Gandhiji’s Views on Trade Unions
Introduction
M.K.Gandhiji’s
philosophy is based upon the “Sarvodaya” principles of “Truth”, “Non-Violence”
and “Trusteeship”, in which a class harmony prevails. Gandhiji’s view was that
trade union should not only undertakes the functions concerned with improving
the economic conditions of workers. But must also try to raise the moral and
intellectual through internal efforts. He also emphasized that unions must not
only be conscious of their rights but also of their duties. However, he recognized the workers’ right to strike in
industries. He favoured arbitration as a tool of settlement of industrial
unrest. In his view strike is a form of
“Satyagraha” to meet the demands of workers and therefore it must be organized
and conducted as such.
According
to Mahatma Gandhi the aims and policy of unionism are; it is not
anti-capitalist, not again through the cleverness of non-labour leaders, but by
educating labour to evolve its own leadership and its own self-restraint,
self-existing organization. Its direct aim is not in the least degree
political. Its aim is internal reform and evolution of internal strength.
Gandhiji’s View on Industrial Relations
There are industrial
laws existing to regulate the industrial
relations and there is still gap for
their amendment to make them more exhaustive. There are agencies such as
National Tribunals, State Level Tribunals, Labour Courts, Conciliation Officers
and Arbitrators to sort out the disputes arising between workman and the
management from time to time and yet the number
of industrial disputes are on the increase. Both the trade unions and
the industrialists are busy trying to tilt the political level in their favour
to bring about the changes in the labour laws to serve their vested interests.
Despite all these laws and an elaborate machinery to enforce them, strikes,
lock-outs, closures, cases of violence and use of criminal force are quite
common in day-to-day life.
Industrial
relations are perhaps as complex affair
as marital relations ; slight misunderstanding or suspicion can blow up the
whole system of understanding and goodwill and respect for each other built up
by the parties brick by brick for years together. The principles advocated by
Mahatma Gandhi for regulating the labour-management relations are based on his
broad concepts of truth and non-violence and they still hold good and can yield
the desired results, if given a fair trial. He envisaged the employers and
employees as two partners in the manufacturing process. In his social set up,
there is no place for economic classes as held by Karl Marx. Mahatma Gandhi had said “right that do not
follow directly from duty well-performed are not worth having”. It is worth
noting that Mahatma Gandhi did not insist on performance of duty alone by all
concerned. So unless there is a change of heart and outlook on the industrial
front for which no single party can be blamed, it is not likely to be much
improvement even if there is another
score of legislative measures to the library and create more agencies and
officers for the settlement of the disputes.
Gandhiji on Textile Labour Association (TLA)
Early in 1918
some 10,000 weavers of Ahmedabad textile industry approached Anusuyaben
Sarabhai, and sought her assistance in
securing wage hike. Considering the large number of workers involved in the
struggle, she thought it advisable to obtain the advice and assistance of Gandhiji, who was then at
Champaran. Gandhiji felt it to be his duty to render whatever assistance he
could and came to Ahmedabad and took up the matter. Shankerlal Banker was asked
by Gandhiji to help Anusuyaben in tackling the problem of the textile workers
of Ahmedabad.
Between 1919 and
1923, scores of unions came into existence. At Ahemdabad, under the inspiration
of Mahatma Gandhi and Anusuyaben, occupational unions like Spinners’ Union and
Weavers’ Union came into existence, which
later on federated into an industrial union known as the Ahmedabad Textile
Labour Association (Majoor Mahajan). The Association, ever since its inception,
has been a model of sound unionism in our county, based on the Gandhian
philosophy of mutual collaboration and non-violence.
At
this juncture, the workers, the mill owners and even the Collector of the
District sought the help and guidance of Gandhiji to solve the deadlock. On the
suggestion of Gandhiji it was agreed to refer the dispute to a board of
arbitration consisting of three representatives of the mill owners and there of
the workers. The three representatives of the workers were Gandhiji, Sardar
Vallabhabhai Patel and Shankerlal Banker. But before the board could actually
begin its work, workers in some of the mills went on strike based on a misunderstanding
of the mill owners’ stand, which was utilized by the mills concerned to declare
a lock-out and even to back out of the agreement to refer the dispute for
arbitration. The mill owners further threatened to oust all workers
who reluctant to accept their terms.
