THE FUTURE OF SOLIDARITY: TRADE UNIONS IN A GLOBALIZED ERA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i5.2024.5472Abstract [English]
HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY AND STRUCTURAL SHIFTS IN TRADE UNIONISM
India’s industrial era began in the 1850s, led by British economic interests, supported by the country’s abundance of cheap labour and raw materials. Early enterprises such as the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company (1854) and Jamsetji Tata’s cotton mills helped establish a modern industrial base. By 1881, over 2.6 million workers laboured in difficult conditions, long hours, child labour, arbitrary fines, and little regulation (Government of India, 1883). This exploitation spurred worker discontent, leading to early collective actions, including strikes in Bombay (1887) and Madras (1888).
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