BSWU: a Case of 'Independent' Trade Union in India (Communications‪)‬

About the Case This study has two fold objectives: (a) to present the history of trade union (1) movement in India (2), largely narrating the changing relationships among unions, employers and the state, and (b) to elaborate and explain the conditions that were instrumental in the growth of nonpolitical 'independent' unions in the country. Flanders (1970) pointed out that there is no such animal as a non-political union, and in a situation where most unions owe allegiance to a political party, it is even more difficult to speak of nonpolitical unions (Ramaswamy 1983). However, the points that emerge out of the case discussion signify a trend where independent rank-and-file led union (that came into existence owing to a variety of reasons) has proven its collective strength time and again. With the advent of economic and political reforms, the state-dominated pluralism and the state-controlled unionism gradually perished with a new ray of hope rising with the 'independent' unions. These unions' active engagement in informed and militant bargaining with employers in the process put the traditional party-based unions in serious trouble with their potential recruitment terrain both challenged and curtailed (Bhattacherjee 1999).