This is a presentation about Trade Unionism and its different approaches.

1. TRADE UNIONISM

2. What is Trade Unionism?
• According to Sydney and Beatrice Webb,
“it is a continuous association of wage earners
for the purpose of maintaining or improving
the conditions of their working lives”

3. Labour Movement vs. Trade Union
Movement
• Labour Movement:-
– For the workers - 1875
• Trade Union Movement:-
– By the workers - 1918

4. Trade Union Theories
• SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH
• LOGICAL APPROACH
• PROTEST APPROACH
• INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY APPROACH
• CLASSLESS SOCIETY APPROACH
• SARVODAYA APPROACH

5. SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH
• Proposed by Robert Hoxie.
• Differences of environment caused different
unions to develop.
– Business Unions
– Friendly or Uplift Unions
– Revolutionary Unions
– Predatory Unions

6. (i)Business Unions
• Bread and Butter Unions.
• Aim at bringing about improvement in the
wages and working conditions.
• Collective Bargaining is the usual method
followed.
• Strike is the weapon.

7. (ii)Friendly or Uplift Unions
• Aim at elevating, moral, intellectual and social
life.
• These unions advocate the use of political
methods.
• Setting up Co-Operative enterprises, Profit
Sharing, Mutual Insurance etcetra.

8. (iii) Revolutionary Unions
• Aim at replacing the capitalist system by the
socialist system by political and violent means.
– Strikes
– Sabotage
– Boycott
– Plundering Benefits
– No legal/Ethical Ideology.
(iv) Predatory Unions

9. II. Sociological approach:-
• Proposed by Frank Tannenbaum.
• Trade unions are by products of an industrial
society.
• Automization has destroyed the old way of life
and robbed the worker of his identity, purpose
& creativity.
• Reflection of spontaneous urge to re-establish
identity and regain social life.

10. III. Protest approach
• Proposed by Kerr, Dunlop and others.
• Trade Union is a form of organised protest
against the evils of Industrialization.
• Worker finds his work distasteful & his
compensation never commensurate with his
contribution.
• Expression of worker’s resentment over the
prevailing industrial system.

11. IV. Industrial Democracy approach
• Proposed by Webbs.
• Freedom of contract, association and
opportunity.
• Only when a person achieves his industrial
democracy, he can enjoy his political
democracy.

12. V. Classless society approach
• Proposed by Karl Marx.
• Prime Instrument for destroying the Capitalist
Class.
• Revolutionary transformation of the working
class.

13. VI. Sarvodaya approach
• Proposed by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Reformist organizations.
• Raise Moral and Intellectual standards of
labour.
• Not Anti-Capitalist organizations.
• To take from the employer no more than what
it is rightfully due to the labourers.

14. NEED FOR TRADE UNIONS
• To Oppose Management
• To Participate in Union activities
• To exercise leadership
• To fall in line with others
• To get employment