Labour Wakes Up: Trade Unions, Strikes, and Working Class Politics in Colonial India

The Movement of the Working Class in India (1850s–1947)

The modern Indian working class was born in the second half of the nineteenth century with the arrival of large-scale industrial enterprise. The thousands of workers employed in railway construction were its harbingers. Railways were followed by ancillary industries, the coal industry (which employed a large workforce rapidly), and then the cotton and jute textile industries.

The conditions of the Indian working class mirrored the worst phases of industrialisation in Europe:

• Low wages and excessively long working hours.
• Unhygienic and hazardous working conditions.
• Employment of child labour.
• Absence of basic amenities.

However, the Indian experience had a distinctive colonial dimension: Indian workers faced a dual antagonism — imperialist political rule AND economic exploitation by both foreign and native capitalist classes. This structural duality made the Indian working class movement inevitably intertwined with the political struggle for national emancipation.

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Position of Early Nationalists (Moderates)

The Moderate nationalists were largely indifferent or hostile to labour's cause. Their position:

• Differentiated between labour in Indian-owned vs British-owned factories.
• Believed labour legislation would erode the competitive advantage of Indian-owned industries.
• Did not want the national movement divided on class lines.
• Consequently, did NOT support the Factory Acts of 1881 and 1891.

As a result, early attempts to improve workers' conditions were isolated, sporadic, and philanthropic — not systematic or political.

Key Early Figures

• 1870: Sasipada Banerjea — started a workingmen's club and newspaper Bharat Shramjeevi.
• 1878: Sorabjee Shapoorji Bengalee — attempted (unsuccessfully) to get a bill passed in the Bombay Legislative Council for better working conditions.
• 1880: Narain Meghajee Lokhanday — started newspaper Deenbandhu and set up the Bombay Mill and Millhands Association — a significant early organisational attempt.
• 1899: First strike by the Great Indian Peninsular Railways — got widespread support. Tilak's Kesari and Maharatta had campaigned for the strike for months before it occurred.

Other nationalist leaders who advocated better conditions for workers: Bipin Chandra Pal and G. Subramaniya Aiyar.

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Workers began participating in wider political issues during the Swadeshi era:

• Strikes organised by Ashwini Coomar Banerjea, Prabhat Kumar Roy Chaudhuri, Premtosh Bose, and Apurba Kumar Ghosh — in government presses, railways, and the jute industry.
• Subramaniya Siva and Chidambaram Pillai led strikes in Tuticorin and Tirunelvelli and were arrested.
• Attempts were made to form trade unions but these were not very successful.
• The biggest strike of this period was organised after Tilak's arrest and trial (1908).

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Conditions

• WWI brought rising exports, soaring prices, and massive profiteering by industrialists — but workers received very low wages.
• This created intense working-class discontent.

New Dimensions

• Gandhi's emergence brought emphasis on mobilising workers and peasants for the national cause.
• International events transformed the ideological landscape:
  • Establishment of a socialist republic in the Soviet Union.
  • Formation of the Comintern.
  • Setting up of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
• A need was felt for organised trade unions.

Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (1918)

• Gandhi organised this association.
• Through protest action, secured a 27.5% wage hike.
• Later, an arbitrator's award ensured a 35% raise.

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The AITUC was founded on October 31, 1920.

Leadership

• First President: Lala Lajpat Rai (also INC president for that year).
• First General Secretary: Dewan Chaman Lal.

Significant Connections

• Lajpat Rai was the first to analytically link capitalism with imperialism: 'imperialism and militarism are the twin children of capitalism.'
• C.R. Das (prominent Congress and Swarajist leader) presided over the 3rd and 4th sessions of the AITUC.
• Gaya session of Congress (1922) welcomed the formation of AITUC and formed a committee to assist it.
• C.R. Das argued that Congress must take up workers' and peasants' causes and incorporate them in the swaraj struggle — otherwise they would get isolated from the movement.
• Other leaders maintaining close contact with AITUC: Nehru, Subhas Bose, C.F. Andrews, J.M. Sengupta, Satyamurthy, V.V. Giri, Sarojini Naidu.

Ideological Character

• Initially influenced by social democratic ideas of the British Labour Party.
• Gandhian philosophy of non-violence, trusteeship, and class-collaboration had great influence.
• Later, communist influence became dominant.

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This landmark legislation:

• Recognised trade unions as legal associations.
• Laid down conditions for registration and regulation of trade union activities.
• Secured immunity (both civil and criminal) for trade unions from prosecution for legitimate activities.
• Put some restrictions on their political activities.

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Militant Strike Wave

• Strong communist influence lent a militant and revolutionary character to the movement.
• 1928: Six-month-long strike in Bombay Textile Mills led by the Girni Kamgar Union.
• Whole of 1928 saw unprecedented industrial unrest.
• Crystallisation of communist groups: S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, P.C. Joshi, Sohan Singh Joshi and others.

Government Response

Public Safety Ordinance (1929) and Trade Disputes Act (TDA), 1929:

• TDA made compulsory the appointment of Courts of Inquiry and Consultation Boards for settling disputes.
• Made illegal strikes in public utility services (posts, railways, water, electricity) — unless each individual worker gave one month's advance notice.
• Forbade coercive or purely political trade union activity and even sympathetic strikes.

Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929)

• In March 1929, the government arrested 31 labour leaders.
• Three-and-a-half-year trial resulted in conviction of: Muzaffar Ahmed, S.A. Dange, Joglekar, Philip Spratt, Ben Bradley, Shaukat Usmani and others.
• The trial got worldwide publicity but ultimately weakened the working class movement.