Gandhiji
was pained at this attitude of the employers. He felt that in view of the
denial by other mill owners to agree to
arbitration, the workers had no other alternative except to go on strike. But
before Gandhiji gave his approval to the strike, he examined the workers’ case
carefully. He came to the conclusion that instead of a demand for 50 percent
wage increase made by the workers, it would be proper to scale it down to 35
percent. He accordingly advised the workers to lower their demand to a 35
percent increase. The workers agreed.
Even
then before calling the strike, Gandhiji asked the workers to take a solemn
pledge not to go back to work without getting the 35 percent hike in their
wages. He explained that the object of the strike was not to force the employers but to bring about a change of
heart through voluntary suffering and that the workers should go through their
suffering in that spirit, with faith in deity. He also advised them not to
entertain any feeling of ill-will against the mill owners or resort to abusive
language or cause damage to the mill owners’ property or resort to violence. He
also advised them not to quarrel or rob or plunder, but to behave peacefully in
a disciplined manner.
The
strike commenced on February
22, 1918 . Every day
Gandhiji used to address the workers
under the shadow of a Babul tree on the bank of the Sabarmati river in
Ahmedabad, to remind them of their pledge and to continue the struggle
peacefully till the 35 percent increase
in wages was secured. It was from the Babul tree that the story of the struggle
of Indian labour really began.
The
wages of labour were low and some of them experienced serious difficulty in
maintaining themselves. Some friends of Gandhiji had offered funds for the
relief of such workers as might be in distress; but Gandhiji felt that the
workers, though poor, were self-respecting citizens and should not depend on
public charity but strive to carry on their struggle on their own strength. He
therefore, made arrangements to provide work for such strikes as were in need
of it at the Ashram. But those who came for it found it irksome and gave it up
after a day or two and began to talk of going back to the mills. This caused
great pain to Gandhiji. Gandhiji exhorted them to remain firm. But he found
that mere wordy exhortation would not be adequate. He thereupon undertook a
fast to enable the workers to realize the sanctity of the solemn pledge they
had given him before launching upon the strike and made them honour it. This
was the first fast by Gandhiji for a public cause in India .
“I
am responsible for the organization of Ahmendabad labour. I am of the opinion
that it is a model for all India
to copy. Its basis is non-violence, pure and simple. It has never had a setback
in its career. The organization has never taken part in party politics of the
Congress. It influenced the municipal policy of the city. It has to its credit
very successful strikes, which were wholly non-violent. Mill owners and labour
have governed their relations largely through voluntary arbitration.”
The
AITUC approached Gandhiji with a request to affiliate his Textile Labour
Association of Ahmedabad with the AITUC. He replied that he was making a unique
experiment in trade union movement and that Ahmedabad was his laboratory for
the purpose. He wanted the trade unions throughout the country to be fashioned
after his Ahmedabad model, and would therefore wait till such a situation
arose. Gandhiji said:
|
“If I had my way, I would
regulate all the labour organizations of
after the Ahmedabad model.
It has never sought to intrude itself upon
the AITUC and ahs been
uninfluenced by that Congress. A time, I hope,
will come when it will be
possible for the All
to accept the Ahmedabad
methods and have the Ahmedabad
organisation
as part of the All
Gandhiji’s First Abstention
|
Gandhiji
told a morning meeting of the workers on the day he had decided un-to-death,
that he would not touch any food till they got their demands conceded. Some of
the workers also volunteered to fast with him. But Gandhiji dissuaded them from
doing so, and told them all that they had to do was to be faithful to their
pledge and remain firm on continuing the strike.
On the first day of the fast
Anusuyaben Sarabhai and several other leaders fasted too. But Gandhiji
persuaded them to desist from the fast and asked them to look after the
striking workmen. Gandhiji’s decision
to go on fast was spontaneous and not the result of prior planning. He
clarified later on that the object of the fast was not to coerce the employers.
