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Reflections for Unionization in a Globalized World: Evidences of a Converging Divergence

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Globalization, Labour Market Institutions, Processes and Policies in India

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Abstract

Based on the evolutionary biology perspective, it is posited that trade unions too have evolved with respect to their forms and functions which has been inquired into in this chapter. Three specific organizing campaigns are presented, namely Hawker Sangram Committee (HSC), Civil Initiatives for Development (CIVIDEP) and Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), as alternate forms of workers’ collectives in India. The convergence observed is that the primary objective of each of the organizations is to safeguard the interests of its constituent members, the divergence observed are in terms of the form (HSC and KKPKP are trade unions, while CIVIDEP is not a registered trade union) and the strategies adopted to achieve their objectives which have been elaborated. It is also to be noted that all the three organizations are symbolic of the relevance of the workers’ collective for the informal sector as well as the varied forms it is taking.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Trade union is defined in Section 2 (h) of Trade Union Act, 1926 as “Any combination whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for regulating the relations between workmen and employers or between workmen and workmen or between employers and employers of for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business and includes any federation of two or more trade unions.”

  2. 2.

    A protest in which the workers prevent employers from leaving the place of work till some demands are met.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Assistant Professor, Xavier School of Human Resource Management, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

    Girish Balasubramanian

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  1. Girish Balasubramanian
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Correspondence to Girish Balasubramanian .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor, HRM Area, XLRI, Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, India

    K. R. Shyam Sundar

Appendix

Appendix

Table 17.2 Summary of the significant divergences in terms of strategies and sectors for the three organizations
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Balasubramanian, G. (2019). Reflections for Unionization in a Globalized World: Evidences of a Converging Divergence. In: Shyam Sundar, K.R. (eds) Globalization, Labour Market Institutions, Processes and Policies in India. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7111-0_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7111-0_17

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