All India Port and Dock Workers Federation

Last updated

All India Port and Dock Workers Federation (AIPDWF) , founded in 1949 is the largest trade union representing workers at India's 12 major government-owned ports. It is affiliated with the socialist trade union center Hind Mazdoor Sabha. [1] [2]

The union split in 1989 during a nationwide strike by port workers. The previous agreement between the port unions and the government had expired in January 1988. Frustrated with the lack f progress in negotiations, AIPDWF, as well as unions affiliated with INTUC and AITUC launched a strike in June 1989. After four days, a breakaway faction led by Shanti Patel, called off the strike and gained recognition from the government. AIPDWF ended its strike after another two days. [1]

In recent times, AIPDWF has become a vocal opponent of the Indian government's plan to corporatize the various publicly owned ports, viewing the step as a give-away of public property to private firms. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhopal disaster</span> 1984 gas-leak accident in Bhopal, India

The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. In what is considered the world's worst industrial disaster, over 500,000 people in the small towns around the plant were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC). Estimates vary on the death toll, with the official number of immediate deaths being 2,259. In 2008, the Government of Madhya Pradesh paid compensation to the family members of 3,787 victims killed in the gas release, and to 574,366 injured victims. A government affidavit in 2006 stated that the leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries. Others estimate that 8,000 died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have since died from gas-related diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communication Workers Union (United Kingdom)</span> UK trade union

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is the main trade union in the United Kingdom for people working for telephone, cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), postal delivery, and tech companies. It has 110,000 members in Royal Mail as well as more in many other communication companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Fernandes</span> Indian trade unionist and politician (1930–2019)

George Mathew Fernandes was an Indian trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. A veteran socialist, he was a member of the Lok Sabha for over 30 years, starting from Bombay in 1967 till 2009 mostly representing constituencies from Bihar. He was the leader of the Samyukta Socialist Party and the Socialist Party, a key member of the Janata Party, the Janata Party (Secular) and the Janata Dal, and, finally, the founder of the Samata Party. Holding several prominent ministerial portfolios during his career, including communication, industry, railways, and defence, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramaswamy Venkataraman</span> President of India from 1987 to 1992

Ramaswamy Venkataraman, also known as R. Venkataraman, was an Indian lawyer, independence activist and politician who served as a union minister and as the president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency. He studied law and practised in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India. In his youth, he was an activist for the Indian independence movement, and he participated in the Quit India Movement. He was appointed as the member of the Constituent Assembly and the provisional cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister. In 1984, he was elected as the vice president of India and in 1987, he became the president of India and served from 1987 to 1992. He also served as a state minister under K. Kamaraj and M. Bhaktavatsalam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trade unions in India</span>

Trade unions in India are registered and file annual returns under the Trade Union Act (1926). Statistics on trade unions are collected annually by the Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour, Government of India. According to the latest data released for 2012, there were 16,154 trade unions with a combined membership of 9.18 million, based on returns from 15 states out of a total of 28 states and 9 union territories. The trade union movement in India is largely divided along political lines and follows a pre-Independence pattern of overlapping interactions between political parties and unions. The net result of this system is debated, as it has both advantages and disadvantages. According to data submitted by various trade unions to the Ministry of Labour and Employment as part of a survey, INTUC, with a combined membership of 33.3 million, emerged as the largest trade union in India as of 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All India Trade Union Congress</span> Trade union in India

The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated with the Communist Party of India. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, AITUC had a membership of 14.2 million in 2013. It was founded on 31 October 1920 with Lala Lajpat Rai as its first president.

The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) is the peak body representing trade union organisations in Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hind Mazdoor Sabha</span> Trade union in India

The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) was formed by the Socialists in 1948 but has little real connection with the Socialist Party. It is one of the least political and most pragmatic trade-union federations in India. The HMS is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basawon Singh</span> Indian independence activist (1909–1989)

Basawon Singh or Basawan Singh, also known as Basawon Sinha, was an Indian independence activist and a campaigner for the rights of the underprivileged, and industrial and agricultural workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutta Samant</span> Indian politician and trade union leader

Dattatray Samant, also known as Datta Samant, and popularly referred to as Doctorsaheb, was an Indian politician and trade union leader, who is noted for leading 200–300 thousand textile mill workers in the city of Bombay on a year-long strike in 1982, which triggered the closure of most of the textile mills in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour in India</span> Employment in the economy of India

Labour in India refers to employment in the economy of India. In 2020, there were around 476.67 million workers in India, the second largest after China. Out of which, agriculture industry consist of 41.19%, industry sector consist of 26.18% and service sector consist 32.33% of total labour force. Of these over 94 percent work in unincorporated, unorganised enterprises ranging from pushcart vendors to home-based diamond and gem polishing operations. The organised sector includes workers employed by the government, state-owned enterprises and private sector enterprises. In 2008, the organised sector employed 27.5 million workers, of which 17.3 million worked for government or government owned entities.

