The Great Bombay Textile Strike is notably one of the most historic landmark movements in the working class struggles in Post-independent India. Bombay’s textile industry boomed in the 20th century, accompanied by a growing number of worker grievances. As a result, the Great Bombay Textile Strike arose from a gradual accumulation of grievances that Bombay Textile Union and All India Trade Union Congress were unable to resolve. On January 18, 1982, textile mill workers led by Trade Union Leader Datta Samant went on strike for better wages, employment conditions, and repeal of the Bombay Industrial Act of 1946.
The protest witnessed several incidents of police brutality against striking workers and a rise of indifferent attitudes on the part of the Bombay Municipal Corporation. Additionally, the introduction of the liberalisation policies (the 1980s) to open the Indian economy to global finance capital struck a significant blow to the ongoing strike—the new reforms led to a dilution of labor laws; making the labor market more unorganised and contractual and fostering of exploitative working conditions.
The Great Bombay Textile Strike is a landmark event in India’s history of the Trade and Union Movement. With more than 2.5 lakh workers from 65 textile mills joining in this strike for almost two years, this strike became one of the most significant strikes in terms of scale and duration. On the 40th Anniversary of the Great Bombay Textile Strike, PSF-TISS honours the mill workers’ united battle, and their tenacity continues to serve as a model for contemporary working-class movements.
PSF-TISS
Progressive Students' Forum TISS 