Fall of the union

NEW DELHI: The red flags don’t flutter on factory gates as vibrantly as they used to. And trade unions appear to be on the retreat, buffeted by falling membership, disenchantment of workers, adverse court judgments and aggressive managements.

It is something the trade unions won’t admit, though. “False propaganda,” bristles GL Dhar, general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress, when asked about falling membership of trade unions. Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) leader Keshavbhai Thakkar is less vehement. But neither provides figures.

Data is available, though, and it shows that things aren’t as rosy as the union leaders would like others to believe. Though the number of registered trade unions went up from 54,885 in 1992 to 65,264 in 2001, that of trade unions submitting returns came down from 9,073 to 5,693 over the same period and membership also fell from about 6,000 to a little over 4,000 in this period (see table). Take the share of labour force belonging to trade unions, which fell from 2.1 per cent in 1990 to 1.6 per cent in 2000.

Central trade union leaders privately concede their increasing ineffectiveness, even as they make dire predictions about revolt by the common man and anarchy. There are several reasons for the declining interest in trade unions. Rising job insecurity thanks to labour market flexibility, for one, say union leaders. This really goes back to the mid-1990s when industry was forced to restructure and modernise.

That led to shedding of labour, notes PK Sharma, a labour lawyer and rights activist. Trade unions, says Rajiv Kapoor, member of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) steering committee on labour, couldn’t really oppose this and lost a lot of ground with the workers. Jobs have been declining in the government and public sector as well. In non-viable public enterprises, unions are coming to terms with “voluntary” retirement schemes. Apex trade unions, who dominate the public sector industrial relations scenario, have been helpless in stopping this.

Similarly, the fact that apex unions have not been able to influence policy even when their parent parties have been in power, has also eroded their credibility. The fact that the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) couldn’t stop the interest rate on small savings from being cut to 8.5 per cent, let alone restoring it to 12 per cent, while CPIM was in a position to influence policy, has hit its supporters hard. Or take the case of farmers in the Burdwan district of West Bengal, who’ve never been paid minimum wages despite the long reign of the Left Front.

Governments’ attitudes are also changing, with several state governments imposing restrictions on the formation and functioning of unions. Take for instance West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s firm stance against any strike in the IT sector when the CITU called for a general strike last year. In 2000, the Haryana government passed an order barring its employees from going on strike. Above all, aspirations of workers are changing.

“The worker is now more individualistic. He wants the prerogative of reaching the sky himself, and not settle for some paltry gain along with 100 other colleagues using a third party like the union,” observes Yasho Verma, vice-president, HR, LG.

All this has caught the apex trade unions - thriving on government monopoly and political party patronage - off guard and they haven’t been able to either reconcile or adapt themselves to the changed situation. Centralised decision making, ad hoc management, obsolete strategies, confrontationist attitude and ineffective leadership have only made the going tougher for trade unions. The disenchantment with unions and growing job insecurity have had another fallout - workers are no longer willing to drop tools at the slightest pretext. (With inputs from Seetha)
(To be concluded)