Analysis of relative strength based on membership of unions across the states is difficult given the absence of comparable data. Most literature on unions uses data on industrial disputes, specifically strike and lockout data, to derive conclusions about unionism.
6.1 State wise data on share of mandays lost due to strikes by lockouts, 1984-2006
Source: Indian Labour Statistics (various issues) Existing literature on trade unions use data on mandays lost due to strike and lockout to estimate the relative strength of business and labour as a strike is initiated by labour while the lockout by management (Datt 2003). The data can be considered as a proxy for relative ability of labour and capital to extract economic costs. The data on mandays lost due to strikes and lockout reveals that strikes have been decreasing compared to lockout across the state. Interestingly mandays loss due to industrial disputes has been lowest in Gujarat with no significant difference between lock out and strike. In West Bengal contrary to the image, lockouts seem to outweigh strikes across the period except for a brief period in 1980s. Gujarat and West Bengal represent the two extremes in industrial relations in terms of disputes. In Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, industrial disputes appear to be on the decline largely due to declining strikes.
Such a trend has led many to deduce that employer militancy has been greater across the states over the years indicating declining powers of trade unions particularly in West Bengal under left rule (Datt 2003). However it is important not
to conclude about the power dynamics between labour and capital from industrial disputes as strikes and lockout are both reflection of industrial relation as well as overall economic situation. Lockouts can be the outcome of employer assertion as well as deteriorating viability of industry. Similarly, strike can be the assertion of organised labour for demands or a purely political gesture of a politicised union movement. Banerjee (1998) has shown that the jute industry singularly accounts for majority of mandays loss in West Bengal and accounting for the sick jute industry there isnotmuch difference in labour militancy between Maharashtra and West Bengal.
A simpler and straight forward way to measure the extent of trade unionism is to measure trade union density. The number of trade unions normalised by the number of industrial units indicates, in the absence of membership data, spread of trade unions. Theoretically, it can be assumed that greater presence of trade union creates consciousness among workers and facilitates mobilisation. Such a measure, although limited as it does not consider multiple trade unions (under the industrial relations system in India till 2001, only 7 people in an industrial unit could form trade unions) or sectoral division of unions, nonetheless provides a macro picture of the extent of trade unionism.
6.2 State wise density of trade unions according to industrial units, 1980-2006
Source: Authors calculation based on Indian Labour Yearbook (Various issues)
0 0.5 1 1.5
1980-85 1985-90 1990-95 1005-2000 2000-05 Andhra Pradesh West Bengal Gujarat Maharahtra
As the graph reveals, the average number of trade unions is greatest in West Bengal which at times is greater than 1 indicating extreme fragmentation of unions. Although the period since late 1990s reveals a declining trend, average unionism remains very high in the state. Among the remaining states, unionism is higher in Andhra Pradesh and indicates an increasing trend since 1990s followed by Maharashtra. Gujarat has lowest levels of unionism indicating weak organisation of labour.
The extent of trade unionism is lowest in Gujarat covering only about 10 percent of firms which remains static over the period. In Maharashtra union presence is in about 30 percent and appears to increase rather slowly after the massive de-organisation of unions in early 1980s. Andhra Pradesh has comparatively higher trade union density which varies around 40 percent and reveals an increasing trend. Broadly trade union presence is highest in West Bengal followed at a distance by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and lastly Gujarat which confirms conventional understanding.
In light of the limitations of existing measures, the chapter takes recourse to trade union mobilisation. Power of trade union is derived from the extent of membership and ability to act as monopoly supplier of labour. Hence data on collective mobilisation during industrial action has the potential, to indicate trade union strength. Such a measure i.e. average worker participation in strikes normalised by the total number of workers in the economy indicates the extent of workforce under direct or indirect control of labour movement. Considered over a long period to accommodate state specific exogenous variables, the average strike participation is a coherent measure of relative strength of unions. The average strike participation is measured by calculating average workers participating in industrial actions normalised by total organised workforce. The greater the number, the greater we can assume is the support for trade unions.
6.3 State wise worker participating in strikes normalised by average daily employment, 1980-2005
Source: Authors calculations based on Indian Labour Yearbook (Various Issues)
Strike Participation measured by proportion of total workers involved in strike reveals that trade unions mobilisation has declined over the period which confirms weakening of labour as pointed out in existing literature. Sub- national study of worker mobilisation reveals that Maharashtra and Gujarat are marked by comparatively low strike participation which has declined even further since mid- 1980. There is some indication of increasing worker mobilisation in the period after 2000. Extent of worker mobilisation is highest in West Bengal although a sharp decline can be identified since the period of liberalisation. Andhra Pradesh on the other hand is marked by intermediate levels of mobilisation with some degree of variation. The table below presents data on trade unionism, measured through union membership as a proportion of the total workforce.
6.4 Data on Unionisation in Urban India based on NSS, 1993-94 and 1999-2000 calculated by Jha (2005)
Year State Manufacture Average
1993-94 Andhra Pradesh 23.9 53.90 1993-94 Gujarat 22.4 41.10 1993-94 Maharashtra 37.8 43.00 1993-94 West Bengal 43.2 61.40 1993-94 India 26.3 49.10 1999-00 Andhra Pradesh 26.65 58.52 1999-00 Gujarat 18.04 64.33 1999-00 Maharashtra 19.22 61.42 1999-00 West Bengal 25.2 59.21 1999-00 India 19.04 52.97 Source: Jha (2005)
Thus, the data reveals comparatively greater collective mobilisation in West Bengal confirming popular opinion. However the state is also characterised by declining trends since 1990. Trade unions emerge stronger in Andhra Pradesh compared to Maharashtra and Gujarat and interestingly reveal an increasing trend. The states of Maharashtra and Gujarat appear more or less similar in terms of labour mobilisation during the period although the extent of unionism is greater in the former. The assessment about relative strength of trade unionisation is somewhat corroborated independently by Jha (2005) who has calculated the extent of unionisation from NSSO data for the year 1993-94 and 1999-2000.
The discussion of trade unionism in the selected states provides us with some contradictory images. West Bengal appears to have the highest labour mobilisation and yet lock outs constitute greater amount of mandays loss. Similarly, Gujarat has lowest labour mobilisation and yet strikes outweigh lockouts. Collating all the potential measures of union strength it becomes evident that trade
unions have witnessed a significant decline in their spread and strength. Comparatively trade unions are strongest in West Bengal and weakest in Gujarat which corresponds with the situation in labour market flexibility. However, the situation in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh do not appear to account for variations as unions appear stronger in the latter compared to the former. Despite higher union mobilisation and presence, the capacity of trade unions to impede labour market flexibility appears to be lesser in Andhra Pradesh compared to Maharashtra. Thus, mere organisational strength of trade union does not explain the variation in labour market flexibility across the selected cases.