelims & Mains

Left Trade Unions

• Communist-dominated trade unions were founded after 1923.

• As a result of the Communist influence on trade unions, "1928 was a year of intense industrial unrest".

All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)

• The early leaders of the AITUC included Lala Lajpat Rai, N.M. Johsi and V.V.Giri.

• In 1929, Communists succeeded in securing the approval of the AITUC to its affiliation to the Third International in Moscow. This lead to a split; the moderates, led by N.M. Joshi, left the AITUC and formed the All-India Trade Union Federation (AITUF).

• Another split in the AITUC in 1931, when communists formed the Red Trade Union Congress (RTUC)..

• National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) was formed in 1933.

• In 1936, the AITUC and NTUF came closer together. In 1938, both held a commission session at Nagpur. Unity was finally achieved in 1940 – 11 years after the first split – when NTUF was dissolved and its trade unions affiliated themselves to the AITUC.

• The Bombay Industrial Disputes Act of 1938 and the Shops and Establishments Act of 1939, were passed by the Congress ministries.

• A conference of a large number of trade unions was held in Lahore in Nov 1941, which decided to set up a new central trade union organisation called the Indian Federation of Labour.

• Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) established in May 1944.

• One reason for establishing a new central trade union organisation i.e., INTUC was that the AITUC, after the Nagpur unity in 1938, had been dominated by the Communists.