Labour Regulation in the Long Twentieth Century

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://dans.nls.ac.in/handle/123456789/2845

About

(copied over from original)

Labour Regulation in the Long Twentieth Century is conceived as a digital repository on labour regulations in India and one of the result of Thematic Module Labour as a Political Category under Merian-Tagore International Centre of Advanced Studies: 'Metamorphoses of the Political (ICAS:MP), an interdisciplinary forum for intellectual exchange funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The repository is aslo an element of a larger project of multilateral cooperation that aims at creating "Extended Archives of Indian Labour".

In the period after the First World War, labour became a significant object of state regulation in India. This is not to say that there was no regulation in the period prior to this; but its character was markedly different. Regulations in the nineteenth century had a distinctly penal flavor. The Workmen's Breach of Contract Act of 1859 and a series of legislations directed towards indentured plantation labour in India and abroad were prominent examples of the penal character of labour regulations. Trade unions when they existed were subject to criminal trespass laws.

The rapid expansion of industries and industrial labour in the years leading up to and during the First World War, the upsurge in labour protests in India, the Russian Revolution, the establishment of the ILO and the formation of the first All India Trade Union Congress, provide the immediate context for the shift in colonial state policy. The emergence of labour as a political category was now recognized in the Government of India Act of 1919 when a special representation for labour through nomination was introduced. At the same time, the question of the social reproduction of labour became a matter of concern for colonial state policy. These shifts were reflected in the slew of labour legislation in the 1920s and 1930s, for example, the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1923, the ending of penal labour regimes in 1925, the Trade Union Act of 1926 and the Trade Disputes Act of 1929, as an immediate response to the general strikes of 1928 in Bombay. No doubt these welfare oriented legislations covered only a small segment of industrial workers, nevertheless they marked a trend which culminated in the setting up of a formal sector labour regime in post-independent India, with the promulgation of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, the Factories Act of 1948, the Minimum Wages Act of 1948, the Employees State Insurance Act of 1948, the Plantation Labour Act of 1951 and the Provident Fund Act of 1952. The expansion of the Public Sector in the Nehruvian era accelerated the process of industrialization leading to an increase of the labour force in modern industries and establishments.

A labour regime based on extensive juridification of the employer-employee relations emerged within the frame of an interventionist state in post-independent India. There was a consequent expansion of labour related legal disputes, industrial tribunal awards on wages, bonus, dearness allowance, and welfare related compensations. Even as the bulk of labour including those in agriculture and urban informal sector were excluded from this labour regime, it still played a crucial role in shaping expectations and framing the vision of a modern industrial India. In the last decades of the twentieth and the early decades of the twenty first centuries, the regulatory modalities were substantially transformed under the twin pressure of an increasing neo-liberal turn in economic policy making and financial and trade globalisation.

The present repository of documents aims to track these changes over the long twentieth century. It presently comprises of the following five collections that together provide a valuable resource for mapping histories of labour.

  • The Labour Gazette brought out by the Bombay Labour Office from 1921 specialized in providing information on conditions of labour, industrial disputes and legislative changes in India and included international news about labour.
  • The Labour Law Journal (1949- 2005) containing major judicial and labour court judgments, orders and pronouncements on labour disputes.
  • ILO India, monthly reports, 1929-1970, a unique collection of reports sent out monthly from the ILO India Office tracking legislative and political changes in India.
  • The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Pamphlets Collection 1928-1990. This collection of printed pamphlets traces the origin and evolution of the organisation of the AITUC as the first All India Federation of Trade Unions. It also contains pamphlets containing the position of the AITUC on economic policy, major legislations concerned with labour and accounts of important events connected with the history of industrial relations in India.
  • Commissions of Labour 1931-2002. This collection contains the reports, evidence and memorandums submitted to various official commissions in pre and post-independence India to enquire into conditions of labour, beginning with the Royal Commission on Labour in India (1929-31) and includes reports of the National Commissions on Labour 1969, 1991 and 2002.


