Trade Union, organised and system based as it is today, is now a career and not just a mission of service as it used to be when the movement in that direction had a take off. There are records indicating that Trade Union movement in India started after 1923 but it is not correct on the face of the fact that it was already launched by the then Bank employees belonging to the then Imperial Bank of India (now State Bank of India) who emerged as such on amalgamation of the 3 Presidency Banks operating in the country. As a mission or as a career both ways this should be possible for the current generation of leaders to keep in mind that how difficult a task it might have been for the leaders to organise a struggle for workers cause those days. A synopsis signifying the take off level of the movement is given below. This is the day when we have to remind ourselves that whatever working class in the country is there it is there because of those martyrs. We salute them.
| Ist May’ 1886 | Workers in America unitedly protested and raised their voice against 18 hours a day work which was practically unlimited in several cases. This very day they had a massive demonstration at Chicago demanding 8 hours a day work at the maximum. Police tried to crush the movement and 6 workers were killed in the violence. |
| 4th May’ 1886 | In another demonstration, there was bomb blast killing number of police men and also the workers. |
| 1889 | A large scale meeting of employees and their representatives was organised at the behest of International Labour Organisation at Paris where it was unanimously decided to observe May Day (Ist May) in the memory of the employee martyrs. |
It is a good part of history
There is history behind every movement
it is always good to see in retrospect