Introduction

The Ministry of Labour, Government of India (GoI), recognises Central Trade Union Organisations (CTUOs) as those trade union organisations, the affiliates of which are spread over at least four states and in four industries and have 5 lakh members. Once recognised, GoI gives them representation on various international (including ILO) and national conferences, tripartite bodies, committees, development councils, etc., on the basis of the results of the general verification. The strength of a CTUO is taken to be the combined membership of registered unions affiliated to the Central Trade Unions. The Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) Central, GoI, conducts periodic verifications of the membership of these organisations to determine the relative strength of the CTUOs. A general verification of CTUOs was conducted in 1980, followed by another in 1989 and the latest in 2002.

The Ministry of Labour’s website (http://labour.nic.in/ir/Implementation-I.htm) gives the following important information: "The Ministry of Labour and Employment decided to conduct verification of the membership of trade union organizations with December 31, 1997, as the date of reckoning. However, the matter pertaining to date of reckoning was sub judice for long time. The case has recently been disposed by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi by deciding 31.12.2002 as date of reckoning. Accordingly the Ministry has issued a notification on 1.11.03 calling claims/applications from the Central Trade Union Organisation by 31.1.04."

The CLC`s office circulated the provisional results of the 2002 General Verification of Trade Union membership data among the CTUOs. The CLC informed a Labour File correspondent that the official release of the data has been withheld because of objections raised by certain trade unions on the provisional figures. Since the matter is not sub judice and is one of public interest, Labour File publishes this article that subjects the provisional CTUO verification data to a preliminary analysis.

General Observations

Twelve federations appear in the list of CTUOs for 1989, and 11 in the 2002 (Provisional) list. Eight CTUOs appear in both lists: Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), United Trade Union Centre-Lenin Sarani {UTUC (LS)}, United Trades Union Congress (UTUC) and Trade Unions Coordination Committee (TUCC). Four CTUOs, which appeared in the 1989 lists, do not appear in the 2002 list: National Labour Organisation (NLO), Indian Federation of Free Trade Unions (IFFTU), National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) and Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP). These four have been replaced by five other federations: Self Employed Women`s Association (SEWA), Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), National Front of Indian Trade Unions–Kolkata (NFITU–KOL) and National Front of Trade Unions–Dhanbad (NFITU–DHN). Their inclusion in the provisional list would imply their eventual recognition as CTUOs by the GOI.

(a) Aggregate Data on CTUO Membership — 1989 and 2002

In order to ensure comparability of data, this analysis uses two sets of data from 1989 and 2002; one set excluding and another set including Agricultural and Rural Workers (A&RW).

Table 1: Aggregate data on membership of CTUOs 1989 and 2002 (Provisional)

(b) Differences in the Presentation of Data

The differences in the presentation of the A&RW membership numbers in the 1989 and 2002 data on CTUO verification has become an issue of debate among CTUOs. In 1989, the data on A&RW was given in a separate table. In 2002, the A&RW has been presented as an industrial-sector category and, therefore, it has been included in the main table. Consequently, the total number of members of a Central Trade Union now includes the members that a union might have among A&RW.

CITU holds that agriculture does not belong to the industrial category and, therefore, cannot be included while determining trade union membership. It maintains that data on agricultural workers cannot be verified and no agriculture union has filed its annual returns. CITU further clarifies that any increase reflected under the A&RW category for CITU is an increase in the number of rural unorganised workers and in sectors such as fisheries. However, AITUC and HMS argue that agriculture workers were always included in the verification and that 2002 is not an exception. Membership of the Khet Mazdoor Union of AITUC has been included in the verification process, but not the Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union (BKMU), which also has non-workers as its members. HMS does not have a national trade union of agricultural workers, but its A&RW union affiliates from different states have been included in the verification. CITU clarifies that the membership of the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), an agricultural workers’ union, under the stable of the CPI(M), has not been listed as an affiliate of CITU.

