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• http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/25961/1/Unit-14.pdf
• The question wants us to write in detail about the working-class movements in pre-independent India; their phases and significant events etc.
• Write a few introductory lines about the working class in pre-independent India. E.g The modern Indian working class arose in consequence to the development and growth of factory industries in India from the second half of the nineteenth century. It is however about the turn of the twentieth century, it took the shape of the working class.
• In the main body, discuss the phases of the working class movements in pre-independent India. E.g
• The First phase: 1850s -1918; The actions of the working class in the earliest stage were sporadic and unorganised in~ature and hence were mostly ineffective. It is only from the late 19th century in Madras, and from the second decade of the twentieth century in Bombay that serious attempts were made for the formation of associations that could lead organised form of protests; Though the Congress was formed in 1885,it seriously thought of organising the working class only in the early 1920s. The Working class in the country was organising struggles against capital much before the 1920s. In the last decades of the 19th century, Lieten informs us, there occurred strikes at Bombay, Kurla, Surat, Wardha, Ahmedabad and in other places;  The strikes, however, were only sporadic, spontaneous, localised and short-lived and were caused by factors such as reduction in wages, imposition of fines, dismissal or reprimand of the worker. These actions and militancy, which they showed, helped in the development of class solidarity and consciousness, which was missing earlier. The resistance was mediated by outsiders or outside leaders. Agitations grew and they were not on individual issues but on broader economic questions, thus leading to a gradual improvement later on.
• Second phase- 1918 to independence; The unorganised movement of the workers took an organised form; trade unions were formed on modern lines. In several ways, the decade of the 1920s is crucial in this regard. Firstly in the 1920s, serious attempts were made by the Congress and the Communists to mobilise the working class and hence from then onwards the national movement established a connection with the working class. Secondly, it was in 1920 that the first attempt to form an all India organisation was made; in this decade, India witnessed a large number of strikes; the strikes were prolonged and well participated by the workers. The number of strikes and number of workers involved in these strikes went on increasing in the subsequent decades etc.
• Conclude by summing up all the discussion.

Answer:

The modern Indian working class arose in consequence to the development and growth of factory industries in India from the second half of the nineteenth century. It is however about the turn of the twentieth century, it took the shape of the working class 

Working-class movements in pre-independence period:

According to labour historians, the span of working-class activities in India is divided into three distinct phases. Those three phases are:

• The first phase spans from 1850 to 1890:-
• • The actions of the working class in the earliest stage were sporadic and unorganised in nature and hence were mostly ineffective.
  • Some philanthropists in the 1880s sought to improve working conditions by urging the British authorities in India to introduce legislations for improving its condition. S. S. Bengalee in Bombay, Sasipada Banerjee in Bengal and Lokhandya in Maharashtra were prominent among them.
  • In the last decades of the 19th century, there occurred strikes at Bombay, Kurla, Surat, Wardha, Ahmedabad and in other places.
  • The strikes, however, were only sporadic, spontaneous, localised and short-lived and were caused by factors such as reduction in wages, imposition of fines, dismissal or reprimand of the worker.
  • These actions and militancy, which they showed, helped in the development of class solidarity and consciousness, which was missing earlier.
  • The resistance was mediated by outsiders or outside leaders. Agitations grew and they were not on individual issues but on broader economic questions, thus leading to a gradual improvement later on.
• The second phase from 1890 to 1918:
• • It is only from the late 19th century in Madras, and from the second decade of the twentieth century in Bombay that serious attempts were made for the formation of associations that could lead organised form of protests.
  • Between 1915-1922, there was resurgence of workers’ movement along with the Home Rule movement and the Non-cooperation movement. The most important development was undoubtedly, the formation of the All-India Trade Union Congress under the leadership of Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai.
• The third phase from 191 8 to 1947:
• • It was after World War I that the working class struggle in the country entered into a different phase. The unorganised movement of the workers took an organised form
  • Trade unions were formed on modern lines.
  • Firstly in the 1920s, serious attempts were made by the Congress and the Communists to mobilise the working class and hence from then onwards the national movement established a connection with the working class.
  • Secondly, it was in 1920 that the first attempt to form an all India organisation was made. Tilak was instrumental in the formation of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)
  • Thirdly, in this decade, India witnessed a large number of strikes. The strikes were prolonged and well participated by the workers. The number of strikes and the number of workers involved in these strikes went on increasing in the subsequent decades
  • The clearest policy of Congress came only in 1936 when it appointed a committee to look after labour matters. Thus it was from the late 1930s that the Congress established deep links with the working class in the country
  • Communists who arrived in the 1920s seriously became interested in working-class questions and therefore they sought to mobilise the working class through the Workers and Peasant Parties (WPPs) in which they were active throughout the country.
    • The WPPs were able to organise the working class considerably. ‘The WPPs were most successful in Bombay where it organised a strike in 1928 than in other cities of India. 
  • There was a radicalisation of working-class activity by the end of the 1920s but what is also crucial is that there also grew differences between the Moderates and the Communists; as a result, the AITUC split and the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) was formed by the moderate leaders 
  • The RTUC merged with the AITUC in 1935 and the NTUF affiliated itself with the AITUC in 1938. As a result of this, there was a growth of trade unions and trade union activity throughout the 1930s and the 1940s. The number of strikes went up by the end of the 1930s.
    • The strikes spread to several smaller industrial towns in the country
    • The working class during these struggles were not only defensive but were also offensive in the sense that they demanded among other things restoration of wage cuts, recognition of their union rights and resisted new forms of oppression of labour.
    • It has also been found that an increasing number of women workers came to the forefront of the workers’ struggle
  • On the industrial front, from 1939 onwards the working condition of the workers was affected seriously.
    • There was increase in the working hours, multiple shift systems were introduced, wages were significantly reduced, and workers. on the whole, were subjected to great hardships.
    • As a result, strikes erupted throughout the country and probably the most important demand of the workers was the demand for a Dearness Allowance against rising prices and cost of living.

The last years of the colonial rule also saw a remarkably sharp increase in strikes on economic issues all over the country. The all-India strike of the Post and Telegraph Department employees being the most well known among them.