Globalization
is the expansion of trade and commerce across the world transcending the
international borders. Essentially, therefore, it is market-driven. Existence
of global trade can be traced back to the civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, Phoenicia and China in 4000 B.C to 1000 B.C. The Formation of nation states in
Western Europe in the 15th and 16th Centuries and the successful efforts of
colonization by Spain, Portugal, Great
Britain and France in the succeeding periods marked by rapid expansion of
global trade by means of reciprocal import and export of raw materials and
finished goods between the Conquerors and the colonies necessitated the
expansion of capital in hitherto unknown scale and the conferment of charted
rights for exclusive trade in exchange for certain obligations to the State.
All these culminated in the advent of joint-stock system of ownership of
business enterprises and emergence of modern corporations. The following
Industrial Revolution in the 18th Century which gave rise to mass production
also necessitated aggressive and innovative world-wide marketing techniques.
The notable early multi-national companies are the Unilever of Holland and England, Anglo Swiss Condensed Milk Company of
Switzerland, Philips Lamps of the Netherlands and Standard Oil of the USA.
In the aftermath of the new industrial policy of the Govt. of India, the scale
of preference gradually tilted towards privatization, foreign direct
investment, deregulation of exports and imports in tune with the terms of international
trade agreements etc., resulting in private-public joint ventures,
foreign-domestic collaborative ventures, big Indian business houses like the Tatas, Birlas, TVS becoming
transnational, multi-national corporations like Ford, Hyundai, GM, Nokia, Suzuki, Volvo etc., establishing their
production hubs in India and competing substantially in the domestic market in
addition to sizeable exports, large scale employment opportunities abroad,
creation of a level-playing field for the private sector in the nationalized
fields of banking, insurance, telecommunications etc., increased flow of
revenue to the State through direct and indirect taxes and so on. Slow and steady
phasing out of small and medium scale industries catering to the local and
domestic markets, replacement of large scale manual labour in production and
construction activities with increased use of mammoth machines, machanisation,
automation etc., migration of manual labour force from rural areas to urban
centers of production leaving agriculture in the lurch, increasing unplanned
urbanization, power and water scarcity, painful adjustment of domestic
consumption needs and unpredictable inflationary trends according to global
market supply and demand, unabated out-sourcing resulting in sporadic indirect
engagement of labour and so on.
Trade union
movement in India dates back to 1890 with the formation of Bombay Millhands Association which in fact was more a welfare
association than a trade union. Therefore, the first unions formed were viz., the
Madras Labour Union (1918) and the Textile Labour Association, Ahmedabad
(1920). The All India Trade Union
Congress (AITUC), the first trade union federation was formed in 1920. The
political difference cropped up ever since its inception among the three groups
viz., the nationalists led by Gandhiji
and Jawaharlal Nehru, communists led by Dange and M.N. Roy and the moderate socialists led by V.V Giri and N.M. Joshi paved way for
the formation of rival unions based on political ideologies and the first grand
split saw the formation of Indian
National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) from AITUC in 1947 followed by
further splits with the formation of Hind
Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), United Trade
Union Congress (UTUC) and finally the formation of the Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in 1970. The political
difference played a vital role in the formation of further federations such as Bharathiya Mazdoor Sabha (BMS) and
other regional level federations by the regional parties. As of now, almost
every political party has its labour wing in the form of its own federation.
Still there are some other federations without any political link. One can
understand the importance of a trade union from the inalienable right to
association in Art. 19(1)(g) of the
Constitution of India. Trade union stands as a parallel institution to
management in matters of industrial relations such as collective bargaining,
participative management, conflict resolution etc.
Different
challenges in the position of Indian Trade unions in the wake of globalization
in particular is far less with the decline in the number of conventional
manufacturing like textile, foundry, mines and quarrying etc. and the growth of
service sector where unionization is not possible because of scattered labour
force. Even in manufacturing, perceptible change is noticed from
mass-production centers to small, small satellite units of production based on
the speciality of the components to be made. It is a well-known fact that
unionization in small units is very difficult. Thus the decline in membership
has rendered the Indian trade unions vulnerable and ineffective other than in
public sector undertakings where though unionization stands presently at 90%,
the role of unions are restricted to that of bargaining agents in wage
negotiations only.
Therefore,
the position of the Indian Trade Unions in the era of globalization is to understand
not only the implications of change, but also, non-change and non-adaptation.
The role played by the Indian Trade Unions
during the pre and post independence periods cannot be undermined. Their
constant efforts made the Govt. of India ratify a number of conventions of International Labour Organization and
instrumental in the passing of many post independence labour laws. Their
indomitable spirit of litigation brought about many landmark judgments by the Apex Court of the nation. To address
the human problems associated with globalization, they have to revamp their
armory with new weapons. They should not refuse to understand that the
commitments of an industry are not only limited to that of security of
employment and fair wages to workmen and fat dividends to share-holders.
Another stakeholder viz. society is still at large. It needs better quality of
goods and services at cheaper prices keeping the ecological balance intact and
the uninterrupted transfer of social wealth and technological know-how to
posterity. Therefore, Indian Trade Unions, along with other social partners,
should recognize the need for the transition and transformation of our economy
to be fully integrated into the global economy as a major and competitive
player where its citizens including the labour force can enjoy an enhanced
quality of life.
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