Credits

(copied over from original)

Labour Regulation in the Long Twentieth Century is conceived as a digital repository on labour regulations in India. This repository result of an ongoing activity of TM 2 Labour as a Political Category under Merian-Tagore International Centre of Advanced Studies: 'Metamorphoses of the Political (ICAS:MP), an interdisciplinary forum for intellectual exchange funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Module Coordinator: Prof. Rana Behal (AILH/University of Delhi), Prof. Dr. Ravi Ahuja (CeMIS Gottingen), Dr. Aditya Sarkar (University of Warwick)
Project Coordinators: Dr. Anna Sailer, Dr.Naveen Chander
Senior Researcher: Dr.Naveen Chander
Repository Adviser: Prof. Chitra Joshi, Prof. Prabhu Mohapotra, Prof. Ravi Ahuja
Jr. Research Assistants: Harshita Sharma, Harsh Kapoor, Mohd. Mazhar, Matt
Infrastructure Support: Archives of Indian Labour, Association of Indian labour Historians (AILH), Center for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS), Max Weber Stiftung (MWS)
Design and Customisation: Vijay Pratap Singh, Dr.Naveen Chander
Technical Assistants and Dspace installation: Utsav Rai, Deepak Chaudhary (Jivesna Tech )
Software Credits: This site is an Open-source web publishing archival platform for sharing digital collections, using Dublin Core Vocabulary

Terms of Usage

(copied over from original)

Labour Regulation in the Long Twentieth Century is an online research archive of primary and secondary materials related to labour regulation and working class history in India. These materials include, Trade Union Records, Government reports and periodicals, Labour Law Reports as well as newspaper reports, oral interviews, video documents etc. and are intended to facilitate research, criticism, educational use by researchers, scholars, students and other interested persons. The site aims to promote inter disciplinary scholarship and is intended to be used primarily for non commercial purposes. The site specifically adheres to exceptions and rights granted for libraries, archives and for purposes of research and educational use under Sec. 52 of the Copyright Act.

The website attempts to bring together in a consolidated manner all materials pertaining to regulation and labour history including but not limited to valuable archival materials available in the public domain. These materials will be available for all users. Some material will only be available to bona fide researchers and scholars who present their credentials to the administrators. This shall solely be at the discretion of the administrators



Contact

(copied over from original)

Anna Sailer
anna.sailer-1@sowi.uni-goettingen.de
Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS)
University of Gottingen

Naveen Chander
cu.naveen@gmail.com
Sr. Researcher, Labour Module
Merian-Tagore International Centre of Advanced Studies: 'Metamorphoses of the Political (ICAS:MP)

