Question

Write a note on the Labour movement.

Explain the concept of the Labour movement.

Answer 1

The labour movement in India was organised under Trade unions that saw their birth in the background of industrialisation in British India. Industrial workers frequently went on strike for their demands for better wages and improved working hours. One such incident was the railway workers’ strike in 1899. The first organisation for resolving workers’ issues was established in 1920, known as the All India Trade Union Congress. In the post-independence era, trade unions became more effective in the 1960s and 1970s, organising several agitations, but saw their disintegration in the 1980s and their steady decline in the face of globalisation in the 1990s. Some of the concerns of the workers’ movements are:

• Unstable employment conditions.
• Contract labour and the financial insecurities of workers.
• Absence of legal protection for workers.
• Long working hours.
• Insecurities in the workplace.
• Health hazards at the workplace, etc.