Labour Movements in Tamil Nadu

Labour Movements in Tamil Nadu

The First World War (1914–18) provided stimulus to industrial growth in India. These industries, catering to war time needs, had employed a huge number of workers. At the end of the War there were retrenchments across the industries, as the war time requirements receded. Combined with high prices, this gave a momentum to the labour movement. B.P. Wadia, M. Singaravelar, Thiru. Vi. Kalyanasundaram and others initiated the formation of labour unions in the Madras Presidency. In 1918, India’s first organised trade union, the Madras Labour Union, was formed.

The first All India Trade Union Conference (AITUC) was held on 31 October 1920 in Bombay. The delegates discussed several resolutions. These included a demand for protection from police interference in labour disputes, the maintenance of an unemployment register, restriction on exporting foodstuffs, compensation for injuries, and health insurance.

M.Singaravelar (1860–1946), was a pioneer in the labour movement activities in the Madras presidency. He was born in Madras and graduated from the Presidency College, University of Madras. He advocated Buddhism in his early life. He knew many languages, including Tamil, English, Urdu, Hindi, German, French and Russian and wrote about the ideas of Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer and Albert Einstein in Tamil. He organised the first ever celebration of May Day in 1923. He was one of the early leaders of the Communist Party of India. He published a Tamil newspaper, Thozhilalan (Worker) to address the problems of the working class. He was closely associated with Periyar and the Self-Respect Movement.