Trade Union Participation in Organized Leather Industry in Kolkata, India: A Demographic Discourse

Abstract

The paper attempts to evaluate the significance of different factors determining the
trade union participation in organized leather industry in Kolkata. The research has
been conducted based on three sample leather units engaged in three different
commercial functions and these units have been selected based on types of
commercial activities practiced by these units like tanning , fabricating and both , so
that the research can be conducted with maximum precision and a more or less
representative outcome can be visible .The research intends to cause significant
impact not only in the furtherance of academic research , but also to facilitate the
government to introspect about the application of different labour regulations in the
industries like leather , where basic human rights are neglected in spite of presence of
laws of the land. The research concludes that certain demographic and working
condition related factors are significantly determining the current rate of trade union
participation and others are not. The research has been conducted on limited number
of workers from the three sample units with specific number of workers employed at
the time of the study. It further attempts to analyse the trend of trade union
participation based on research hypothesis framed according to objectives. However,
the research accepts its own limitations and encourages further studies based on the
observation made through this paper.