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1921 - 1929101

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End date: 1929

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 101
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 8, April 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1929-04)
    April 1929. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: April 1929; Comparison with cost of living in other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Employment situation in March; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Labour News, Ahmedabad; Prosecutions under the Indian Factories Act, March 1929; Working class housing, Calcutta; Asiatic Labour Congress; Labour problem, Lancashire; “Re-conditioning” British industry; Trade union reorganization, Italy; Recent changes in average level of “real” wages, U.K.; Workmen’s Compensation Bill, Japan; Japanese settlement, Colombia; Social conditions, Jamshedpur; Unemployment Insurance Acts: Extension of Transitional period. Trade Disputes Bill - Report of the select committee; Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Act, 1929; Employment of married women, Germany; Trade Unions, Presidency. COST OF LIVING INDEX. BOOK AND REPORTS REVIEWS. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. STATISTICAL TABLES: Federation of trade unions, Presidency; Principal trade unions, Presidency; Income and expenditure of principal trade unions, Presidency; Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Industrial disputes, March 1929; Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Wholesale prices and retail food numbers (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Feb and Mar 1929; Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 12, August 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1929-08)
    August 1929. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: August 1929; Comparison with cost of living in other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Employment situation, July; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Accident after leaving work; Labour news, Ahmedabad; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; How to avert labour unrest; Profit-sharing and labour co-partnership, UK, 1928; Unemployment insurance, Belgium; Workers’ Budget, Moscow; General Council of Soviet Trade Union; Labour conditions, Italy; Head Masters’ Employment Committee, UK; Trade Union reorganisation, Italy; Minimum wages; Unemployment Insurance, Canada; Bombay prevention of Intimidation Bill; Labour movement, Japan; Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923; Trade Disputes Act, 1929; International Labour Conference (Twelfth Session); Japanese Factory Act. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. MISCELLANEOUS TABLES: Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Industrial disputes, July 1929; Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Wholesale prices (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Jun and Jul 1929; Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 10, June 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1928-06)
    June 1929. INCOMPLETE. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: June 1929; Comparison with cost of living in other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Employment situation, May; Prosecutions under the Indian Factories Act, April 1929; Royal Commission on Indian labour; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Loading a ship; Meaning of legal disability; Payment of compensation direct to widow; Accident of Suicide (Court of Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation, Bombay); Asleep on railway line (Court of Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation, Bombay); Accidents-Statistics for January to April 1929; Prosecutions under the Indian Factories Act, May; Problem of discipline in Soviet industry; Conciliation and arbitration, France; Strikes and lock-outs in 1928, UK; Small Holdings Bill, Madras; International Labour Office; Entry of foreigners for employment, UK; Benefits provided trade unions, USA; Conciliation and arbitration, Australia; Unemployment in the Soviet Union; IFTU inquiry into hours of labour; Labour courts, Germany; Juvenile labour; Labour conditions, Spain; Trade unions, Presidency; Factory and Workshop (Cotton cloth factories) Act, 1929; Fawcett Committee’s Report; Sickness experience of printers. INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES: India. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. STATISTICAL TABLES: Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Industrial disputes, May 1929; Factory accidents (Bombay, Ahmedabad, Karachi city, other centres); Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Apr and May 1929; Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 11, July 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1929-07)
    July 1929. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: July 1929. Working class cost of living-table. COMPARISON WITH COST OF LIVING IN OTHER COUNTRIES. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICES: Wholesale prices, Bombay; Comparison between Index numbers of Wholesale prices (Bombay, Calcutta); Comparison with wholesale prices index numbers in other countries; Food retail prices, Bombay; Retail prices index numbers of food articles, 5 centres, Presidency. MONSOON PROGRESS, 1929. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Employment situation, June; Workmen’s Compensation Act-Details of proceedings; Prosecutions under Indian Factories Act, June; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Strike in Bombay Textile Mills; Indian Mines Act, 1923; Employment of Children, Ceylon; Maternity Benefit Act, 1929; Indian Factories Act, 1911; A labour college for Bombay; Mill hours, Japan; Compulsory sickness insurance of seamen and airman, Italy; Indian Textile Industry; Indian Labour, Ceylon; Report of Ministry of Labour, UK, 1928; Labour conditions, Russia; Workmen’s compensation, Dutch East Indies. SPECIAL ARTICLES: Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923-Proposed Amendment by government of India. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. MISCELLANEOUS TABLES: Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Industrial disputes, June 1929; Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Wholesale prices (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, May and Jun 1929; Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 7, March 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1929-03)
    March 1929. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: Mar 1929; Comparison with other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Bombay Oil Companies’ employees’ Union, Bombay; Employment situation, Feb 1929; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Labour news, Ahmedabad; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Definition of a factory (oil mill); Prosecutions under the Indian Factories Act, Feb 1929; Social legislation, Poland; Questions in the legislature; Emigration from Bombay, 1927; Forced labour, India; Labour statistics, British Columbia (Canada); Eighth Soviet Trade Union Congress; Hours of work (Germany); New Conciliation and Arbitration Act, Australia; Workmen’s Compensation in UK, 1927; Employment of women in Japanese industry; Minimum wage rates, UK; New index number of wages; Ministry of labour cost of living figures; Fawcett Committee (Report summary); Seamen in Bombay; Old-age pensions, South Africa; Trade Unions, Presidency; Industrial disputes, India; Arbitration and conciliation. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. STATISTICAL TABLES: Industrial disputes, Feb 1929; Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Wholesale prices and retail food numbers (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Jan and Feb 1929; Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 5, January 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1929-01)
