Organised Labour and Economic Liberalisation India: Past, Present and Future.

This paper examines the role of organised labour in India in a structural and historical context. It attempts to trace the economic, political and social effects of the trade union movement and its strategies over time. These effects are felt at enterprise- and/or firm-level, industry-level, regional and national level. First the effect of changing economic conditions on the evolution of trade unions and bargaining institutions in largely urban labour markets in the post-independence period (1947 onwards) is considered. Some contemporary issues affecting the organized labour movement in India today are then discussed. This essay has two main objectives: (a) to present a history of Indian industrial relations, broadly understood as the changing relationships between workers, trade unions, employers, the economy and the state; (b) to posit a political economy of trade unionism in India.