ABSTRACT
Trade unions are social organizations which seek to protect and promote economic and non-economic interests of workers both at the workplace and in the larger society. Trade unions in India owing to their colonial origins built close ties with political parties. This continued even after political independence. State regulation of the industrial relations system (IRS) and labour market has contributed to politicization of IRS. Unions were initially organized on the principles of industrial unionism (i.e. organizing workers in a number of firms in an industry in a region irrespective of their occupations or skills), especially in traditional industries like textiles, though plant level unions are becoming increasingly more prominent.