It was a fast against the workers who failed to honour the pledge solemnly
undertaken by them on the eve of the strike. In a way, the fast was against
himself, for Gandhiji felt that he had wrongly assessed the value to be
attached to the pledge given by the workers. According to him the leadership
must be able to correctly assess the workers’ capacity, standing the pledge
they took.
Gandhiji’s
fast electrified the atmosphere. Those workers who stealthily returned to work
found their conscience biting them. It did not permit them any longer to go to
work, and the strike became complete immediately the news of the fast spread.
The workers came in large numbers to the Ashram for work. Even those who were
not in need of work came, worked and donated their earnings for the relief of
the needy. The new spirit thus generated increased their strength and helped
the settlement that was to follow. Three days after the fast commenced, the
mill owners agreed to accept arbitration ; and the strike which had lasted 25
days was immediately called off.
Gandhiji’s Involvement
Mahatma
Gandhi came to Jamshedpur in 1925.
C.F.Andrews maintained his friendly relations with the Jamshedpur workers. Soon after Gandhiji’s
arrival the situation grew better. The management agreed to implement the
agreement. They recognized the Association, reinstated Sathaye who continued to function as General
Secretary of the Association.
Gandhiji’s
intervention had a far greater effect than even the expectations of the
Association. One of the terms of the Gandhi-Tata agreement was that the Steel
company would deduct the monthly subscriptions of the workers from their pay
and hand them over to the Association. Gandhiji wanted the Jamshedpur Labour
Association to be built on the Ahmendabad model. Sathaye was sent to Ahmedabad
to study and have a first-hand knowledge of the trade union activities there. Subhash
Chandra Bose had by then become
President of the Association. In 1930, Gandhiji’s call came for mass civil
disobedience in the country. The Jamshedpur
workers also responded.
There
was a Sangh called the Gandhi Seva Sangh in which some of the top leaders of
the country were members. They had a firm faith in Gandhian philosophy. The Gandhi Seva Sangh had a Labour
sub-committee under the Chairmanship of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. At a meeting
of the Sangh in Bridavan in 1938, it was felt that in view of the growing
importance of labour work. It was therefore decided that a separate,
independent specialized agency should be created to train labour workers, to
assist them to find a suitable field for work and maintain them, if necessary,
for a time, till they became self-supporting. The new organization that was
formed pursuant to this decisions was the Hindustan Mazdoor Sevak Sangh.
Gandhiji’s Philosophy on Trusteeship
Gandhiji
was the first person to propound the philosophy of co-trusteeship. The general
opinion that one who invests capital is the employer is not altogether correct.
He is only employer of labour, just as labour too, is the employer of capital. Both labour and
capital are therefore mutually employers and employees. But the real employer
is the community, as it is the community that gives employment to both labour
and capital and the object of the joint Endeavour of labour and capital should
therefore be to serve the community. Gandhiji, therefore, wanted that workers
should work in industry as co-workers and the so-called owners should work in
industry as co-workers with labour. This would help in gradually substituting
the present relationship of master and servant between capital and labour to that
of co-partnership.
Commenting on the ideal labour-management
relationship, Gandhiji observed: “The relations between the mill agents
and the mill hands ought to be one of
father and children or as between blood brothers. I often heard the mill owners
of Ahmedabad refer to themselves as
masters, and their employees as their servants. Such loose talk should be out
of fashion in a place like Ahmedabad, which prides itself on its love of
religion and its love of Ahimsa, for that attitude is a negation of Ahimsa.
What I expect of you, therefore, is that
you should hold all your rights as a trust to be used solely in the
interest of those who sweat for you and to whose industry and labour you owe
all your position and prosperity. I want you to make your labourers co-partners
of your wealth. I do not mean to suggest that unless you legally bind yourself
to do all that there should be a labour insurrection. The only sanction that I
can think of in this connection is mutual love and regard as between father and
son, not of law. If only you make it a rule to respect these mutual obligations
of love, there would be an end of all
labour disputes.”