The Great Bombay Textile Strike was a textile strike called on 18 January 1982 by the mill workers of Mumbai under trade union leader Dutta Samant. The purpose of the strike was to obtain a bonus payment and an increase in wages. Nearly 250,000 workers of 65 textile mills went on strike in Mumbai.

The 1974 railway strike in India was a major strike by the workers of Indian Railways in 1974. The strike lasted from 8 to 27 May 1974. The 20-day strike by 1.7 million workers is the largest recorded industrial action in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian labour law</span> Laws regulating labour in India

Indian labour law refers to law regulating labour in India. Traditionally, the Indian government at the federal and state levels has sought to ensure a high degree of protection for workers, but in practice, this differs due to the form of government and because labour is a subject in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution. The Minimum Wages Act 1948 requires companies to pay the minimum wage set by the government alongside limiting working weeks to 40 hours. Overtime is strongly discouraged with the premium on overtime being 100% of the total wage. The Payment of Wages Act 1936 mandates the payment of wages on time on the last working day of every month via bank transfer or postal service. The Factories Act 1948 and the Shops and Establishment Act 1960 mandate 18 working days of fully paid vacation or earned leaves and 7 casual leaves each year to each employee, with an additional 7 fully paid sick days. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 gives female employees of every company the right to take 6 months' worth of fully paid maternity leave. It also provides for 6 weeks worth of paid leaves in case of miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation and the Employees' State Insurance, governed by statutory acts provide workers with necessary social security for retirement benefits and medical and unemployment benefits respectively. Workers entitled to be covered under the Employees' State Insurance are also entitled to 90 days worth of paid medical leaves. A contract of employment can always provide for more rights than the statutory minimum set rights. The Indian parliament passed four labour codes in the 2019 and 2020 sessions. These four codes will consolidate 44 existing labour laws. They are: The Industrial Relations Code 2020, The Code on Social Security 2020, The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and The Code on Wages 2019. Despite having one of the longest working hours, India has one of the lowest workforce productivity levels in the world.

The All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) is the largest trade union of Indian Railways workers with a membership of 1.4 million. AIRF was founded on 16 February 1925. It is affiliated with the socialist trade union centre Hind Mazdoor Sabha.

Water Transport Workers Federation of India (WTWFI), founded in the late 1970s is a trade union representing workers at India's government-owned ports. It is affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, which is the labour wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). It was founded as a result of split in the Communist Party of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour in Nepal</span> Overview of workforce in Nepal, workers rights, labour laws and challenges

Nepal has a labour force of 16.8 million workers, the 37th largest in the world as of 2017. Although agriculture makes up only about 28 per cent of Nepal's GDP, it employs more than two-thirds of the workforce. Millions of men work as unskilled labourers in foreign countries, leaving the household, agriculture, and raising of children to women alone. Most of the working-age women are employed in the agricultural sector, contributions to which are usually ignored or undervalued in official statistics. Few women who are employed in the formal sectors face discrimination and significant wage gap. Almost half of all children are economically active, half of which are child labourers. Millions of people, men, women and children of both sexes, are employed as bonded labourers, in slavery-like conditions. Trade unions have played a significant role in bringing about better working conditions and workers' rights, both at the company level and the national government level. Worker-friendly labour laws, endorsed by the labour unions as well as business owners, provide a framework for better working conditions and secure future for the employees, but their implementation is severely lacking in practice. Among the highly educated, there is a significant brain-drain, posing a significant hurdle in fulfilling the demand for skilled workforce in the country.

The 2020 Indian general strike was a mass general strike that was held across India on 26 November 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022</span> United Kingdom statutory instrument

The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The regulations removed Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, which prevented employment agencies from supplying agency workers to employers to replace workers taking part in official industrial action. The regulations were struck down in a High Court case in July 2023, and were quashed from 10 August 2023.

Since May–June 2022, a series of labour strikes and industrial disputes have occurred in various industries of the United Kingdom's economy as workers walked out over pay and conditions. The strikes took place with rising inflation, and demands for pay increases that would keep pace with this inflation.

References

  1. 1 2 Venkataraman, CS (1997). "Changes in Industrial Relation in Indian Ports". In Venkataraman, CS; Varma, Anil (eds.). Challenge of Change: Industrial Relations in Indian Industry. Allied Publishers. pp. 454–456. ISBN   9788170236511 . Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 P. Manoj. "Government planning to convert 12 of 13 Union govt-owned ports into companies". LiveMint. Retrieved 7 July 2017.