    January 1929. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: Jan 1929; Comparison with other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Accidents, Presidency; Employment situation, Dec 1928; Prosecutions under the Indian Factories Act; Labour news, Ahmedabad; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Labour problem, Assam; Working Class cost of living, Bombay; Family allowances, Spain; Efficiency of Indian labour; Definition of Building-Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation; AITUC; Trade union reorganisation, Italy; Note on working of Factories Act, 1927; Japan and sickness insurance; Industrial census, Argentina; Maternity benefit for factory women; Amendment of Indian Trade Unions Act; Intl. Labour Office; Trade unions, Presidency; Mofussil Labour and Wages, 1927-28; Enquiry into unemployment, New Zealand; BOOK AND REPORT REVIEWS. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. Census of industry, Canada. STATISTICAL TABLES: Federation of trade unions, Presidency; Principal trade unions, Presidency; Principal trade unions, Income and expenditure, Presidency; Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Factory accidents (Bombay, Ahmedabad, Karachi, other centres); Industrial disputes, Dec 1928; Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Wholesale prices and retail food numbers (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Nov and Dec 1928; Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 9, May 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1929-05)
    May 1929. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: May 1929; Comparison with cost of living in other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Employment situation, April; Prosecutions under the Indian Factories Act, April 1929; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Labour News, Ahmedabad; Lancashire Cotton Industry; Grievances of railwaymen; Maternity benefit for factory women; Rules under Trade Disputes Act, 1929; Trade Unions, Presidency; Fawcett Committee’s Report; Index numbers of wholesale prices in foreign countries; Cost of living index numbers, foreign countries; Industrial advancement in the Nizam’s dominion; Workmen’s Compensation Statistics, 1927. COST OF LIVING INDEX. BOOK AND REPORTS REVIEWS. GENEVA LABOUR CONFERENCE. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. STATISTICAL TABLES: Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Industrial disputes, April 1929; Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Mar and Apr 1929.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 6, February 1929
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1929-02)
    February 1929. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: Feb 1929; Comparison with other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Employment situation, Jan 1929; Wholesale market prices; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Labour news, Ahmedabad; Prosecutions under the Indian Factories Act; Rural labour conference in H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions; Japanese General Federation of labour; Labour in Bihar and Orissa; Questions in the legislature; Increases in working-class rents, UK, 1914-1928; Labour conditions, Russia; Labour movement, Japan; Trade unions, UK; Hours of labour in Germany – Trade Union report; Wages and hours in the cotton and wool industries, USA. TRADE DISPUTES BILL. Unemployment relief, Japan; Ratifications by Japan. Trade unions, Presidency. Industrial disputes, Presidency. Report of the trade mission to Near East and Africa. Comparative effects of variety and uniformity in work. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. STATISTICAL TABLES: Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Industrial disputes, Jan 1929; Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Wholesale prices and retail food numbers (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Dec 1928 and Dec 1929; Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VIII, No. 3, November 1928
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1928)
    November 1928. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: Nov 1928; Comparison with other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Industrial disputes, Presidency; Labour news, Ahmedabad; Employer situation, Oct; Prosecutions under Indian Factories Act, Oct; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Working of Assam labour board; Workmen’s Compensation Act – Appeal against consent order; Claims by railway servants; Sitting on railway track; “Unloading” a ship; An unusual case-Question whether workman was employed (ship unloading); Unemployment, Amsterdam; Labour conditions, France; Results of Russian census; Social policy, Cuba; Wages and hours movements overseas; Labour Banks, USA; Trade unions, Presidency; Women workers, Japan. INDUSTRIAL UNREST, INDIA: Settlement at Jamshedpur (Strike on South Indian Railway); Intl. Labour Office; Working class family budget enquiry, Ahmedabad; Immigrant labour, Ceylon. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. STATISTICAL TABLES: Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Industrial disputes, Oct 1928; Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Wholesale prices, Bombay; Wholesale prices and retail food index (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Sept and Aug 1928; Federation of trade unions, Presidency; Principal trade unions, Presidency; Principal trade unions, Presidency, Income and expenditure; Cost of living (India, foreign countries); Working class cost of living, Bombay.
  • Item
    Labour Gazette Vol VII, No. 5, January 1928
    (Labour Office, Secretariat, 1928)
    January 1928. MONTH IN BRIEF. COST OF LIVING: Jan 1928; Comparison with other countries; Wholesale and retail prices. LABOUR INTELLIGENCE: Accidents, Presidency; Disputes, Presidency; Prosecutions under the Factory Act; Employment situation, Dec 1927; Agricultural outlook, Presidency; Labour news, Ahmedabad; Workmen’s Compensation Act; Working Class cost of living; Indian Emigration Act, 1922; Women in industry; Intl. Labour Conference Conventions; India and Ninth Intl. Labour Conference; Unemployment Insurance Bill, England; Married women in industry; Wage movements, USA; Wages and hours of labour in the cotton industry, USA; Eight-hour day; A proposal for old-age pensions in South Africa; Conditions of women workers, Japan; Labour statistics, Japan; Trade unions, Presidency; Old-age pensions, Canada; Industrial disputes, Presidency, 1927; Industrial safety, Japan; Mofussil labour and wages, 1926-27; India and sickness insurance. BOOKS AND REPORTS REVIEWS. CURRENT PERIODICALS. CURRENT NOTES FROM ABROAD. STATISTICAL TABLES: Federation of trade unions, Presidency; Principal trade unions, Presidency; Principal trade unions, Income and expenditure, Presidency; Factory accidents (Bombay, Ahmedabad, Karachi, other centres), Dec 1925; Cotton Spinning Returns (yarn, woven goods); Wholesale market prices (Bombay, Karachi); Cost of living index numbers, Bombay; Cost of living index (India, foreign countries); Wholesale prices and retail food numbers (India, foreign countries); Retail food prices, Nov and Dec 1926.