(c) Exclusion or Inclusion of A&RW: Implications

An examination of the data shows that the exclusion or inclusion of the A&RW membership would have two kinds of major consequences; one, a shift in the position in the CTUO hierarchy and, two, more serious, the elimination of a few trade unions from the CTUO status (Table 2).

In 1989, the exclusion or inclusion of A&RW did not affect the hierarchy of CTUOs; BMS was on top, followed by INTUC, CITU, HMS, AITUC, UTUC-LS and UTUC, in that order. In 2002, BMS and INTUC held the first and second positions in both situations. However, when A&RW is excluded, HMS, CITU and AITUC hold the third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively, and when A&RW is included, the third, fourth and fifth positions go to AITUC, HMS and CITU, respectively.

If the criteria of a minimum of 0.5 million members is applied in the current round, SEWA, LPF, UTUC and TUCC might lose their status as a CTUO.

Table 2: Shifts in hierarchy: CTUO membership including and excluding A&RW for 1989 and 2002

Increase in Membership

The total membership, excluding A&RW, of all Central Unions increased, in absolute terms, from 10541932 in 1989 to 17131529 in 2002, an increase of 62.51 per cent at an average annual growth rate of 3.74 per cent.

Including A&RW, the total membership of all CTUOs, verified by the Chief Labour Commissioner`, has doubled their membership between 1989 and 2002. In absolute terms, the membership increased from 12.27 million in 1989 to 24.60 million in 2002, an increase of 12.33 million at an average annual growth rate of 5.35 per cent.

To make a rough estimate, the 1991 Census put the total number of workers at 314,131,370 and the corresponding figure for 2001 Census was 402,234,724, showing an annual rate of growth in the workforce at 2.47 per cent. The CLC 2002 verification data of CTUOs show that unionisation was happening much faster than the rate of growth of the workforce.

However, this leads to a puzzle. From 1991 to 2001, the per cent of organised workers to the total workers did not increase; it remained largely stagnant at 7 per cent. If unionisation moved at a faster pace than the growth of the workforce, the percentage of organised to unorganised should have changed. This seems not to have happened. Three explanations could be thought of. First, the 7 per cent unionisation is a gross under-estimation made in the absence of an official realistic method to collect data on unionised workers. Second, the unionisation of workers has largely taken place under the banner of CTUOs and this gets reflected in the increase in their numbers, And third, there is gross over-estimation in the membership of CTUOs. Although the veracity of these propositions could not be explored, based on the information available with the general verification of CTUOs, it would be important to examine these questions further.

(a) Increase by individual CTUOs

To anlayse the increase in membership, the membership figures of AICCTU, LPF and SEWA, which were not listed in the 1989 data, have been excluded. AITUC with 0.91 million and HMS with 1.32 million doubled their membership (including A&RW) during the 13-year period between 1989 and 2002. Although TUCC began with a lower membership of 30,792, in 1989 it manifested the highest growth — an annual growth rate of 13.73 per cent excluding and 8.91 per cent including A&RW. AITUC`s annual growth rate was 5.98 per cent excluding and 9.89 per cent including A&RW. The annual growth rate of HMS was 6 per cent, including A&RW during the period. CITU, however, has shown a relatively moderate annual growth rate of 2.87 per cent excluding and 3.06 per cent including A&RW, during the period.

Chart 1: Annual increase (per cent) in membership of comparable CTUOs (1989 - 2002)

(b) Increase in membership: Distribution among CTUOs

How have CTUOs apportioned the overall increase in membership? Chart 2 plots the per cent gain in membership by each CTUO during 1989-2002 against their per cent share in the total membership as of 1989. It examines whether the increase corresponds to the relative strengths they enjoyed in 1989. Three relationships emerge. Of the increase in membership during 1989-2002, 25.12 per cent has gone to BMS; this largely corresponds with its membership in 1989. In the second group, the per cent gains by AITUC and HMS have been higher than their respective shares in 1989 membership. INTUC, CITU, UTUC-LS and UTUC fall in the third group, in which case their per cent gains have been lower than their per cent share in 1989 membership. In a fourth group, the new entrants SEWA, AICCTU and LPF together have claimed about 15 per cent of the addition in membership during the period.

