INDUSTRIES LARGE-SCALE AND SMALL-SCALE

III-LABOUR ORGANIZATION.

HISTORY 0F TRADE UNION MOVEMENT.

With a vast area of fertile land and six rivers flowing within its boundaries, Kolhapur is mainly a land of agriculture. The district is not industrially advanced even though the former State authorities granted many facilities by way of tax exemptions, granting cheap land etc. to foster industrial development in the region. The number of persons engaged in organised industries was hardly 5,600 in 1954. Industries which have developed, are those which consume local crops like cotton, sugarcane and groundnut. They are concentrated round about Kolhapur city and Ichalkaranji town. Organised industrial labour, therefore, is mainly concentrated in Kolhapur city and Ichalkaranji town. The earliest trade union organised in the district was the Press Workers Union at Kolhapur. It was registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926. It had 65 members on 31st March 1954. The merger of the old Kolhapur State in the Indian Union in 1949 enlarged the scope of trade union movement in the district. The number of trade unions which was four in 1945 increased to nine during 1946-50 and 23 during 1951-53. There were 24 registered trade unions in the district in 1954. This number does not include one union, the registration of which was cancelled. 

Members of Unions.

There were eight registered unions in 1949-50. The total number of members of six of them for which information was available was 1,743, out of whom 1,665 were males and 78 were females. In 1950-51 the number of registered trade unions was 10. The total number of members of the eight unions was 1,751, of whom 1,595 were males and 156 were females. Five unions had no female members. There were 21 registered unions in 1952-53. The total number of members of 19 unions (as membership of the other two was not available), was 3,057 out of whom 2,839 were males and 218 were females. Twelve unions had no female members. The total membership of 22 unions in 1953-54 was 2,893 of whom 2,784 were males and 109 females.

Income of Unions.

The main source of income of these unions was contributions from members, donations, interest on investments funds and miscellaneous items. In 1949-50, the income of the six registered unions was Rs. 8,318. In 1950-51 the income of eight registered unions was Rs. 10,156. Nineteen had the income of Rs. 20,965 in 1952-53. The total income of 22 registered unions in 1953-54 was Rs. 20,212 out of which Rs. 16,674 was collected by way of contributions from members, Rs. 3,273 way of donations, and Rs. 265 by way of interest and miscellaneous sources.

Expenditure.

The main items of expenditure of these unions were salaries paid to office-bearers, expenses incurred on legal matters, compensation paid to members and expenses incurred on items like funerals and education of children of members of unions. The total expenses incurred by the six registered unions in 1949 on the items quoted above were Rs. 9,529. Eight unions spent Rs. 10,156 in 1950-51 and 19, Rs. 15,979 in 1952-53 and 22, Rs. 13,161 on the above items in 1953-54 Out of the total expenses of these unions in 1953-54, Rs. 10,160 were spent on salaries of officers of unions and on other expenses on them, Rs. 1,587 on legal expenses on trade disputes and Rs. 661 on compensation and other benefits to members and the remaining on other items.

Assets and liabilities.

The total assets of the six registered unions in 1949 were, Rs. 7,293; of eight, Rs. 6,550 in 1950-51; of 19, Rs. 23,355 in 1952-53 and of 22, Rs. 28,397 in 1953-54. Of the total assets of 1953-54, Rs. 16,473 were kept in the form of cash at hand or in banks, Rs. 78 in the form of securities. The unpaid subscriptions which remained to be collected from members of unions amounted to Rs. 9,539 during that year. Among the existing unions in the district the Shahu Mill Kamgar Sangh had the largest assets in 1953-54

In 1949-50 five unions had an amount of Rs. 4,683 as general fund, the sixth registered union had no general fund to its credit. A3 regards liabilities of these six registered unions, two unions had liabilities of Rs. 312 and four had no liabilities at all.

In 1950-51, of the eight unions which supplied information seven unions had Rs. 3,603 as general fund, and one union had no general fund. As regards liabilities, four unions had liabilities of Rs. 3,014 and the other four had no liabilities. In 1952-53 the nineteen unions, which supplied information, had Rs. 13,394 as general fund. Three unions had liabilities of Rs. 9,961 and other sixteen had no liabilities. In 1953-54, twenty-two unions, which supplied information, had Rs. 18,615 as general fund. Twenty unions had no liabilities and two unions had liabilities of Rs. 9,782.

Strikes and lockouts.

During 1952-54, four workers' strikes were organised in the district, affecting two cotton textile units, one engineering concern and a bidi factory. The demand of the workers in their disputes was that they wanted an increase in their wages. These strikes involved 205 workers who lost 2,356 man-days work. Out of the four strikes, one was organised indefinitely. Workers were unsuccessful in getting their demands accepted in three strikes and they were successful in one strike. There were no lockouts during this period.

LEGISLATION.

With the passing of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946 (Bombay State Act) and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act), which were brought into force by the Bombay State on 29th September 1947, and 1st April 1947, respectively, the relations between the industrial employees and employers have been precisely regulated. Both the laws provide for a machinery of settlement of industrial disputes either by conciliation and arbitration under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, or by conciliation and adjudication under the Industrial Disputes Act.

The following four unions were registered under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act and represented the industries and areas as shown against them: -

During 1950-54, 23 cases from the district were referred to the Industrial Court under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, five to the Court of Industrial Tribunal and one to the Wage Board and 47 to the Labour Court. Of the twenty-three cases referred to the Industrial Court, 22 were decided or disposed off during the same period and one was kept pending. So also all the five cases referred to the Court of Industrial Tribunal and one referred to the Wage Board were decided during the same period.

Of the 33 cases referred in this district to conciliation during 1952-53 and 1954 under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, nine were regarding pay and allowances, ten regarding bonus, two regarding personnel, seven regarding other matters and five regarding leave and hours of work. Further analysis of these disputes showed that 13 were from cotton textile industry, 13 from banking and 7 from sugar industry. Out of the 33 disputes, 18 were settled, 3 failed, 8 were withdrawn or closed and 4 were pending at the end of the period.

During 1952-53 and 1954 under the Industrial Disputes Act. 1947, 108 cases were referred to conciliation. Of the 108 cases referred, 101 were regarding pay and allowances, one regarding bonus, 2 regarding personnel, and 4 regarding other matters. Further analysis of these disputes showed that, 13 were from cotton textile industry 7 from bidi industry, 4 each from engineering and municipalities, one from cinema industry and 79 from other industries. Out of the total cases referred, 79 disputes were settled, 16 failed, 11 were withdrawn or closed and two were pending at the end of period.

The Employees State Insurance Act, 1952, was made applicable to eight factories, covering 616 workers. Government had not started any Labour Welfare Centre in the district, till 1957.

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