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• Workers participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930).
• 1931: A split in AITUC — the corporatist trend led by N.M. Joshi broke away to form the All India Trade Union Federation.
• 1935: Communists rejoined the AITUC.
• The new left front comprised: communists, Congress Socialists, and leftist nationalists like Nehru and Subhas Bose.

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• AITUC had supported Congress candidates in the 1937 elections.
• Congress provincial governments gave a fillip to trade union activity.
• Congress ministries were generally sympathetic to workers' demands.
• Many pro-worker legislations were passed during this period.

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Communist Shift

• Workers initially opposed the War.
• After 1941 (when Russia joined the Allied side), communists declared the war a 'peoples' war' and supported it.
• Communists dissociated from the Quit India Movement (1942) — a point of lasting tension with the mainstream national movement.
• Communists advocated industrial peace policy during the war.

Post-War National Upsurges (1945–47)

• 1945: Dock workers of Bombay and Calcutta refused to load ships taking supplies to warring troops in Indonesia.
• 1946: Workers went on strike in support of the Naval Ratings (Royal Indian Navy Mutiny).
• During the last year of foreign rule: Widespread strikes by workers in posts, railways, and many other establishments.

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• GS Paper I — Modern History: The working class movement is integral to understanding the social dimensions of Indian nationalism and the role of organised labour in anti-colonial resistance.
• Nationalism and Colonialism: The dual antagonism (imperialism + capitalism) faced by Indian workers made their movement structurally different from purely economic labour movements elsewhere — it was inherently political.
• Social Change: The emergence of an industrial working class created new social identities and class consciousnesses that cut across traditional caste and community boundaries — a significant form of social change under colonialism.
• Continuity vs. Change: The tensions between class-based trade unionism and broad nationalist politics — crystallised in debates between Gandhian trusteeship, socialist programmes, and communist militancy — continued to shape Indian labour politics after independence.
• Interlinking: Working Class Movement ↔ Economic Impact of British Rule ↔ Peasant Movements ↔ Swadeshi Movement ↔ Civil Disobedience Movement ↔ Quit India Movement ↔ Communist Party of India
• Soviet Influence: The Russian Revolution's global ideological impact on Indian labour (and the Comintern's role) is an important example of international linkages in the national movement.

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1. AITUC president vs. general secretary: First president = Lala Lajpat Rai; first general secretary = Dewan Chaman Lal. These are frequently swapped in options. Lajpat Rai was ALSO the INC president that year (1920) — a double role worth noting.

2. Gandhi's Ahmedabad strike result: Initial protest secured 27.5% wage hike; the arbitrator's later award secured 35%. Both figures appear in sources — the final settlement was 35%, not 27.5%.

3. Moderates did NOT support Factory Acts of 1881 and 1891: A counterintuitive fact — the early nationalists who are otherwise seen as progressive opposed labour legislation because they feared it would disadvantage Indian-owned industries.

4. Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929) ≠ weakened immediately: The trial got worldwide publicity (which was positive for the movement's profile) but ultimately WEAKENED the working class movement — do not confuse publicity with organisational strength.

5. TDA (1929) one-month notice applies to PUBLIC UTILITY services only (posts, railways, water, electricity) — not all industries. This specific limitation is often overgeneralised in options.

6. N.M. Joshi's 1931 split: N.M. Joshi led the corporatist trend that broke away to form the All India Trade Union Federation — distinct from the AITUC. Do not confuse this with later splits or the communist rejoining in 1935.

7. Communists opposed Quit India (1942): This is a critically important fact — after Russia joined the Allies (1941), communists declared it a 'peoples' war' and withdrew from the Quit India Movement, creating lasting tension between the CPI and the mainstream Congress-led movement.

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• Modern Indian working class: Railway construction workers → coal industry → cotton and jute industries.
• Dual antagonism: Imperialist rule + capitalist exploitation (foreign AND native).
• Early nationalists (Moderates): Indifferent/hostile to labour; did NOT support Factory Acts 1881 and 1891.
• 1870: Sasipada Banerjea — Bharat Shramjeevi.
• 1880: Narain Meghajee Lokhanday — Deenbandhu + Bombay Mill and Millhands Association.
• 1899: First GIP Railways strike; Tilak's papers campaigned for it.
• Swadeshi era: Strikes in government press, railways, jute; Chidambaram Pillai and Subramaniya Siva (Tuticorin/Tirunelvelli); biggest strike after Tilak's arrest (1908).
• 1918: Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Gandhi); 27.5% → 35% wage hike.
• AITUC: Founded October 31, 1920; Lala Lajpat Rai (president); Dewan Chaman Lal (general secretary).
• C.R. Das: Presided over 3rd and 4th AITUC sessions; Gaya Congress (1922) welcomed AITUC.
• Trade Union Act, 1926: Legal recognition, immunity for legitimate activities, restrictions on political activities.
• 1928: Girni Kamgar Union; six-month Bombay Textile Mills strike; unprecedented industrial unrest.
• Communist leaders: S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, P.C. Joshi, Sohan Singh Joshi.
• TDA 1929: One-month advance notice for public utility strikes; banned sympathetic strikes; Public Safety Ordinance 1929.
• Meerut Conspiracy Case 1929: 31 arrested; trial 3.5 years; worldwide publicity but weakened movement.
• 1931 split: N.M. Joshi → All India Trade Union Federation; 1935 communists rejoined AITUC.
• 1937–39: Congress ministries — sympathetic to workers; pro-worker legislation.
• WWII: Communists support war after 1941; oppose Quit India Movement (1942).
• 1945: Dock workers refused to load ships for Indonesia.
• 1946: Workers' strike in support of Naval Ratings.