Chart 2: Per cent increase in membership during 1989-2002 (including A&RW) and Per cent Share in 1989 Membership

(c) Increase in A&RW by CTUOs

The combined A&RW membership of all verified CTUOs increased from 1.72 million in 1989 to 7.47 million in 2002, which is an increase of 334.12 per cent at an annual rate of growth of 11.29 per cent. All comparable CTUOs have shown an increase in A&RW in 2002 with respect to the base year 1989; however, the increase was a mind-boggling 7712 per cent or an annual growth rate of 33.52 per cent (from 17,542 to 1.37 million) for AITUC.

Chart 3: Annual growth rate (per cent) of A&RW in CTUO Membership — 1989 to 2002

Industry-wise Distribution of CTUO Membership

For the purpose of this analysis, the Industry-wise classification given in the CTUO verification table has been re-classified according to the National Industrial Classification (NIC) 2004. During the period between verifications, Central Trade Unions increased their membership in all industry groups to an impressive annual rate of growth of 5.35 per cent.

Table 3: Industry-wise increase in CTUO membership — 1989 and 2002

The significance of this growth becomes all the more evident when looked at in relation to the growth in employment during an approximately comparable period. NSSO Employment-Unemployment surveys since 1993-94 have shown deceleration in employment. Employment from 1993-94 to 2004-05 grew from 374.45 million to 457.90 million at the rate of 1.83 per cent per annum. (Employment in 1993–94 is as per the Report of the Task Force on Employment Opportunities, Planning Commission, GoI, pp 44-48. Employment in 2004-05 as per Sundaram, K., ‘Employment and Poverty in India, 2000-2005’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XLII No 30 (2007): 3121-31). In comparison, unionised workers under the leadership of CTUOs grew from 12.27 million in 1989 to 24.60 million in 2002, at the rate of 5.35 per annum.

However, the rate of increase has not been uniform across all industry groups. Agriculture and allied activities increased at an annual growth rate of 9.66 per cent and experienced the highest rate of increase in 2002 as compared to 1989. It was followed by Construction at 9.52 per cent. However, the annual per cent growth rate of CTUO membership, for the 13-year period, was not impressive in Mining and quarrying (1.97 per cent) and in Manufacturing (3.31 per cent).

The lowest annual growth rate, of 0.41 per cent, during the 13-year period was reported in Finance, insurance, real estate and business services, clearly showing that union penetration in the fastest growing Industry segment has been very poor. This trend is also visible in the other segments of service sectors — Trade, hotels, restaurants and repair services (2.86 per cent) and in Transportation, storage and communication (2.14 per cent). However, an impressive 5.61 per cent annual growth rate in CTUO membership is reported in Social, community and personal services.

CTUOs: Mixed Growth Rates in Manufacturing

Further disaggregation shows certain disturbing trends in unionisation. In Manufacturing, many industries have shown a negative growth in CTUO membership; among these are cement, chemicals, engineering (electrical), iron and steel, paper and paper products, printing and publishing, rubber products, etc. However, clothing, coir, engineering (electronics), food and drinks, metal, pencil industry, petroleum, soaps and detergents, sugar, tanneries and leather goods, textiles, tobacco (beedi) and wood plywood are among the industries where unionisation witnessed growth.

The high growth rate shown against the pencil industry actually does not add numbers to the unionised workers since the growth has been from 22 in 1989 to 677 in 2002. The biggest contingent of 1,685,407 workers has been added in tobacco (beedi) to the unionised tally of 149931 in 1989. While Clothing has shown an annual growth rate of 7.81 per cent, the growth rate of Textiles has been 1.88 per cent during 1989-2002. The growth rate of CTUO membership in Petroleum has been an impressive 8.10 per cent.

