Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements :
The Factories Act, 1881 was passed with a view to fix the wages of industrial workers and to allow the workers to form trade unions.
N.M. Lokhande was a pioneer in organizing the labour movement in British India.
Which of the above statements is/are correct ?
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is incorrect. The Indian Factories Act, 1881 was not enacted to fix industrial wages or to confer a legal right to form trade unions. According to the history of factory legislation available through LBSNAA, it was the first comprehensive factory labour legislation in India. It applied to factories using mechanical power and employing 100 or more persons. Its provisions included prohibition of employment of children below seven years, a maximum nine-hour working day for children aged 7–12, an hour of rest and a weekly holiday.
The Act contained no provision for wage fixation or formation of trade unions. A clear statutory framework dealing with registration and the legal status of Trade Unions came much later through the Trade Unions Act, 1926, whose stated purpose was to provide for the registration of Trade Unions and define the law relating to registered Trade Unions.
Statement 2 is correct. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was an important early organiser of the Indian labour movement. According to IGNOU, he organised two public meetings of Bombay mill workers in September 1884 and prepared a memorandum signed by about 5,500 workers, demanding a weekly holiday, a half-hour recess and regular payment of wages. It was submitted to the Second Factory Commission in October 1884.
Later, Lokhande established the Bombay Millhands Association in 1890. Therefore, describing him as a pioneer in organising the labour movement in British India is historically justified.
One historical caution is important. The Bombay Millhands Association should not, without qualification, be described as “India's first trade union” in the modern sense. IGNOU notes that it had no regular membership, funds or formal rules; the modern trade-union movement largely developed after the First World War.