Workers’ Participation in Management
Gandhiji
philosophy of co-trusteeship arose, thus from the conviction that both labour
and capital area co-trustees in whose hands the
welfare of the community is entrusted. He therefore wanted both labour
and capital to consider themselves as co-servants of the society. Arising out
of this is workers’ participation in management. The sponsoring of a scheme of
workers’ participation in management through Joint Management Councils by the
Government of India was, therefore, the logical implementation of the
philosophy of co-trusteeship. It was at the 15th Session of the
Indian Labour Conference for the first time that Nanda, as Labour Minister of
the Government of India, brought on the agenda the subject of Joint Management
Councils.
The Principles of Arbitration
The
principle of arbitration is the main plank of Gandhian philosophy. One
arbitration is offered, there is no need for a strike. Arbitration eliminates
violence and the compulsion which may be present even in peaceful struggles. Arbitration
teaches people tolerance and conciliation. Gandhiji’s fast ultimately was not
directed against or for any body. It was for the acceptance of a new way of
settling industrial disputes. Both labour and management had love for him; and
Gandhiji’s fast was to reform the loved ones on both sides. The erring labour
which would ignore its solemn undertaking, the mighty mill owners who would
refuse to accept arbitration both had to be corrected; and Gandhiji’s fast
served this double purpose admirably.
This epic struggle gave the Indian trade union movement a new technique,
viz., arbitration. This led to the foundation of a mighty union, the Textile
Labour Association which came into existence early in 1920. Gandhiji not only
led the 1918 strike, but also guided the affairs of the Textile Labour
Association for a number of years. He was a member of its advisory committee
till his death.
Conclusion
Mahatma Gandhiji
was the father of trade union movement and even today the industrial workers
are suppose to follow Gandhiji
philosophy of non-violence. The present day workers are looking their patience
and resorting to ransack the industries where they are working which is a bad
sign for industrial growth. Gandhiji is the kingpin for the formation of trade
unions in India
but totally against violence of the employees. He opted ahimsa and truth which
brought independence to our nation the same thing he guided and advised to the
workers. In the word of Mahatma Gandhi
“God created man to work for his food and said that those who ate
without work were thieves”. ‘Gandhiji espoused
to labour’. Economic equality will come only through hard work,
sincerity, devotion, truthfulness and ahimsa.
Mahatma Gandhi
was a visionary. Mahatma was no fractured vision for world and man.
Universality was its fundamental basis, blossoming process and ultimate fruit.
As he hoped for India
to provide a lead to rest of the world, that is the present globalization.
Mahatma Gandhi wanted workers
associations in industries to exhibit
unity among themselves and solidarity with the enterprises they formed a part
of. Gandhiji told to Anusuyaben Sarabhai
the president of Mazdoor Mahajan, the union of mill workers in Ahmedabad (where
many eventful decades previously he had himself launched his first workers
campaign), “you have asked for a message for worker’s day my life is my message”.
He
continued the workers have assimilated the teaching of Ahimsa there could be no
division of workers and no trace of untouchable. If the worker wants equality
with the employer, he should look upon the mill. As his own property and
protect it. The workers have to learn more lessons before they can hope to
become partners with the original owners of the mills. If they know this let
them remember the lesson and march forward.
References
- A.M.Sarma(1996), “Industrial Relations”,
- C.S.Venkata Ratnam(2006), “Industrial Relations”,
- G. Ramanujam (1990), “Indian Labour Movement”,
Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd,
- K.K.Ahuja(1988), “Industrial Relations”, Kalyani
Publishers,
- S.C.Srivastava ( 1995), Industrial Relations &
Labour Laws, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd,
- Thomas Vettickal (2002), “Gandhian Sarvodaya:
Realizing a Realistic Utopia”, Gyan Publishing House,
- V.Ramamurthy(2003), “Mahatma Gandhi, The Last 200 Days”, The Hindu, Kasturi & Sons Ltd, Chennai.