Chart 4: Annual Per Cent of Growth Rate in CTUO Membership Manufacturing (1989-2002)

CTUO Penetration in Industry Groups

(a) Constraints in determining union density

Union density is a measure of unionised workers with respect to the total workers employed. Since Central Trade Unions do not represent all unionised workers, Central Trade Union presence among workers cannot be considered a measure of union density. Moreover, since we only have Industry-wise data of Central Trade Union membership, we will only have a picture of the aggregated Industry-wise information on Central Trade Union penetration.

Another constraint is that the data on the number of workers in each industry group is obtained from the 61st Round of NSSO Employment and Unemployment Survey (2004-05) though Central Trade Union verification data is available for the year ending 31 March 2002. There is a two-year difference between the data on the number of workers and the data on Central Trade Union membership.

With these constraints in mind, a tentative analysis has been made of Central Trade Union penetration in various sectors.

(b) Industry-wise Central Trade Union penetration

Chart 5: Per cent of CTUO Unionised Workers (2002)

Two sectors, Mining and quarrying and Electricity, gas and power show exceptional CTUO penetration with more than 50 per cent of workers in the sector organised by the CTUOs. Less than 10 per cent of the workers in Manufacturing are reported to be under the umbrella of CTUOs. Least access has been reported in such sectors as Trade, hotels, restaurants and repair services ; and Finance, insurance, real estate and business services. Less than 2 per cent of workers from these industries have been reported within the CTUO fold. While comparing NSSO 2004-05 employment figures and the 2002 CTUO general verification figures, it could approximately be said that there are 572.56 workers unorganised or outside the CTUO fold for every worker within the CTUO fold, in the Industry group Trade, hotels, restaurants and repair services. The ratio of CTUO organised to unorganised or outside the CTUO fold is 1:55.95 in the case of Finance, insurance, real estate and business services.

Overall, 5.7 per cent of all workers are reported to be within the CTUO fold. Assuming that only 7 per cent of the total workers are organised or unionised, it means that 83.43 per cent of the organised workers are within the fold of one or the other CTUO.

(c) Industry-wise penetration: Cases of individual Central Trade Unions

Central Trade Unions — BMS, INTUC, CITU, AITUC and HMS — show similar patterns of penetration. They manifest three peaks: one in the Industry group — Mining and quarrying; a higher one in Electricity, gas and water; and a smaller one in Transport, storage and communication, denoting the larger numbers of workers in these Industry groups falling within the ambit of these Central Trade Unions. For instance, more than 50 per cent of all workers reported as engaged in Mining and quarrying and more than 65 per cent of all workers in Electricity, gas and water sectors are members of BMS, INTUC, CITU, AITUC and HMS. At the same time, it is interesting to note that according to the NSSO 2004-05 figures, 0.25 per cent and 0.12 per cent of all workers fall under the Industry groups, Mining and quarrying, and Electricity, gas and water supply, respectively.

Chart 6: Industry-wise Central Trade Union penetration membership, as per cent of total workers in the Industry (2002) BMS, INTUC, CITU, AITUC & HMS

Membership of Individual CTUOs (1989 and 2002) and their Industry-wise Relative Strengths

The disaggregation of individual CTUO membership for the years 1989 and 2002 along Industry groups will give an estimate of the Industry-wise changes in the relative strengths of CTUOs, over a period of 13 years.

