GROWTH OF TRADE UNION MOVEMENT AND MEMBERSHIP           

Trade unions as in most other countries have been the natural conclusion of the modern factory system. The growth of trade unionism has a stormy career and chequered history.

1. Early Period

Efforts towards organising the workers for their welfare were made, during the early period of industrial growth by philanthropists, social workers and other religious leaders mostly on humanitarian grounds. The first Factories Act, 1881, was passed out on the basis of the proposal of the Bombay Factory Commission, 1875. Due to the boundaries of the Act, the workers in Bombay Textile Industry under the leadership of N M Lokhande demanded decrease of hours of work, mid-day recess, weekly rest days, and compensation for injuries. Bombay Mill owners' Association conceded the demand for weekly holiday. As a result, Lokhande established the first Workers' Union in India in the year 1890 in the name of Bombay Millhands Association. A labour journal called "Dinabandu" was also published.

Some important unions established during the period are: Amalgamated society of Railway Servants of India and Burma (1897), Calcutta (1905) , the Printers Union and the Bombay Postal Union (1907), the Kamgar Hitavardhak Sabha (1910) and the Social Service League (1910). But these unions were treated like ad hoc bodies and could not serve the cause of trade unions.

2. A Modest Beginning

The starting of the Labour movement in the modern sense begins after the outbreak of World War I in the country. Economic, political & social conditions of the day influenced the development of trade union movement. Establishment of International Labour Organisation in the year 1919 helped the formation of trade unions in the country. Madras Labour Union was created on systematic lines in the year of 1919. A number of trade unions were established among 1919 and 1923. Categorywise unions as Spinners' Union & Weavers' Union came into existence in Ahmedabad under the inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi. These unions were later federated into an industrial union known as Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association. This union has been created on systematic lines and has been functioning on sound lines depends on the Gandhian Philosophy of mutual trust, collaboration and non-violence.