At present there are twelve Central Trade Union Organizations in India:

All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP) Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) Indian Federation of Free Trade Unions (IFFTU) Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) National Labor Organization (NLO) Trade Unions Co-ordination Centre (TUCC) United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) United Trade Union Congress - Lenin Sarani (UTUC - LS)

ORIGIN:

All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was founded in 1920 with Lala Lajpat

Rai as its first president. Up to 1945 Congressmen, Socialists, Communists worked in

the AITUC which was the central trade union organization of workers of India.

Subsequently the trade union movement got split on political lines.

Now Supported by Communist Party of India

The membership of the AITUC is 3.6 million. The unions affiliated to AITUC are

from textile, engineering, coal, steel, road transport, electricity board and of

unorganized sector such as beedi makers, construction and head-load workers,

anganwadi, local bodies and handloom. Recently a number of agriculture workers'

unions have affiliated themselves to AITUC.

To establish a socialist state in India;

To improve the economic and social conditions of the working class;

To watch, promote, and further the interests, rights, and privileges of the workers in all matters relating to their employment;

To secure and maintain for the workers the freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of association freedom of assembly, the right to strike, and the right to work and maintenance;

To co-ordinate the activities of the labour unions affiliated to the aituc;

To abolish political or economic advantage based on caste, creed, community, race or religion;

To secure and maintain for the workers the right to strike

A statutory enactment providing for a six-hour working day.   Minimum living wage.       Equal wages for equal work, without racial or sex discrimination.     One month's leave full pay, or an equivalent amount as

compensation when leave is not granted. Unemployment, sickness, old age, accident and maternity,

insurance, comprehensive social security scheme to be introduced.      

Formation, through trade unions, of workers' committees in factories, workshops, business houses and all other places where collective work is performed, with a view to control conditions of work inside these places.

Abolition of the employment of children under 15 years of age.     Payment of wages to women workers six weeks before and six

weeks after child - birth.     Abolition of other systems of recruiting labor such as through

contractors, middlemen etc.         Worker's participation in Management.      Protection of environment.

Origin:

The INTUC came into existence on 4' May, 1948, as a result of the resolution passed on

1 7' November 1947, by the United Board of the Hindustan Mazdoor Sevak Sangh,

which was a labour organisation working under the direction of National Congress-

minded labour leaders on the Gandhian Philosophy of Sarvodaya. Since AITUC was

under the stronghold of the Communists, the Congress labour leaders thought of

fonning a new central trade union organization. To give effect to ths idea, a

conference was held at New Delhi under the chairman ship of Sardar Vallabhai

Patel. It was inaugurated by Shri Acharya J.B. Kripalani (on May 3, 1947) and was

attended by eminent nationalist and socialist leaders.

Objectives:

To establish an order of society which is free from hindrances to an all-round development of

its individual members, which fosters the growth of human personality in all its aspects, and

which goes to the utmost limit in progressively eliminating social, political or economic

exploitation and inequality, the profit motive in the economic activity and organization of

society and the anti-social concentration of power in any form;

to place industry under national ownership and control in a suitable form;

to secure increasing association of workers in the administration of industry and their full

participation in that control;

Origin:

Some trade union leaders of the socialist bent met together in December 1948 to form a new central organisation of labour, called Hind Mazdoor Sabha. Some of the leaders did not agree with the principles and objectives of the Sabha and they therefore, again met at Calcutta on December 27, 1948, and decided to call upon a conference of trade union leaders to form a united Trade Union Committee. This Committee called for a meeting of the various leaders at Calcutta on April 30, 1949 , and formed a new union under the name of United Trade Union Congress.

Objectives: to establish a socialist society in India;

to nationalize and socialize the means of production, distribution and exchange;

to safeguard and promote the interests, rights, and privileges to the workers in all matters, social, cultural, economic and political;

to secure and maintain workers’ freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, right to strike, right to work or maintenance and the right to social security;

to bring about unity in the trade union movement.

