ABSTRACT
A review of the industrial relations climate over five decades at the flagship Bangalore plant of ITI discloses a mixed picture where periods of relative consent and stability coexisted along with periods of intense conflictuality. This chapter first examines those categories of demands that underpinned the various struggles waged by ITI workers relating to the redressal of perceived economic grievances. Then, it takes up the issue of occupational mobility together with the step-by-step formation of an internal labour market, the institutional mechanism devised to secure workers' social status. Finally, the chapter looks at demands focused on questions of work and the exercise of managerial authority at the point of production which also includes a discussion of the contradictory dimensions of shop floor culture. Following the 1966 strike, conflicts related to monetary demands receded into the background.
