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It is often claimed that industrial restructuring leads to diminished roles for trade unionism and other forms of labour organisations by informalising employment and relocating production. Drawing on selected case studies from long-term fieldwork in regions of India, this article shows that trajectories of industrial restructuring and the responses by organised labour over the past two decades have been diverse. It is argued that the diverse response not only reflects structural opportunities and constraints for labour to be organised in particular ways, but also different histories and experiences of labour association. Contrary to the presumption about the general demise of trade unionism and the apparent unattainability of class solidarity in contemporary globalised capitalism, it is observed that India’s labour movement is experiencing a degree of resurgence, and new forms of labour organisations and activism are emerging, especially involving informal workers in the formal sector. That these innovative forms of mobilisation are shaped by experiences and aspirations that do not conform to the established institutionalised frameworks for dispute resolution has important policy and political implications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents several critiques of the book "Workers, Unions and Global Capitalism: Lessons From India," by Rohini Hensman, as well as a response by Hensman. It focuses on workers and trade unions in India. The authors comment on globalization, global capitalism, and neo-liberalism. They also consider Hensman's discussion of India's informal sector and women's and children's labor. Other topics include India's entry into the global economy, political and legal aspects of trade unionism, and poverty.

In the past, leading national trade unions in India failed to develop a strong base among unorganised (informal) sector workers and limited their engagement with civil society. Recent initiatives to redress the latter are assessed with reference to the opportunities and constraints that emerge from the organisational structure and ideological and political affiliations of trade unions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade unions in India work mainly with workers in formal employment, particularly in the public sector. However, most people in India work in the informal economy, and their needs are attended mainly by voluntary agencies or NGOs. Economic globalisation and the policies associated with it are resulting in the increasing informalisation of work; as representatives of working people, unions and agencies alike are being further marginalised. Paradoxically, this situation is encouraging these organisations to overcome the mutual mistrust that has characterised relations between them in the past, and to join forces in order to pool their strengths. This article describes the background and current situation in general terms before presenting a case study of the National Centre for Labour (NCL), an apex body of labour organisations of all kinds working in the informal sector in India. Its members include unions and agencies active among workers in the construction industry, as well as in forestry, fishing, and domestic work. Such collaboration has not only enhanced the effectiveness of both the unions and the agencies, but has also increased the unions' representative character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]