34. स्थायी कामगार समितीत कामगार संघटनांच्या मान्यतेवर चर्चा

* Standing Labour Committee Discusses Recognition of Trade Unions Proposals to secure compulsory recognition of Trade Unions and the appointment and constitution of boards of recognition, as embodied in the Indian Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill, 1943, were discussed at the fifth meeting of the Standing Labour Committee held in New Delhi on June 27. The Hon’ble Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Labour member, Government of India, presided.

The employers’ and the workers’ representatives explained their views on the criterion for judging the representativeness of a trade union.

While the employers’ representatives generally favoured the idea of bringing together employers and workers, they seemed to be of the opinion that this co-operation should be on a voluntary and non-legal basis. It was stated that with the healthy growth of trade unions, there would be no difficulty as regards recognition. The workers’ representatives favoured the idea of compulsory recognition and at the same time pleaded that the scope of the amending bill should be widened to confer more rights and privileges on trade unions. Statistics of Trade Disputes The Committee then discussed a proposal to improve the existing statistics of trade disputes in order to have uniformity in the method of compilation and to improve their utility for purposes of comparison as between provinces in India and with other countries. It was suggested that the machinery provided by the Industrial Statistics Act of 1942 empowering the Provincial Governments to secure statistics should be utilised. This procedure would be, moreover, on the lines of the system

* Indian Information, July 15, 1944, pp. 53 & 57.

STANDING LABOUR COMMITTEE DISCUSSES RECOGNITION OF TRADE UNIONS

adopted by the International Labour Organisation. There was general approval of the proposal.

The Committee, however, discussed the alternatives of serving notices on all employers irrespective of the number of their employees or only on those employing 10 or more workers. Draft rules and forms for the collection of statistics under the proposed procedure were circulated to the members of the Committee. Visit To Cloth Mills After the meeting, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and the members of the Standing Labour Committee, on the invitation of Sir Shri Ram, visited the Delhi Cloth Mills, where they saw various manufacturing processes as well as the labour welfare work undertaken by the management. Sir Shri Ram accompanied the party to the workers’ quarters and explained the sanitary arrangements and facilities as regards water for drinking and bathing. The Workers’ Colony has a school, a dispensary and a library, equipped with a radio set which was tuned in to a film song radiating from A.I.R., Delhi.

The party also saw a swimming pool varying in depth to suit the novice as well as the expert swimmer. At the workers’ sports club a kabbadi match was in progress. Nearby was a workers’ theatre where, it was stated, historical and other plays, all acted by the workers were staged occasionally.

The following delegates and advisers representing the Central and Provincial Governments, Indian States, All-India Organisation of Industrial Employers, Employers Federation of India, All-India Trade Union Congress, Indian Federation of Labour, and other employers and workers attended the meeting : The Hon’ble Mr. H. C. Prior, Secretary, Department of Labour, and Mr. S. Lall, Joint Secretary (Central Government); Sardar Bahadur Isher Singh, Labour Commissioner, Nagpur and Mr. C. K. Vijayaraghavan, I.C.S., Labour Commissioner, Madras (Madras and Central Provinces and Berar); Mr. S. V. Joshi, Labour Commissioner, and Mr. V. P. Keni, Assistant Labour Commissioner (Bombay); Mr. A. Hughes, I.C.S., Labour Commissioner Bengal; Mr. J. E. Pedley, I.C.S., Labour commissioner (United Provinces); Mr. M. H. Mahmood, Director of Industries, Punjab, and Mr. P. K. Kaul, I.C.S.,

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

Secretary to Government, Electricity and Industries Department, Punjab (Punjab, Sind and N.W.F.P.); Mr. A. S. Ramchandran Pillai, Labour Commissioner, Assam, and the Director of Development and Chief Inspector of factories, Orissa (Assam and Orissa); Mr. K. S. Srikantan, Director of Industries, Indore, Mr. B. S. Desai, Assistant Director of Labour, Baroda and Mr. N. D. Gupta, Labour Officer, Gwalior (Baroda, Indore and Gwalior States); Mr. E. I. Chacko, Director of Industries and Labour Commissioner, Travancore, and Mr. M. A. Mirza, State Labour Officer, Hyderabad, Deccan (Mysore and Travancore States); Mir Maqbool Mahmood (Chamber of Princes); Sir Shri Ram, Mr. Kasturbhai Lalbhai and Mr. D. G. Mulherkar, Secretary, All-India Organisation of Industrial Employers (All-India Organisation of Industrial Employers); Mr. H. S. Town, Mr. C. C. Miller, M.L.A., Mr. J. Latimer and Mr. T. S. Swaminathan, Secretary, Employers’ Federation of India (Employers’ Federation of India); Mr. S. S. Mirajkar, Mr. V. Chakkarai Chettiar, Mr. Kazi Mujtaba and Mr. V. G. Balwaik (All-India Trade Union Congress); Prof. B. N. Banerji, Mr. Jamnadas M. Mehta, Mr. Abdul Sattar and Mr. V. G. Karnick (Indian Federation of Labour); Rai Bahadur Shyam Nandan Sahaya (other Employers); Mr. S. C. Joshi, M.L.C., and Mr. P. T. Dewara (other workers). zz