Trade unions
Topic: Civil Society, Pressure Groups, NGOs and Self-help Groups · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Trade unions are organisations of workers. They bargain with employers over wages and working conditions and press the government on labour policy. Many Indian unions are linked to political parties. The Trade Unions Act 1926 is now part of the Industrial Relations Code 2020, which came into force on 21 November 2025. Strikes have legal limits. In T.K. Rangarajan (2003), the Supreme Court held that government employees have no fundamental right to strike.
Example
India's central trade unions and the parties they are linked to:
- AITUC (1920, CPI)
- INTUC (1947, Congress)
- HMS (1948)
- BMS (1955, Sangh parivar)
- CITU (1970, CPI(M))
SEWA, founded in 1972 by Ela Bhatt, is a union of self-employed women.
Don't confuse with
- Business pressure groups: FICCI and CII speak for employers. Trade unions speak for workers.
- Self-help groups: SHGs are small groups of mostly poor women who save money and lend to each other. They do not bargain with employers.
Related concepts
- Business pressure groups
- Peasant organisations
- Professional associations
- People's Union for Civil Liberties