PRODUCTIVITY AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Extracts from the Speech of P. Ramamurti in Seminar Organised by National Productivity Council Bangalore

This booklet forms part of the Speech delivered by P. Ramamurti, General Secretary CITU, in a Seminar on "Multiplicity of Trade Unions and Its effects on Industrial Relations and Productivity" at Bangalore on June 15, 1972. President V. V. Giri inaugurated the Seminar which was also addressed among others by G. Ramanujam, General Secretary INTUC.

------------- There is a fundamental conflict of interest between two classes engaged in industry viz. the working class and the capitalist class. In this country and all over the world, the capitalist is interested in making as much profit as possible and for this purpose the lesser the wage he pays to the worker, the lesser the amenities he provides to the worker, the greater is the profit he makes. On the other hand the worker is interested in getting better wages and better amenities of life. Therefore, in the very system of society in India there is this fundamental conflict of interest. Unless this conflict is completely eliminated, there cannot be co-operation in the real sense. It is unimaginable that there could be co-operation between two unequal people whose interests are diametrically opposed to each other. In regard to the question of multiplicity of trade unions in this country, the question is why it is there in this country, when it took place and why it took place so that a remedy can be found even within the framework of the present social order.