Impact of Globalisation on Trade Union Movement
| Published date | 01 July 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120150310 |
| Date | 01 July 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
IMPACT
OF
GLOBALISATION ON TRADE UNION
MOVEMENT
PURNIMAROY
Globalisation brought with it a paradigm shift
for
trade union
movement in India. The
jobless
growth which has
followed
globalisation in India has huge implications
for
the movement it
is now fighting/or loyalty
of
the workers with the employers. The
labour reforms has also restricted workers freedom to protests,
more are days
ofbandh
have electoral significance because
of
numerical strength. They have not meant much beyond that. In
addition, the states wer competingfor investments, both foreign
and
domestic. In doing
so
they restricted the workers 'freedom.
Economic reforms have not been complemented with political
reforms
for
workers_ in India. In the absence
of
mechanism in
place
for
workers
for
redressal their demands, there are violent
outbursts which are interpreted as law
and
order issues. In
such a scenario, both State
and
trade unions
need
to search
for
alternatives
A THOUGHT that ever so often comes to the mind
of
a social scientist is
whether the trade union movement in globalised India has any significance.
This question becomes important especially when unions may think they
play an integral role to play. However, there are differences in public
perception
of
the place that unions occupy in public space. It
is
difficult to
say whether it has degenerated or not, as there has been almost a paradigm
shift. A lot would depend on the ability
of
the trade union movement to
include sporadic outbursts covered by media or the discontent
of
the workers
on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately, trade union movement in India has
been studied in an event-based manner as a result
of
which there
is
a huge
dependence on media as source
of
data on the subject.
By
and large, media
has covered issues only when a sizeable number
of
workers are involved or
sudden violent outbursts are incurred. There may be absence
of
collectively
organised movement and individualised unhappiness with the employer
whether public or private. Individualised discontent may not be considered
as a part
of
trade union movement.
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