When the Socialists separated from the Congress, those who were

dissatisfied with the pro-Communist policies of the INTUC, formed a new

organization, the Hind Mazdoor panchayat, which was merged with the

Indian Federation of Labour in 1948 under the name of the Hind Mazdoor

Sabha. It is an organ of the Praja Socialist Party.

Origin:

This union has been the outcome of decision taken by the Jana Sangh in its Convention at Bhopal on 23rd July, 1954, politically supported by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Objectives:

The BMS is a productivity-oriented non-political trade union. Its ideological basis is the triple formula:

i. nationalize the labour;ii. labourise the industry;iii. industrialize the nation;

to establish the Bhartiya order of classless society in which there shall be secured full employment;

to assist workers in organizing themselves in trade unions as medium of service to the motherland irrespective of faiths and political affinities;

the right to strike;

to inculcate in the minds of the workers the spirit of service, co-operation and dutifulness and develop in them a sense of responsibility towards the nation in general and the industry in particular.

Origin

This union was founded in 1967, with the claim that “this trade union of India is not controlled by any of the political party, employers or government.”

Objectives:

to organize and unite trade unions with the object of building up a National Central Organisation of trade unions, independent of political parties, employers and the government, to further the cause of labour and that of national solidarity security and defence of India, and to make the working people conscious of their right as well as of obligations in all spheres of life;

to secure to members of trade unions full facilities of recognition and effective representation of interests of workers and to ensure for the working people fair conditions of life and service and progressively to raise their social, economic and cultural state and conditions;

to help in every possible way member trade unions in their fight to raise real wages of the workers;

Origin

This union was formed in 1970 when as a result of the gap in the AITUC, some members of the Communist party seceded & supported by Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Objectives:

The CITU believes that the exploitation of the working class can be ended only by socializing all means of production, distribution , exchange and establishing a socialist state, that is, it stands for the complete liberation of the society from all exploitation.

The CITU fights against all violations on the economic and social rights of the workers and the enlargement of their rights and liberties including the right to strike, for winning, defending and extending the freedom of the democratic trade union movement.

In the fight for the immediate interest of the working class the CITU demands: (a) nationalization of all foreign monopoly concerns who barbarously exploit the working class; (b) nationalization of all concerns owned by Indian monopolists and big industry who garner huge profits at the expenses of the workers, who exploit the people by pegging prices at a high level and who dictate the anti-labour and anti-people policies of the government.

As regards leadership, all the four organizations have their political affiliations, and the leadership, therefore, lies in the hands of

the politicians, and not in those of the working class, which is yet illiterate and backward to wield any influence.

The AITUC is pro-communist. It is led by the Right CPI. Its attitude towards the government is not entirely hostile, but of

course highly critical of the government.

The UTUC is radical, non-communist and anti-INTUC. It is led by some independent trade union leaders, the Forward Block

and the Revolutionary Socialist Party.

On the international level, the INTUC is affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) – an

organization mainly supported by the Anglo American block; while the AITUC is affiliated to the World Federation of Trade

Unions (WFTU), supported by the Communist block.

CRITICISMS

Comparative Study of Four Original Central OrganisationsAlthough there are as many as twelve central labor organizations in the country, only four are of

great importance: the INTUC, the AITUC, the HMS , and the UTUC. Even though the general objective of these four organizations is the same, namely, to promote the economic, social, political and cultural interests of workers, they differ in some fundamental principles based on political attitudes.

Objectives: The INTUC aims at the sarvodaya ideal and stands for gradual transformation of the existing

social order. It aims at establishing a socialist state in India. The objectives of AITUC have a distinct ring of 19 century Marxism. The AITUC also strives to establish a socialist society, but through radical means. The HMS stands for the establishment of a democratic socialist society, and so does the UTUC. So the ultimate pattern of society aimed at by the four organizations is the same.

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