LeftWord Books, `750

DVeeraraghavan’s book, The Making of the Madras Working Class, is the history of plebeian cogs in society’s wheel — the labour class and its struggle for survival in Madras from 1918 to 1939.
The book’s nine chapters narrate events, in sequence, in the inter-war period (between World Wars I and II). Veeraraghavan brings out the core reasons that culminated in the birth of trade unionism —poor working conditions, alienation of labourers from the policies of their employers — while lucidly deciphering the actions of the working class to preserve their interests, and connects them to the actions of the state and political parties.
There were several on-going struggles in Madras 1918, between the rulers and the ruled. The British established the city as a major economic centre due to its proximity to a port — it was a sound trade link between Europe and the East Indies (now Indonesia). Inevitably, “while capital and management were British, labour was predominantly Indian at all mills in Madras”, and trade unions were the common voice of the labourers.
The first organised trade union in India, founded in 1918, was the Madras Labour Union. The author provides a poignant account of the events leading to the formation of the union — the infamous Perambur railway workers’ strike of December 19, 1913, in which a foreman was beaten up and two workers shot, and the large-scale food riots during World War I.
Explaining the genesis of the labour unions, Veeraraghavan writes that World War I had a deep impact on the socio-cultural firmament of the Indian people. “The war affected Indian life, with massive recruitment, heavy taxes, war loans and an abhorrent rise in prices. Inflation was particularly steep in 1918-19, and food shortages added fuel to the mass unrest.”
The intensity of the distress of the workers can be gauged from the frequency and ferocity of food riots — there were 22 incidents of loot and arson on one day alone, September 8, 1918, in various parts of Madras.
There are detailed accounts of strikes at the B&C Mills, the Choolai Mills, the Perambur Rail workshop, Madras Oakes & Co., and the cigar factory of MacDowell at Georgetown. There were reasons for these strikes: “Workers were forced to work 18 hours a day in ginning factories, 20 hours a day in rice mills and 22 hours in printing presses for seven consecutive days.”
This scandalous state of affairs and the militant reaction to it by the working class compelled the government to appoint the Indian Factory Labour Commission in 1908. Thereafter, the working hours were reduced to 12 per day, but there was still no fixed day for disbursement of wages even in a well-run establishment such as the B&C Mills.
Interestingly, the author links the angst of the workers during this period to the Home Rule and Non-Cooperation Movement. Stalwarts of these nationalist movements helped the workers in Madras organise themselves. Extremist leaders of the Indian national movement such as Subramaniya Siva and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai believed that the colonial government could be pressured by mobilising workers and organising a general strike. B.P. Wadia had famously said, “It is necessary to recognise the labour movement as an integral part of the Indian national movement… The latter will not succeed if the Indian working class is not enabled to come into its own.”
The Madras Electric Tramways strike of August 28, 1919, has been dealt with in some detail. Its significance lies in the fact that this was the first time that a demand for arbitration and for recognition of a union was made and accepted by an employer. The same employer who adopted a repressive policy during the B&C Mills strike had to make concessions for public opinion; tramway was a public utility.
Veeraraghavan writes that the symbiotic association between trade unionists and Home Rule cadres gave the trade union movement a political slant which was one of the reasons for their fading out without achieving the primary objectives.
Trade unionism suffered a setback during 1923-33, with Gandhi calling off the Non-Cooperation Movement after the Chauri Chaura incident. Post-1933, the movement came back to life, but not much. There were a host of problems, including the Great Depression and World War II, that led to a general lack of vigour in trade unionism.
The author concludes that by 1938, trade unionism was slowly withering away, with the character of the movement having reached the “class consciousness” stage but not the “revolutionary” stage, a prerequisite to attain the desired end.
Veeraraghavan, who lost his vision when he was still in school, wrote a first-of-its-kind, multi-foci perspective of trade unionism in Madras during 1918-1938 as part of his doctoral thesis at IIT Madras, where he also taught humanities. Four years after he passed away (Veeraraghavan died of cancer in 2009), Leftword publishers put together his research papers and published The Making of the Madras Working Class. The book is a fabulous reference manual for students and scholars interested in trade unions and labour history in Madras during those 20 years of proletariat-bourgeoisie struggle.