Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XVIII. - Industrial disputes

Collection:: Economics Books

INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES. 337 Working of the Ahmedabad System. The system is admirable in its intentions and has had a substantial measure of success. It has been criticised as being somewhat dilatory in its operation. Of the complaints pending at the beginning of 1929, 50 were sald to have been outstanding since 1922. The magnitude of the task of the settlement of disputes, however, can be judged from the fact that the total number of grievances recorded at the office of the Labour Association in the year 1929 amounted to 4,000. Although the resort to arbitration has not been as frequent as the number of grievances recorded would lead one to believe, there has been difficulty in some cases in obtain- ing a suitable umpire. The settlement of disputes concerning wages en- bails a prolonged examination of facts and figures, and some delay is often inevitable. Although the union is managed more for the workers than by the workers, it appears to have had a considerable educative value. Without desiring to minimise its importance, it is only fair to observe that there are local factors assisting its operation which cannot be re- produced elsewhere. In the first place, Ahmedabad is almost unique among the industrial centres of India in that the employers and the larger proportion of the workpeople belong to the same part of India and share not merely the same religion but the same mother tongue. Most of the Musalman weavers are outside the labour union. In the second place, the scheme seems to us to have depended largely on the unique position of Mr Gandhi, whose influence in Ahmedabad, both with the employers and the workers, is very great. Both parties have confidence in his sense of fair- ness and sympathy towards them, and either party would be faced with serious difficulties if it found itself in direct opposition to his views. The Employers and Workmen (Disputes) Act. Prior to 1929, the only Act on the statute book relating to the settlement of trade disputes was the Employers and Workmen (Disputes) Act of 1860. This provided for the speedy determination of disputes relating to wages in the case of certain workers. It was applicable to the construction of railways, canals and other public works and provided for the summary disposal of disputes by magistrates. The Act has every- where ceased to be used and this is perhaps fortunate, as it also embodies the principle of criminal breach of contract. We recommend its entire repeal. Consideration of External Machinery. The question of external machinery of general application for the settlement of disputes has in recent years received much public and official attention, particularly at times of serious industrial unrest, In 1920 the Government of India raised the question of legislation on the lines of the British Industrial Courts Act of 1919. At this time the serious industrial conflict at the end of the war had not reached its height and most of the local Governments agreed, with the Government of India that legislation on the British lines was not likely to be effective. The epidemic of strikes of 1920-21 led to a ‘urther examination of the question, and representative committees were

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