INDUSTRIES

section iii. -LABOUR ORGANISATION

Trade Unions.

The district is industrially backward. Growth of industrialisation is of recent origin, mostly after the Second World War. The origin of the trade union movement, can be traced to the post-war period. During this period most of the unions were organised by workers engaged in the sugar, glass and machinery manufacturing industries and those engaged in the services of local bodies. The first union was the sugar-workers' union registered under the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926, in October 1948. Three more unions, one of which was a hotel keepers' association, the other a saraf association and the third glass-workers' union, were registered in 1952-53 and eight more during 1955-56. At the end of March 1956, there were 12 unions registered under the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926. The industry-wise distribution of these unions was as follows: —

One was from agriculture and allied industries, six from manufacturing industries, four from services of local bodies and one from miscellaneous group of industries. Out of the 12 unions, the registration of two was cancelled in 1956 because of failure to submit their annual accounts.

Members.

There were two registered unions in 1951-52. Their total member- ship was 747, out of whom 651 were males and 96 females. In 1952-53, the number of registered unions rose to four. They had 2,404 members, including 2,228 males and 176 females. In 1953-54, their number was the same as in 1952-53; but their total membership increased to 4,261, including 359 females. The number of unions in 1954-55 was seven, which had 4,049 members including 331 females. Out of the ten unions in 1955-56, the membership of nine was 3,274, including 338 females.

Income of Unions.

The main sources of income of these unions were contributions from members, donations interest on investments or funds and other miscellaneous items. During 1951-53, two unions had a total income of Rs. 4.184. The income of four unions in 1952-53 and 1953-54, was Rs. 6,268 and Rs. 12,083, respectively. In 1954-55, Rs. 18,773 was the total income of seven unions and in 1955-56, Rs. 13.961 of nine unions.

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 education of children of the members of the unions, etc. The total expenditure of the two unions in 1951-52, was Rs. 6,455; of the four in 1953-54, Rs. 6,310; of the seven in 1954-55. Rs. 10,822 and of the nine in 1955-56, Rs. 23,604.

Assets and Liabilities.

The total assets of the two unions in 1951-52 were Rs. 1,854; of the four. in 1953-54, Rs. 15.864; of the seven in 1954-55, Rs., 23,842; of the nine in 1955-56 Rs. 23,099. The total liabilities of the two unions in 1951-52 were Rs. 1,854; of the four in 1953-54. Rs. 15.842; of the seven in 1954-55, Rs. 23,842 and of the nine in 1955-56 Rs. 23,604. The following table shows the total number of members, total income and expenditure of these unions during 1951-52 and 1955-56:-

TABLE NO. 4.

NUMBER, MEMBERSHIP, INCOME AND EXPENDITURE OF TRADE UNIONS IN SATARA DISTRICT.

Most of the unions were not affiliated to any organisation of an All India level.

Strikes

Two strikes were organised in 1952. which affected the sugar factory at Phaltan and glass factory at Ogalewadi. The workers in the sugar factory organised the strike for non-payment of bonus. It continued for ten days in May 1952. The total number of workers involved in it was 636, who lost 3,180 working days. The other strike organised by the glass workers ended in four hours. The total number of workers involved in it was 1,350, who lost 675 working days. The workers were unsuccessful in both these strikes. During 1953-56, 13 strikes of workers in hand-made paper industry were organised. The main demand of these workers was for payment of arrears of wages. The total number of workers involved in them was 897.

Industrial Relations.

With the enactment of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1916, and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 of the Government of India, the relations between the industrial employees and employers have been precisely regulated. The Bombay Industrial Relations Act came into force on 29th September 1947, and the Industrial Disputes Act on 1st April 1947. The former Act provides for a machinery for settlement of industrial disputes either by conciliation or by arbitration and the latter by conciliation or adjudication.

The following unions were registered as representative unions under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act for the industries and local areas as shown against them: —

During 1952-56, 12 cases regarding pay and allowances, one regarding bonus and two pertaining to miscellaneous causes were referred to conciliation under the Industrial Disputes Act. Of these, six were settled, one was withdrawn, three failed and five were pending. Figures regarding cases referred to conciliation under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act are not available.

During the same period, under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 11 cases were referred to the Industrial Court. Of them, nine were decided during the period and two were pending. No case was registered in the Industrial Court from this district under the Industrial Disputes Act during this period. Two eases pertaining to fixation of wages were received and disposed off by the Wage Board.

The Labour Welfare Board of the Government had not started labour welfare activities in any part of the district till 1957, nor was the Employees' State Insurance Scheme extended to it till then. The Employees' Provident Fund Act, 1952, covered only five factories employing 2,125 workers.

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