Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-pfhbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-09T04:26:04.337Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Trade Unions and Working-Class Politics in Contemporary West Bengal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2019

Achin Chakraborty
Affiliation:
Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata
Subhanil Chowdhury
Affiliation:
Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata
Supurna Banerjee
Affiliation:
Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata
Zaad Mahmood
Affiliation:
Presidency University, Kolkata
Get access

Summary

The relationship between capital and labour is a dynamic process, varying from a peaceful relation to a conflicting one where either party, namely labour and capital, tries to safeguard its interests. This ongoing conflict is shaped by both economic and non-economic factors. In this struggle, workers are organised in trade unions that are supposed to reflect the collective interests of the working class. The relationship between the workers and the trade unions, the political beliefs of the leadership, the organisational aspects of the trade unions, the approach of the state and the general political climate all determine the outcome of the bargaining between capital and labour, in addition to the economic factors. In the last two chapters, we have looked into the issue of microlevel bargaining between labour and capital and the economic climate in West Bengal (WB), within which this bargaining is taking place. The last chapter also pointed out that the argument that ‘labour militancy’ is responsible for the industrial stagnation in the state is wrong, alluding to the fact that the strength of the trade unions in the state is actually on a decline.

In this chapter, we concentrate on the role of the trade unions and the working-class politics in WB. First, we give detailed empirical data on the strength of the trade unions in WB to further corroborate our understanding that ‘labour militancy’ is a thing of the past. However, given the change in the strength of the trade unions, is there a premium for being a member of the trade union? We try to answer these questions and locate the contours of tension between the workers and the trade unions and identify the terrain of politics in which the trade unions function. Finally, through this analysis, we also try to understand the current nature and discourse of ‘working-class’ politics in WB.

Evidence of weakening of the trade union movement in West Bengal

As has been already pointed out, WB is a state with a long history of workers’ movement governed by the Left for more than three decades. The general perception of WB in the mainstream media and academic discourses has been that of a state mired in the militant trade union movement. In this section, we try to understand the strength of the trade union movement in WB.

Type
Chapter
Information
Limits of Bargaining
Capital, Labour and the State in Contemporary India
, pp. 75 - 103
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×