In the total membership of all CTUOs, Manufacturing fell from 28.3 per cent in 1989 to 21.5 per cent in 2002. A drastic fall in Manufacturing as a per cent of individual total membership is seen in INTUC (28.35 per cent in 1989 to 16.10 per cent in 2002), CITU (42.16 per cent in 1989 to 26.28 per cent in 2002) and AITUC (38.14 in 1989 to 18.39 per cent in 2002). In the case of LPF, in 2002, 40.31 per cent of its membership is in Manufacturing, the highest among all CTUOs. UTUC-LS has 28.12 per cent and SEWA has 27.62 per cent of their membership in Manufacturing, in 2002. Both LPF and SEWA have a majority of their workers in Manufacturing, and Textiles and Clothing — 38.54 per cent and 25.73 per cent, respectively.

Chart 7: Membership of Central Trade Unions in Manufacturing in 1989 and 2002 (Per cent of Individual memberships)

In the total membership, Services has also shown a decrease during the 13-year period from 1989 to 2002. (Industry groups, Trade, hotels, restaurants and repair services, Transportation, storage and communication, Finance, insurance, real estate and business services, and Social, community and personal services have been clubbed together to get the figures of Services.) This decrease is observed in all CTUOs except CITU and TUCC. CITU has increased its share in the total membership of Services from 27.88 per cent in 1989 to 37.19 per cent in 2002; and TUCC from 1.05 per cent to 9.96 per cent during the same period. BMS and HMS showed a decrease of 15.43 per cent and 14.80 per cent, respectively, in Services during the same period.

Chart 8: Membership of Central Trade Unions in Services in 1989 and 2002 (Per cent of year-wise Individual memberships)

All the CTUOs have shown an increase in Agriculture and allied activities in their individual total membership. This corresponds with the increase in Agriculture and allied activities from 19.38 per cent in 1989 to 33.91 per cent in 2002 — the total number of workers under all verified CTUOs.

Overall, the per cent share of Agriculture and allied activities workers in the individual total membership has been lower in the case of BMS, INTUC, CITU, AITUC and HMS compared to other CTUOs. Agriculture and allied activities was less than 15 per cent of their respective total membership in 1989. However, in 2002, all the above CTUOs record an increase in the per cent share of Agriculture and allied activities workers; the highest in AITUC, from 7.71 per cent in 1989 to 43.08 per cent in 2002 and the lowest in CITU, from 9.34 per cent in 1989 to 10.39 per cent in 2002.

Distinctively, UTUC-LS, UTUC and TUCC have high per cent (more than 55 per cent) of workers from the Agriculture and allied activities. Whereas UTUC-LS and UTUC increased their per cent share of Agriculture and allied activities in 2002, TUCC has shown a reduction in its per cent share from 86.73 per cent in 1989 to 74.95 per cent in 2002.

In 2002, AICCTU (82.89 per cent), SEWA (49.25 per cent) and LPF (48.61 per cent) have also reported a high proportion of their members from Agriculture and allied activities workers.

Chart 9: Membership of Central Trade Unions in Agriculture and allied activities in 1989 and 2002 (Per cent of Year-wise Individual memberships)

Conclusion

The general picture of an overall increase in membership of CTUOs as well as an increase in membership by all CTUOs is in sharp contradiction with the axiom that unionisation is decreasing under neo-liberalism. The general picture also belies a decrease in membership of CTUOs in Industry and Services. Though employment generation in Services has largely been on account of the structural shift in the economy, the 2002 data of CTUO membership verification do not show any significant increase in membership in this sector. The growth in CTUO membership in Manufacturing shows a mixed trend. The reported increase in membership of CTUOs has been largely on account of the increase of membership in Agriculture and allied activities, and miscellaneous groups though all Industry groups have shown an increase, surpassing the annual per cent rate of growth in employment. The increase in Agriculture and allied activities is again significant, considering the fact that more than 56 per cent of Indian workers are in this sector. Moreover, it also reflects concerted efforts by the CTUOs to organise unorganised sector workers. Unfortunately, the composition of the miscellaneous group has not been explained in the data, and thus it is not possible to draw conclusions concerning this category or to understand how it impacts other interpretations.

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I acknowledge with thanks valuable comments and inputs by William F. Stafford, Jr. and Neetha N.