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This has set the proper backdrop for the emergence of industrial proletariat in India, particularly in undivided Bengal. The first ever Jute Mill in the sub-continent started operating in Bengal, at Rishra in 1854, in the same district of Bengal where Hindusthan Motors is currently situated. The first ever cotton mill in India was established in Bauria, a suburb of the city of Calcutta (now renamed as Kolkata) in 1818. By 1880, India witnessed the growth of about 58 spinning and textile mills spanning all the major Presidencies (administrative division of British India) of our country. Tagore’s ancestor, Prince Dwarkanath Tagore, not only founded the indigenous indigo company, but also purchased the Chinakuri coal mines in 1837 and founded The Bengal Coal Company. Jamshedji Tata founded the Tata Iron and Steel Works in 1908.
What was the condition of the workers under the British rule in those days? In 1833, Ram Mohan Ray, a representative of the landed gentry, had described the plight of the workers in the most thorough-going manner. The skilled workers in those days used to earn about 10-12 rupees a month, while unskilled ones would earn about 4 rupees a month. The consumer price index, in those days had a hike increase of about 75% compared to 1820. It may be mentioned that the wage of the jute workers remained stagnant during the period 1860 to 1892! During the period 1901 to 1911, the increase in the labour force in the construction sector was 18.2% and that of in the transport sector was 29.4%.
What was the working condition of the workers in those days? According to a Royal Commission of Labour, instituted by the British imperialists in 1933, the working hours in all the cotton mills were 13 to 15 hours a day. The report of the Textile Factories Labour Committee mentioned in 1906 that the conditions inside the factories were “inhuman”, the workers had to “put in hard labour” and after the shift was over, “they were so exhausted that a large number of them used to get fainted within the factory premises”. The condition of the female workers was deplorable. Employing of child labour was rampant. The factory Labour Commission of 1908 noted that children in the age group 5-7 constituted a major workforce in most of the factories. 40% of the part-time workers were under-age children. In the jute mills, children in the age group 7-9 used to travel about 4 km in the early morning to reach the factory in time!
In the labour front, a real anarchy was the call of the day. There were no redressal forum, nor was there any process through which the workers could raise their legitimate demands democratically before the employers. Yet, the workers organized themselves and were trying to assert their rights. To “discipline” the budding labour movement, “Employers’ and Workers’ (Disputes) Act, 1860” was passed. Among other aspects, this Act conferred enormous power on the employer to coerce the workers. For example, according to this Act, an employer can institute fine or confine the worker to the factory premises lawfully for an indefinite period, should the workers refuse to “obey” the whims of the employer. In the same year, to tighten the coercive role of the state, the Britishers had instituted the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which is still in vogue in our country with only minor modifications. Finally, after a lot of blood-bath on the part of the workers and pressure from the civil society, Indian Factory Act, 1881, was passed, which banned the employment of a child below 7 years of age in a factory and fixed the working hour of workforce in the age group 7-12 at 9 hours!
Labour Movement in Bengal and India - A glorious Tradition:
Sashipada Banerjee was a person whom the labour movements of India should bow their head to. He started publishing a journal exclusively devoted to the labourers in 1878 from Kolkata – BHARAT SRAMAJIBI (INDIAN LABOURERS) - which started expressing the labour problems for the first time. He also founded the “BARANAGAR INSTITUTE” in 1880, to spread primary and hygiene education among the workers. A similar effort was initiated by Meghaji Narayain Lokhande in Bombay, (now renamed as Mumbai) in 1898; he also started a journal, named DEENABANDHU (FRIEND OF THE POOR) in Marathi language. Bhramho Samaj, in a parallel effort, founded the “WORKING MENS’ MISSION” to promote justice and spiritualism among the industrial workers. Sashipada Banerjee then founded a Savings Bank exclusively for the workers in Kolkata.
Bengal can pride herself in attaining the landmark in the history of labour movement of India. It took place in the same district in which HM is currently situated. Much ahead of their European brethren, Indian railway men joined a first ever strike in the month of April and May, 1862 demanding an 8-hours-a-day working pattern. The historic May Day in Chicago would take place around quarter of a century later. In the same year, the bullock-cart drivers went on a historic strike, which has shaken the fabric of the then Bengali society. The other provinces of India were not very far behind – Madras Presidency witnessed about 25 strikes and cease of work during the period 1882 to 1890. The Jute Mills of Bengal were run like a sweat-shop in those days, as it is run today. In the district of Howrah in Bengal, the Ghusuri Mill witnessed wild cat strikes twice in the years 1881 and 1890. In 1895 and in 1896, the Budge Budge Jute Mill in the suburbs of Kolkata witnessed the mightiest of the labour movements in the decade.
Up till now, all the strikes were limited to the firms and factories owned by the private owners, British or Indian employers alike. The labour movements struck with its mighty fist against the British Rulers when in 1905, the workers in the Government Press of the Indian Government joined a month-long strike which culminated in a historic victory for the workers. In the same year, the workers of the Burn Company in Howrah ceased work; the workers in the newly founded Tramways in Kolkata also followed suit. The cleaning staff of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (a mighty work force numbering about 2000) ceased work and achieved a partial success as regards to their demands. In 1906, the Clive Jute Mill workers struck work and achieved victory. The Guards entrusted to oversee the smooth movements of the goods train of the East India Railways struck work to achieve yet another victory. In the same year, the British-owned Hoogly Jute Mill in Bengal witnessed a massive workers’ movement and stalled the introduction of night-shift without adequate infrastructure provided by the company.
November 18, 1907 was a historic day in the annals of Indian Labour Movement, when the railway workmen in Asansol, in Bengal, started a cease work in support of their 43-point charter. The strike had spread rapidly in the whole country and no train could reach Kolkata for a few days. The Kolkata Port went idle and the Port workers absented themselves in solidarity with the striking railway workmen.
The first political strike by the Indian proletariat took place in July 13, 1908, when the workers of the Greeves and Cotton Mill in Bombay ceased work protesting against the trial of Indian nationalist Leader, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Lenin wasted no time to highlight the historic significance of these movements by the Indian workers. In the same year, two workers’ organizations were founded in Kolkata (Mohamedan Association and Indian Labour Union). As the workers of India and Bengal started organizing themselves, they were in a better position to offer resistance to the British imperialism and also attained a better bargaining edge to protect and extend their legitimate rights. Thus in Bengal alone, in the 1920s, about 119 major industrial strikes took place, notable among them being the cease work in the India Government Press once again.
In Bengal, a large number of labour organizations came into being, notable among them being The Press Employees Association, Calcutta (1919), The Calcutta Tramways Employees Union (1919), Howrah Labour Union (1920), E.B. Railways Indian Employees Association (1920) and Bengal Mariners Union (1920). In 1919, the International Labour Organisation was founded as a part of the then League of Nations. In its first Conference, a pro-labour nationalist leader, B P Wadia represented for India.
In 1920, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was founded through a national convention which took place in Bombay during the period October 31 to November 2. The effect of such a historic event was evident almost immediately as the country saw a dramatic rise in the number of strikes. In 1921, only one year after the founding of the AITUC, as it is known today, the number of strikes rose to 376.
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