UNION-TYPE, LABOR MARKET STRUCTURE, AND BARGAINING OUTCOMES IN INDIAN MANUFACTURING: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NEW UNIONISM IN GREATER BOMBAY (INDIA)

The purpose of this research is to explain the origins and effects of the new independent trade union movement that emerged in Western India during the early-1970s and after the 1982 textile strike formed into the Kamgar Aghadi Party. Using both primary and secondary data, the research aims to answer the following questions: (i) what forces led to the emergence of the new unionism; (ii) how successful were the new unions relative to the conventional unions in securing higher wages and benefits in the advanced manufacturing sector; (iii) why did the new unions in the latter sector need the textile workers to generate the above party; and (iv) what were the effects of the new unionism in the textile industry after the 1982 strike. First, the historical and economic forces that led to the emergence of the new unionism are identified in a discussion of the changing political economy of Indian industrial relations. Second, an inter-industry econometric study of union-type effects on wages and fringes in the advanced sector is carried out using information from 119 plant level contracts. The results indicate that, ceteris paribus, the new unions secured significantly higher wages and benefits than the conventional unions. Third, the relationship over time between union-type, bargaining structure, and uneven development within the textile industry is carried out in order to show why the new unions needed the history of textile workers' struggles in order to forge a political alliance. To assess the effects of the new unionism consequent to the 1982 strike, the determinants of textile wages before and after the strike are examined. Using field-survey individual-level data, statistical results indicate that a significant change had occured in the collective bargaining structure after the 1982 strike.